This book presents papers on several
events organized by the World Bank's Disaster
Management Fund (DMF). The DMF's objectives are to help
the Bank provide a more strategic and rapid response to
disaster emergencies and to integrate disaster prevention
and mitigation measures in all Bank activities. Part I of
this book on risk identification contains chapters on the
economic impacts on natural disasters in developing

The present study describes, and
quantifies the provision of basic urban services to the
poor, in three Central American cities in El Salvador,
Honduras, and, Panama. It also identifies priority areas for
government intervention, using specialized household surveys
to quantify current deficits, and to rank households from
poor to rich, using aggregate consumption as the measure of
welfare. The urban poverty profile is examined in each city,

This study reviews the available
quantitative and qualitative information on urban poverty
issues and trends in the East Asia and Pacific (EAP) Region,
with particular focus on Indonesia, the Philippines, and
Vietnam. The review is a desk study-which is limited to
material accessible to the Bank in Washington and draws
mainly on existing field work and other published and
unpublished papers. The empirical analysis focuses on the

This note on social protection has as
its objective establishing an exhaustive analysis/diagnosis
of the existing social protection framework and of preparing
an integrated approach through developing better social
protection priorities and plans of actions. It a) identifies
the social risks which the Moroccan people face generally;
b) examines current social protection initiatives (public,
private, and civil society-sponsored) set up to reduce

Forestry contributes 7-10 percent of Lao
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 15-20 percent of
non-agricultural GDP. In rural areas forest exploitation is
one of the few available economic activities, and non-timber
products provide more than half of family income. The sector
contributes 34 percent of total export value, and even more
of net foreign exchange. Forestry royalties as a share of
government revenues have decreased from 20 percent in the

This study reviews the available
quantitative and qualitative information on urban poverty
issues and trends in the East Asia and Pacific (EAP) Region,
with particular focus on Indonesia, the Philippines, and
Vietnam. The review is a desk study-which is limited to
material accessible to the Bank in Washington and draws
mainly on existing field work and other published and
unpublished papers. The empirical analysis focuses on the

Since independence in 1966,
Guyana's economy has gone through a state control of
major productive sectors, and financial institutions -
including controls of prices, credit, and foreign exchange -
to a combination of political/social unrest, with terms of
trade deterioration, and slow economic growth. This led
Guyana to become the fourth poorest country in the Western
Hemisphere, despite its rich endowment in mineral resources,

This Policy Note is based on the Final
Report of the Environmental Energy Review (EER), prepared
over two years, with the full collaboration of the
Government of Iran, and the assistance of international, and
national consultants. The EER report comprises: an analysis
of the current situation with regards to energy generation,
and use; an evaluation of the growth prospects with regard
to energy generation, and use; the identification of the

For Croatia, the challenge is to create
conditions that will attract investment and produce growth.
These conditions can broadly be categorized as (a) stable,
progressive and predictable laws and institutions; (b)
efficient labor and financial markets; (c) macroeconomic and
financial stability; (d) social and environmental
sustainability; (e) effective integration into the European
infrastructure networks ensuring competitive cost and

Azerbaijan's early transition to an
independent, market-based economy has been tumultuous,
entailing significant economic costs, and social impacts.
Yet, unlike many transition economies, sound economic
reforms since 1995, have enabled the country to achieve
macroeconomic stability, and resume growth. Notwithstanding,
the impact on poverty reduction has been modest,
particularly in the case of the urban poor who did not

This report is the first step in a
process toward using environmental damage cost assessments
for priority setting and as an instrument for integrating
environmental issues into economic and social development.
The report provides estimates of damage cost for several
areas of the environment: air, water, land and forests, and
waste disposal. The estimates should be considered as orders
of magnitude and a range is provided to indicate the level

This report provides public policy
makers with the information necessary to develop a rural
infrastructure strategy, it was not intended to represent a
strategy per se, merely to highlight the issues that need
greater consideration in the definition of a strategy. It
starts with an inventory of existing rural infrastructure
assets and a description of current institutional
arrangements. It follows with a snapshot of local