Indigenous peoples across Latin America
and the Caribbean (LAC) already perceive and experience
negative effects of climate change and variability. Although
the overall economic impact of climate change on gross
domestic product (GDP) is significant, what is particularly
problematic is that it falls disproportionately on the poor
including indigenous peoples, who constitute about 6.5
percent of the population in the region and are among its

The report is divided into two volumes.
The first volume includes the fundamental content of the
report. It is organized as follows. Chapter one provides a
conceptual framework to analyze risk and vulnerability and
provides a definition of social protection. Chapter two
assesses the main risks faced by the Malagasy population as
well as its vulnerability profile. Chapter three reviews
Madagascar's social protection policies, the

After the post-war reconstruction period
that started in 1990-1992, Lebanon made spectacular
improvements to repair the scars of the wars by investing
heavily in public infrastructure, roads, highways, airports
and harbors, communications, commercial estates, and high
and middle income housing. The environmental neglect had an
impact on the economy and resulted in a degradation
amounting to US$ 565 million in 2000 or 3.4 percent of Gross

In Japan, the sustainable development of
cities and provinces has been vigorously pursued since the
late 1990s under various programs through the initiative of
the central government and local authorities. In 2009, the
World Bank launched an urban development initiative called
Eco2 Cities: Ecological Cities as Economic Cities (Eco2
Cities Initiative) to help cities in developing countries
achieve greater synergistic ecological and economic

The theme of the 2011 Philippines
development report is 'generating inclusive growth,
uplifting the poor and vulnerable'. This theme is
follows from the priorities set in President Aquino's
Social Contract and the emerging 2011-2016 Philippines
Development Plan (PDP). The PDP details the vision of
inclusive growth and poverty reduction that underlies the
social contract (chapter one). Accordingly, the PDP focuses

This study reports on in-depth case
studies of dzud (extreme cold weather during winter,
subsequent to a very dry summer) impacts and responses.
Focus groups, key informant interviews, a household survey,
and photovoice, were used to document individual and
community experiences with dzud, and identify the factors
that make some households and communities more vulnerable,
and some less vulnerable, to the impacts of dzud, and the

This report looks beyond the current
global financial crisis to the restoration of dynamic
long-run growth in Serbia. The answer in this report is that
Serbia will need to fundamentally alter its growth model to
compete effectively in world markets. The past model relying
on excessive inflows of capital and credit that, in part,
fuelled a consumption boom has run its course in all
European countries. Serbia must shift to a greater export

The paper reports on improving feed and
fodder supply for the dzud management in Mongolia study, and
aims to identify policy options that could improve the
effectiveness and efficiency of dzud emergency management
and response. It includes an assessment of the appropriate
roles for the private and public sectors, identification of
issues, and capacity building requirements. The study will
support a policy dialogue and could provide the foundation

Urban flooding is an increasingly
important issue. Disaster statistics appear to show flood
events are becoming more frequent, with medium-scale events
increasing fastest. The impact of flooding is driven by a
combination of natural and human-induced factors. As recent
flood events in Pakistan, Brazil, Sri Lanka and Australia
show, floods can occur in widespread locations and can
sometimes overwhelm even the best prepared countries and

Large-scale disasters regularly affect
societies over the globe, causing large destruction and
damage. After each of these events, media, insurance
companies, and international institu-tions publish numerous
assessments of the "cost of the disaster." However
these assessments are based on different methodologies and
approaches, and they often reach different results. Besides
methodological differences, these discrepancies are due to

Migration has historically been a source
of opportunities for people to improve their lives and those
of their families. Today, the large differences in income
between places-particularly countries-continue to motivate
individuals to escape poverty through migration. The
potential advantages of migration for sending countries are
numerous. Through remittances, migration provides a means of
improving income and smoothing consumption; it enables

The East Asia region is highly prone to
the impacts of natural disasters. Situated in the ring of
fire, countries in the region are regularly hit by typhoons,
earthquakes, floods, and other events. Natural disasters can
have major impacts on the social and economic welfare of a
population, and often pose serious obstacles in the
achievement of sustainable social and economic development.
Moreover, impacts from disasters are not uniformly