Thailand has succeeded in expanding coverage of publicly-funded and publicly-managed health insurance schemes, following the introduction of universal health coverage policy in 2001. While Thailand's achievement of universal health coverage (UC) is well noted, recent researches and studies have...

This policy note assesses Croatia's readiness for increased longevity. It focuses on health and social care services for the elderly, identifying critical gaps, or open questions, in the key areas of services, workforce, financing and governance. The aim is to support reforms that strengthen...

Liberia is one of the most forested countries in West Africa, with more than two thirds of its land surface covered by forest. The National Forest Inventory, conducted by the Liberia Forestry Development Authority in 2018 and 2019, estimates the forest cover in Liberia to be 6.69 million...

A joint analysis of poverty and living standards was conducted by a technical team from the Ministry of Planning and Finance, Government of Myanmar, and the Poverty and Equity Global Practice of the World Bank. Poverty has previously been estimated using data from the Integrated Household Living...

The Enterprise Surveys (ES) focus on many aspects of the business environment. These factors can be accommodating or constraining for firms and play an important role in whether an economy's private sector will thrive or not. An accommodating business environment is one that encourages firms to...

This note uses data from the Bhutan living standards survey (BLSS) for 2007, 2012, and 2017 to examine trends in poverty reduction and shared prosperity and to assess the drivers of poverty reduction in the last decade. The note documents the remarkable progress that Bhutan has made in reducing...

As a region, the Mashreq has seen more than its share of deaths, economic losses, and instability for the last decade. The region has braved massive economic and social shocks that would challenge even the most advanced economies in the world. The conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic has...

The 2020 Africa Country Policy and Institutional Assessment (CPIA) report covers the period from January to December 2019. The addition of Somalia brought the number of the region's International Development Association (IDA)-eligible countries to 39. The overall CPIA score for the region's 39...

South Sudan has suffered multiple shocks in 2020, potentially derailing an economic recovery and peace building process. The FY21 budget seeks to stabilize the economy, provide basic services, consolidate peace, and address Coronavirus (COVID-19) effects. While South Sudan is currently faced...

The High-Frequency Phone Survey for refugees in Uganda (URHFPS) tracks the socioeconomic impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on refugees. The World Bank (WB) in collaboration with the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) launched and...