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South Africa Economic Update, November 2011
The global financial roller coaster, with the Euro zone as its lead car, has hit economic prospects across the globe. The South African economy, with its close links to the world economy, has suffered, too, resulting in weakened growth prospects, lower fiscal revenues, lower and more volatile valuation of the rand, and dampened external financing. This further compounds the policy challenges facing the authorities, on top of their preoccupation with unyielding unemployment, which requires higher and more inclusive economic growth.
Tax Reform in Vietnam
In 2010, after two decades of rapid economic growth, Vietnam passed the threshold to become a lower-middle-income economy. Sustained market-oriented reforms combined with intensive efforts to integrate into the world economy are among the key drivers of this achievement. The reform of tax policy and administration has been a vital part of this transition. This is leading to a fundamental change in the composition of taxpayers, from large state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and foreign-invested companies to a myriad of small and medium private enterprises.
Is Consanguinity an Impediment to Improving Human Development Outcomes?
This paper uses unique data collected in rural Pakistan to assess the extent to which consanguinity, which is widespread in North Africa, Central and West Asia, and most parts of South Asia, is linked to child cognitive ability and nutritional status. As economic benefits of marrying cousins may lead to upward bias in estimates of the effects of consanguinity on child outcomes, prior work likely underestimates the negative impacts of consanguinity on child outcomes.
The Potential of the Blue Economy
This report was drafted by a working group of United Nations entities, the World Bank, and other stakeholders to suggest a common understanding of the blue economy; to highlight the importance of such an approach, particularly for small island developing states and coastal least developed countries; to identify some of the key challenges its adoption poses; and to suggest some broad next steps that are called for in order to ensure its implementation.
Estimating Relative Benefits of Differing Strategies for Management of Wastewater in Lower Egypt Using Quantitative Microbial Risk Analysis
The report uses a theoretical model of a typical drainage basin, but the approach could be applied to many of the drainage basins managed by the holding company for water and wastewater in Egypt. This study set out to assess the relative health impacts of different wastewater management strategies on health in the Nile delta region using an approach similar to that used in the Ghana.
Assessing Safety Net Readiness in Response to Food Price Volatility
In 2008, when food prices rose precipitously to record highs, international attention and local policy in many countries focused on safety nets as part of the response. Now that food prices are high again, the issue of appropriate responses is again on the policy agenda. This note sets out a framework for making quick, qualitative assessments of how well countries' safety nets prepare them for a rapid policy response to rising food prices should the situation warrant.
Mongolia Financial Sector Assessment
As the Mongolian mortgage market grows rapidly, and the Government of Mongolia (GoM) pursues an ambitious social housing agenda, there is an urgent need for a holistic sector approach. The following three key areas require attention from policymakers: first, there is a need to better balance housing supply and demand, which requires the authorities to focus on prudent mortgage lending standards and supervision, as well as on provision of housing infrastructure and zoned land.
Moving to Catch Up
The purpose of this study was to provide a better understanding for policy makers and service providers of mobility and migration among ex-combatants and the effectiveness of Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) programming in Uganda. The study followed a scoping study on migration in Uganda conducted in March 2011 by the Transitional Demobilization and Reintegration Program (TDRP) of the World Bank.
The Drivers of Reporter Reintegration in Northern Uganda
The World Bank commissioned this report as part of a set of studies concerned with the Uganda Demobilization and Reintegration Program and the Amnesty Commission. The study represents one element of the set of studies which included the Final Independent Evaluation of the Uganda Emergency Demobilization and Reintegration Project (UgDRP), Reporter Reintegration Survey and Community Dynamics Survey, and a study on the relationship between the Amnesty Commission and its DDR Implementing Partners study.
How to Protect and Promote the Nutrition of Mothers and Children in Latin America and the Caribbean
This toolkit is the first of its kind to provide information on promoting and protecting the nutritional status of mothers and children in crises and emergencies. Latin America and the Caribbean is one of the most vulnerable regions in the world to major crises and emergencies. This toolkit aims to improve the resilience of the most vulnerable in times of intensified nutritional needs, most notably pregnant and lactating mothers as well as children less than two years of age.