The accumulation of decent housing
matters both because of the difference it makes to living
standards and because of its centrality to economic
development. The consequences for living standards are
far-reaching. In addition to directly conferring utility,
decent housing improves health and enables children to do
homework. It frees up women's time and enables them to
participate in the labor market. More subtly, a home and its

This First Phase Report on Sierra Leone
growth poles is the result of a 9 months consultative
process led by the Office of the President which
specifically requested that the output of this diagnostic be
in an engaging format. The fundamental concept of growth
poles is that they exploit agglomeration economies and
spillover effects to spread resulting prosperity from the
core of the pole to the periphery. At the basis of this

In 2000, the Government of India
launched the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (hereinafter
PMGSY) with the primary objective of providing all-weather
road connectivity (with necessary culverts and
cross-drainage structures operable throughout the year), to
eligible unconnected habitations in rural areas. Currently,
about 60 percent of the 170,000 eligible habitations have a
road. By the end of 2010, expenditures for the program had

In 2011, women and girls represented
50.6 percent of the total Montenegrin population (620,029
persons). Different aspects of gender inequality vary by
region and ethnicity. The present World Bank country
partnership strategy in Montenegro is based on two pillars
that include supporting Montenegro s accession to the
European Union (EU) through boosting institutions and
competitiveness. The purpose of this report is to provide an

Pakistan's rebound from the global
financial crisis has been slow and fragile, and unless the
economy changes course swiftly, it could face its second
balance of payments crisis in five years. Its recovery from
the 2008-09 global financial crisis has been the weakest in
South Asia, with a double dip pattern. This report
identifies conditions for a sustainable job-enhancing growth
agenda for Pakistan. Policy must target both goals as they

The report starts with background on the
history, scope, and character of displacement in Georgia.
Although there is a lack of comprehensive data on Georgian
internally displaced persons, or IDPs' living
conditions and livelihood status, this section collates what
information exists. Part two defines livelihood support,
maps out the sector as currently implemented in Georgia, and
describes the types of activities in place to boost IDP

The Government of Ceará has asked for
the Bank s support in implementing its multi-year plan
(Plano Plurianual or PPA) for 2012-15. The objectives of the
Plan are to promote equitable social development,
sustainable economic development and to contribute to the
emergence of a more efficient and participatory public
sector.The activities to be supported have been chosen on
the basis of the importance to these goals, the state s

Development and humanitarian actors
currently engaged in Somalia face the challenge of
delivering assistance in such a way that it is supportive of
peace and state building, addresses the acute vulnerability,
and dependence of large shares of the population while
operating in a still insecure and changing environment.
Forced displacement is a key feature of the current
political economy context of Somalia. The necessity of

Despite global gender equality gains in
education, life expectancy, and labor force participation,
two areas of persistent inequality remain: asset gaps and
women's agency. In many developing countries, including
Papua New Guinea (PNG), land and natural resources are
citizens' key assets. This briefing note, centered on
field research in north fly district explores the process of
negotiation and the progress in implementation of the

Good jobs bring gains for women themselves, as well as for their families, businesses, and communities. They boost self-esteem and pull households out of poverty. Yet gender disparities persist in the world of work. Closing these gaps, while working to expand job growth more broadly, is a prerequisite for ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity. Gender equality in the world of work is a win-win on many fronts. There is a large and growing body of evidence that demonstrates both the business and the development case.

Delivering on results is a key to
achieving our Latin America and Caribbean strategy. This
publication presents some of the recent results achieved by
the World Bank Group, our clients, and our partners in the
Latin America and Caribbean Region. The stories reflect our
effort to help clients solve their development challenges
quickly and effectively by providing a suite of financing,
advisory and convening services. This is a way to

For many years, Rio de Janeiro has held
the dubious distinction of being one of the world s most
beautiful cities, and at the same time, one of the most
dangerous. This report is the story of Rio s attempt to
break with history and establish a new kind of state
presence in its favelas. This report documents how life in
the favelas is changing as a result of the Police
Pacification Unit (UPP) pacification effort, as seen through