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China : Improving Energy Efficiency in Public Institutions

March, 2014

The next several years are critical for
achieving lasting results in China's relatively new
energy efficiency program for public institutions. Public
institutions in China are defined as those government
agencies, public service units, and organizations that
either fully or partially receive government budget funds.
In the study team's opinion, key challenges for
China's public institution energy conservation program

Financing the Urban Expansion in Tanzania

March, 2014

This paper seeks to develop estimates of
the net cost of the urban expansion in Tanzania. The paper
focuses on developing estimates of the cost of planning and
servicing land for new residential urban settlement. It does
not attempt to develop detailed estimates of the cost of
addressing infrastructure backlogs which would include the
retrofitting of basic urban infrastructure to unplanned
areas. On the revenue side, estimates of current spending in

Resilience to Climate Change-Induced Challenges in the Mekong River Basin : The Role of the MRC

March, 2014

Climate change and its consequences,
ranging from increased water variability to more extreme
weather events and from sea level rise to ecosystem changes,
introduce new challenges to transboundary watercourses,
which already face a variety of collective action problems
due to their border-crossing nature. Other changes occurring
in river basins, such as changing water-use patterns,
development of large infrastructure schemes, and changing

Performance Based Contracts in the Road Sector : Towards Improved Efficiency in the Management of Maintenance and Rehabilitation - Brazil's Experience

March, 2014

This note aims at providing feedback on
Brazil's successful experience in using performance
based contracts in the rehabilitation and maintenance of the
road networks. Since its introduction in the early
2000's, the use of this contract management model has
progressively spread to reach, as of today, one third of the
federal network and more than 10 percent of the states'
networks, and expectations are for higher figures in the

Land Rights Monitors and the Struggle for Land Rights in Agricultural Investment Areas

Conference Papers & Reports
February, 2014
Tanzania

To ensure that there is sustainability at the community level in its land rights and governance training programme, Land Rights Research and Resources Institute (HAKIARDHI), a Tanzanian national level organization that spearheads land rights of small-scale producers, uses land rights monitors (LRMs) in its program areas. In each of the selected villages of the program districts, two LRMs (a man and a woman) who have received land rights training from HAKIARDHI are democratically elected by villagers.

'We Want What the Ok Tedi Women Have!' Guidance from Papua New Guinea on Women's Engagement in Mining Deals

February, 2014

Despite global gender equality gains in
education, life expectancy, and labor force participation,
two areas of persistent inequality remain: asset gaps and
women's agency. In many developing countries, including
Papua New Guinea (PNG), land and natural resources are
citizens' key assets. This briefing note, centered on
field research in north fly district explores the process of
negotiation and the progress in implementation of the

Global Value Chains, Economic Upgrading, and Gender : Case Studies of the Horticulture, Tourism, and Call Center Industries

February, 2014

This document provides a gendered
analysis of the horticulture, tourism, and call center
global value chains (GVCs), based on a survey of the
literature and case studies carried out in Honduras, Kenya,
and the Arab Republic of Egypt. The studies focus on export
sectors that have had high female employment and have been
relatively underexplored from the angle of trade and gender
research. The studies show that GVCs and their upgrading

Coping with Urban Fiscal Stress around the World

February, 2014

The economic recession, the end of
stimulus funding and central government cutbacks, rising
social costs and aging, and the need for infrastructure
upgrading for urbanization are putting enormous fiscal
stress on cities. The financing capacity of municipalities
is greatly affected because of the decline in the tax base,
expenditure pressures, and growing and more expensive debt.
Today's urban fiscal crisis is similar to that

Improving Trade and Transport for Landlocked Developing Countries : World Bank Contributions to Implementing the Almaty Programme of Action

February, 2014

A ministerial intergovernmental
conference in pursuit of these commitments was held in
August 2003 in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The conference agreed to
the Almaty Programme of Action (APoA), calling for joint
efforts by transit and landlocked countries-with substantial
technical and financial assistance from other countries-to
revise their regulatory frameworks affecting trade movements
and to improve their trade-related infrastructure. The two

Performance, Monitoring, and Evaluation in China

February, 2014

Amidst all the hoopla about China's
rise, it is useful to remember that China is a developing
country whose transition to a market economy is not yet
complete, with institution building still underway. The
uneven pace of progress is reflected in the state of its
public sector, but in some respects, China s public sector
looks formidable. Most often mentioned is the government s
treasure chest of US$3 trillion in foreign reserves. Even

Kenya Social Protection Sector Review : Executive Report

February, 2014

There is now broad consensus among
policymakers that social protection is a powerful way to
fight poverty and promote inclusive growth. This
international consensus is most clearly articulated in the
African Union's Social Policy Framework (SPF), which
was endorsed by all African heads of state in 2009. The SPF
explains that social protection includes 'social
security measures and furthering income security; and also

More Than Just Hot Air : Carbon Market Access and Climate-Smart Agriculture for Smallholder Farmers

February, 2014

The Kenya agricultural carbon project is
breaking new ground in designing and implementing climate
finance projects in the agricultural sector. The project is
regarded as an innovative example for climate-smart
agriculture within and outside the World Bank. For the first
time, while increasing productivity and enhancing resilience
to climate change, smallholder farmers in Africa will
receive payments for greenhouse gas mitigation based on