Policies that enable rural communities
to participate in expanding economic opportunities can be
central to inclusive growth in Myanmar. Rural communities
are home to the majority of Myanmar’s population, the
majority of its many ethnic groups, and 70 percent of its
poor. Development in rural areas is constrained by low
returns to agriculture, and significantly lower levels of
public service delivery and human development outcomes

Even after several decades of green
revolution, malnutrition continues to be a major development
challenge in much of South Asia, and India has a major share
of the malnourished people in the region. For nutrition
goals to be integrated into extension the curricula provided
to current and future agricultural extension agents must be
revisited. As part of the South Asia Food and Nutrition
Security Initiative (SAFANSI), this paper focuses on

Affordable housing will be instrumental
to helping Vietnam achieve its goals for increasing
productivity and inclusive urban growth. Since Doi Moi, the
country has experienced impressive economic growth, averaged
at 7.4 percent per annum from 1990 to 2008, lowering to an
average of 6 percent per annum from 2007 to 2013. Strong
economic growth has supported a substantial reduction in
poverty, from 58 percent in 1993 to 17 percent in 20121.

Megacity Dhaka encounters various kinds
of natural disasters quite frequently owing to its
geographical location and a number of other physical and
environmental conditions including low topography, land
characteristics, multiplicity of rivers and the monsoon
climate. Climate and disaster resilience is not the same in
all parts of a city. Spatial variations in resilience
patterns result from differences in the strengths and

Countries everywhere are divided into
two distinct spatial realms: one urban, one rural. Classic
models of development predict faster growth in the urban
sector, causing rapid migration from rural areas to cities,
lifting average incomes in both places. The process
continues until the marginal productivity of labor is
equalized across the two realms. The pattern of rising
urbanization accompanying economic growth has become one of

The Rwanda Economic Update reports on and synthesizes recent economic developments and places them in a medium-term and global context. It analyzes the implications of these developments and policies for the outlook for Rwanda s economy. Rwanda s economic growth recovered in the first three quarters of 2014. The economy grew 7.1 percent. Faster GDP growth reflected higher growth of the services sector, at 9.1 percent, up from 5.4 percent in 2013, when the economy suffered from the lagged impact of the 2012 aid shortfall.

Effective environmental and social risk
management in development policy financing (DPF) is central
to achieving the World Bank’s goals of ending extreme
poverty and promoting shared prosperity in a sustainable
manner. If the World Bank is supporting far-reaching member
country reforms that are intended to contribute to the twin
goals, then it should seek to understand the impact of those
reforms on the poor. It should also ensure that the

The urban population in Ethiopia is
increasing rapidly. If managed proactively, urban population
growth presents a huge opportunity to shift the structure
and location of economic activity from rural agriculture to
the larger and more diversified urban industrial and service
sectors. If not managed proactively, rapid urban population
growth may pose a demographic challenge as cities struggle
to provide jobs, infrastructure and services, and housing.

The November 8, 2015 elections in
Myanmar marked a historic milestone in the country’s
political and economic transition that began in 2011.
Incoming policy makers are preparing to pick up the baton
and deliver on the people’s strong aspirations for a
harmonious and prosperous Myanmar. In this series of policy
notes, the World Bank Group seeks to promote dialogue on
critical development challenges and on options for policies

Central America is undergoing an
important transition, with urban populations increasingat
accelerated speeds, bringing pressing challenges as well as
opportunities to boost sustained,inclusive and resilient
growth. Today, 59 percent of Central America's
population lives in urban areas, but it is expected that
within the next generation 7 out of 10 people will live in
cities, equivalent to adding 700,000 new urban residents

The analysis of the distributional
impact of policy reforms on the well-being or welfare of
different stakeholder groups, particularly on the poor and
vulnerable, has an important role in the elaboration and
implementation of poverty reduction strategies in developing
countries. In recent years this type of work has been
labeled as Poverty and Social Impact Analysis (PSIA) and is
increasingly implemented to promote evidence-based policy

This Country Partnership Framework (CPF)
presents the World Bank Group (WBG) program and the
associated results framework for Lebanon for the period
FY17-FY22. In a fragile and conflict-prone environment, this
CPF aims at mitigating the immediate, and potentially
long-lasting impact of the Syria crisis on Lebanon, while
strengthening state institutions, addressing existing
vulnerabilities, and bolstering efforts on longer term