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Despite the fact that three quarters of the world's poor live in rural areas, the level of international development aid directed at rural areas has continued to decline over the last decade, particularly in terms of the agricultural sector. In 2001, lending for agricultural projects was the lowest in the World Bank's history. This publication presents the World Bank's new rural development strategy based upon a results oriented approach which stresses practice, implementation, monitoring and empowerment aspects. The strategy seeks to highlight rural development efforts, focusing on the needs of the rural poor, fostering a broad-based economic growth and addressing the impact of global developments on client countries.
Women in the Europe and Central Asia region complain about loss of employment, sexual harassment, violence, poor enforcement of the law, poor political representation, and poor health care. Many greet these complaints with skepticism or dismissal. Is it economic expedience due to the sheer magnitude of the changes taking place under the transition? Did the Soviet legacy delude observers into believing that there is gender equality in the region? While budgets shrink, how can gender be integrated into country department work programs? To answer these and other pressing questions regarding the gender issue, the World Bank held a conference in June 1999. Women from the ECA region, Western Europ...
Modernisation of the public sector, reforming intergovernmental fiscal relations, enhancing the local capacity to implement local strategies, and developing the legislative and institutional framework for efficient delivery of public services are among the biggest challenges in transition economies. Hungary has been a pioneer in local government reform and the Hungary Subnational Development Program (SNDP) proves the value of an integrated approach.
Kevin MacIntyre never expected to see Dr. Emily Berthoff again, and didn't want to. Not after they'd broken off their engagement eight years ago and she'd left for medical school. He'd wanted to forget her as easily as she'd seemed to forget him. But he couldn't. And now she was back. When she'd taken a job back home in Colorado, Emily had dreaded running into Kevin. She didn't want to relive the anger and the hurt of their breakup. Or reawaken the powerful feelings she'd had for Kevin. Then she saw him at a friend's wedding and knew that was impossible, she still loved him. But could she forgive him?
The World Bank is providing assistance to the Government of China to help develop recommendations for changes to China's present system of financial incentives for commercial renewable energy development. This book reports on a Bank workshop that examined international experience with financial incentives for grid-connected wind power systems and off-grid photovoltaic systems in the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, the United States (California), India, and China. The collective experiences of the countries were further examined to indicate other directions for developing financial incentives for market-based renewable energy development, as well as the underlying reasons for these tendencies.
Accelerating agricultural growth and alleviating rural poverty are clearly the main development challenges facing the policymakers in the Kyrgyz Republic. This report examines the current state of Kyrgyz agriculture and the status of agricultural policy reform program during its transition to a market economy. It outlines a rural development strategy that, if properly implemented, is designed to promote agricultural growth, alleviate rural poverty, and improve natural resource management. The strategy includes: deepening policy reforms; increasing public investment; promoting institutional development; and strengthening the information base.
To enhance and sustain economic prosperity, Russian authorities must improve the business climate so that firms restructure and the private sector thrives within a market environment. Meeting this challenge requires actions on several fronts. The Russian government asked the World Bank to write policy papers to address this issue. This volume contains those policy papers which were then presented at a high-level workshop in Moscow. The topics include: removing impediments to robust interfirm competition, such as structural concentration, arbitrary regulatory practices, and entry barriers; strengthening corporate governance incentive systems; enhancing the nascent institutional framework for the exercise of creditor rights and implementation of enterprise bankruptcy procedures; reducing barter and other nonmonetary forms of business transactions; and fostering enterprise restructuring. The volume also contains formal comments on these papers presented by senior Russian officials at the workshop.
To preserve the environment with the lowest possible cost to the social sector means that private costs should be aligned with social costs. Many governments in the Latin American and Caribbean Region are doing this now using market-based instruments (MBIs). This publication investigates the use of MBIs in the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) context. The investigation covers a sample of eleven countries in the region and a cross-section of environmental issues in an urban setting.
Peace and reconstruction efforts in 1996 dramatically altered the landscape of Bosnia and Herzegovina and brought many tangible benefits to its people. These efforts have already led to improvements in the areas of health, education, unemployment, and infrastructure repair. Sustaining and broadening the positive developments of the past year will be the key task for the country and the international community in 1997-98. This country study examines the near-term reform issues that are essential to generating employment and providing a firm institutional and policy foundation for reconstruction and sustained economic growth. The main areas of emphasis will be on policy and budget reforms--involving institutions for macroeconomic management and bank and enterprise privatization--and reforms affecting labor markets and the social safety net.
World Bank Discussion Paper No. 362. There has been tremendous growth worldwide in the mobilization of financial resources outside traditional banking systems. Channeled mainly through capital markets, such rapid financial diversification is posing new challenges for regulators in many emerging markets. This document describes the various aspects and implications of this growth, reviews the regulatory framework adopted in some mature market economies, including the United States and the European Union, and discusses regulatory issues in emerging markets.