The institutional landscape of local
dispute resolution in Bangladesh is rich: it includes the
traditional process of shalish, longstanding and impressive
civil society efforts to improve on shalish, and a somewhat
less-explored provision for gram adalat or village courts.
Based on a nationally representative survey, qualitative
evidence from focus groups, and a telephone survey of 40
Union Parishad chairpersons (a little less than 1 percent of

The note is designed to assist Bank task
teams, working together with their country counterparts, who
may have varying levels of experience with promoting the
Rule of Law (ROL); some would be familiar with the African
context but not ROL, and for others, vice-versa. This note
may also represent a first introduction to ROL reform; for
those who have worked on such projects in the past, it
should supplement existing knowledge about this emerging

Ownership and control over assets such
as land and housing provide direct and indirect benefits to
individuals and households, including a secure place to
live, the means of a livelihood, protection during
emergencies, and collateral for credit that can be used for
investment or consumption. Unfortunately, few studies -
either at the micro or macro levels- examine the gender
dimensions of asset ownership. This paper sets out a

The study presents an analysis of the
situation of the Pygmies in Democratic Republic of Congo
(DRC), including their history and relations with the other,
mainly Bantu, populations. It provides a brief description
of their lifestyle, their socioeconomic status, and a
participatory diagnosis of the key factors that lead to
their current impoverishment and marginalization. The study
discusses the rationale for protecting Pygmy culture and

Little is known about the situation
facing widows and their dependent children in West Africa
especially after the widow remarries. Women in Malian
society are vulnerable to the loss of husbands especially in
rural areas. Households headed by widows have significantly
lower living standards on average than male or other female
headed households in both rural and urban areas; this holds
both unconditionally and conditional on observable household

Women's contributions to poverty
reduction, economic growth, and private sector development
are increasingly recognized globally. A growing amount of
research demonstrates the link between women's
empowerment and societal well-being. Yet research also
indicates that woman's economic contributions continue
to lag behind their achievements in health and education,
and a variety of barriers still prevent women in many parts

This report profiles 52 business
women, representing countries where IFC works across the
Pacific region, in 30 case studies. Women in the report
share lessons in starting their businesses, and describe the
obstacles and opportunities they encountered in their
pursuit of growth. By revealing their future plans, the
women provide inspiration for current and future business
women of the Pacific to pursue greater entrepreneurial

The last two decades have witnessed a
growing recognition of the importance of taking cultural and
ethnic diversity into consideration when designing and
implementing development programs. As societies around the
world have become more culturally diverse, and the role
culture plays in the formation of identity has become better
understood, governments are beginning to pay greater
attention to the management of cultural diversity and are

Malawi is a land-locked country. It is
bordered by Zambia to the north-west, Tanzania to the north
and Mozambique, which surrounds it on the east, south and
west. This Report provides a detailed assessment of the
Anti-Money Laundering AML/Combating the Financing of
Terrorism CFT measures in place in Malawi as of May 11,
2008, two months after completion of the on-site mission. It
describes analyses and makes an assessment of the measures

This paper develops a framework and some
hypotheses regarding the impact of local-level, informal
legal institutions on three economic outcomes: aggregate
growth, inequality, and human capabilities. It presents a
set of stylized differences between formal and informal
legal justice systems, identifies the pathways through which
formal systems promote economic outcomes, reflects on what
the stylized differences mean for the potential impact of

The topic of this paper is, in the words
of one reviewer, 'one of the most discussed
sociological and societal issues in African studies: the
relationship between traditional institutions and new
institutions'. Often in such discussions, the
'traditional' and 'modern' are framed as
if in opposition to one another, and debate centers on
whether and to what extent tradition should cede to
modernity, or modernity should yield to the dictates of

This report presents indicators based
on laws and regulations affecting women's prospects as
entrepreneurs and employees. Several of these indicators
draw on the Gender Law Library, a collection of over 2,000
legal provisions impacting women's economic status.
Both resources can inform research and policy discussions on
how to improve women's economic opportunities and
outcomes. The six indicators of gender differences in formal