Lack of financial resources prompted many LSG to seek effective ways to mobilize and utilize local resources to improve living standards of the population, however, there was no platform to share best practices with other LSG. The project has assisted the Government in establishing such...

This report supports a joint World Bank-IFC initiative to review and evaluate economic growth prospects for Khatlon oblast in order to develop a private sector-driven strategy for accelerating the region's growth over the medium term

The Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region's relative advantage in gender equality compared to other regions eroded in the 1999-2009 period. As a result, the region now looks more similar to the rest of the world in terms of women's education and labor force participation. Moreover, gender gaps...

A World Bank-supported project in Armenia was successful in developing a control framework that balances the need to increase the transparency and accountability of the country s state noncommercial organizations (SNCOs), while also recognizing their financial, administrative, and managerial...

Active labor market programs (ALMPs) aim to keep workers employed, bring them into employment, increase their productivity and earnings, and improve the functioning of labor markets. ALMPs to retain employment, for example, work-sharing schemes, should be used only for short periods during...

The recent financial crisis brought to light the importance of transparent and effective corporate financial reporting to a country s economic recovery and subsequent growth. The Road to Europe: Program of Accounting Reform and Institutional Strengthening (REPARIS) program, supported with...

The ongoing global economic turmoil is seriously impeding client countries access to capital markets, with relatively little regard for the fundamentals of the countries involved. Growing risk aversion among investors has triggered a flight-to-quality that is affecting all but the safest assets...

Major events have reshaped the internal population flows of Eurasia, including the breakup of the Soviet Union, the development of market economies, and the rising influence of regional powers. Looking ahead, policy makers need to promote reforms to make Eurasian cities the main drivers of...

Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) is defined as a framework of policies, institutional arrangements, technologies, data, and people that enables the sharing and effective usage of geographic information by standardizing formats and protocols for access and interoperability. The goals of SDI are...

Croatia`s current economic challenges include sluggish growth, excessive public spending, high unemployment, and a deteriorating external environment. Croatian economy was making a fragile recovery and dealing with slow export growth, low investment, and persistent unemployment. At the end of...