Uttar Pradesh, the largest state in
India, has 170 million inhabitants who represent 16.2
percent of India's population. Uttar Pradesh (UP) is
classified as one of the 'lagging states of India'
for its slow growth, low human development indicators and
high concentration of the poor. UP occupies an important
position in India because of its size and as a determinant
of the country's overall progress. UP has continuously

The paper assesses the costs and
household level benefits of migrating overseas from
Bangladesh. The authors survey households who have had
overseas migrants to assess their characteristics compared
to non-migrants. They also compute various types of
migration and remittance related transaction costs and
discuss the channels by which overseas migration is
financed, remittances sent and the constraints faced by the

The poor in Bangladesh are more likely
to belong to households with a larger number of dependents
and lower education among household members, be engaged in
daily wage labor, own little land, and be less likely to
receive remittances. This poverty profile for 2005 is
similar to the profile in the mid-1980s and hence at first
glance it would appear that little has changed over time. A
closer look at national household survey data suggests a

The amount of available water has been
constant for millennia, but over time the planet has added 6
billion people. Water is essential to human life and
enterprise, and the increasing strains on available water
resources threaten the mission of institutions dedicated to
economic development. The ultimate goal is to achieve a
sustainable balance between the resources available and the
societal requirement for water. In this evaluation the

Agriculture sector growth has made a
powerful contribution to post-war economic recovery in
Tajikistan, accounting for approximately one third of
overall economic growth from 1998 to 2004. Sector output
increased by 65 percent in real terms during this period,
and has now returned to the level extant at independence in
1990. Total Factor Productivity (TFP) has also increased, by
3 percent per year. Despite this progress, there is

An increase in sea surface temperature
is evident at all latitudes and in all oceans. The current
understanding is that ocean warming plays a major role in
intensified cyclone activity and heightened storm surges.
The vulnerability of coastlines to intensified storm surges
can be ascertained by overlaying Geographic Information
System information with data on land, population density,
agriculture, urban extent, major cities, wetlands, and gross

The objective of this paper is to
present a succinct and up-to-date review of the urban sector
in Egypt, with a focus on issues for which there is new
insight or emerging government interest. The two main themes
of the report are the challenges facing the urban sector and
the policy implications at various levels of government.
Some of the reports mains findings are: urbanization in
Egypt takes on forms and processes which are not well

Women are a powerful force for
sustainable economic growth. A growing body of microeconomic
empirical evidence and emerging macroeconomic analysis shows
that gender inequality limits economic growth in developing
economies. Research also shows that considerable potential
for economic growth could be realized if countries support
women's full economic participation. Increases in
women's income tend to correlate with greater

The second Climate Investment Funds
(CIF) partnership forum took place at the headquarters of
the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Manila, Philippines, on
March 18-19, 2010. The objective of the 2010 partnership
forum was to share lessons learned from the CIF design
process and from early implementation of CIF-funded
programs. The forum aimed to provide an open, transparent
and constructive platform for dialogue on knowledge gained

The authors use recent data from the
2006 National Family Health Survey of India to explore the
relationship between religion and demographic behavior. They
find that fertility and mortality vary not only between
religious groups, but also across caste groups. These groups
also differ with respect to socio-economic status. The
central finding of this paper is that despite their
socio-economic disadvantages, Muslims have higher fertility

Many investments in infrastructure are
built on the belief that they will ineluctably lead to
poverty reduction and income generation. This has entailed
massive aid-financed projects in roads in developing
countries. However, the lack of robust evaluations and a
comprehensive theoretical framework could raise questions
about current strategies in Sub-Saharan Africa. Using the
second Cameroonian national household survey (Enquete

The newly delineated Peshawar City
District (PCD) has undergone significant transformations in
the past ten years. Originally encompassing the adjoining
districts of Charsadda and Nowshera, the district gradually
shrunk in size after both sub-divisions acquired a district
status of their own in the mid-nineties. However, as the
provincial capital, Peshawar continues to enjoy a special
status within North West Frontier Province (NWFP). It houses