The process of political change and transition across much of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) continued into 2013, with a great degree of heterogeneity across countries. Violence in Syria has escalated, with spillover effects to Lebanon and Jordan. Security in Yemen is fragile but a...

Development assistance from Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and Arab financial institutions has been responsive in addressing development and humanitarian needs in many developing countries. Since the global financial crisis (2008-2011), the combined net official development assistance...

The process of political change and transition across much of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region continued into 2013, with a great degree of heterogeneity across countries. The crisis in Syria has escalated and caused massive impact on the inflow of refugees to Lebanon, Jordan, and...

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has made dramatic progress in lowering premature death and disability from most communicable, newborn, nutritional, and maternity causes. However, non-communicable diseases are still extremely high. Road traffic injuries, for example, are the fourth...

Environmental stress is a serious concern in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Recent years have witnessed important changes that are pushing the boundaries of the region's environmental legacy. The current trends are declining water resources per capita, shrinking arable land,...

Over the course of a six-year period from 2006-2011, the Government of Iraq (GOI), with support from the World Bank, undertook an ambitious effort to reform its public procurement system and legal framework. Among other actions, an Inter-Ministerial Task Force (IMTF) was created, consultations...

Two key dimensions on access to justice sector services in Jordan are poverty and gender. The gender dimension to accessing formal justice sector services, namely court and lawyer services is anchored in the reality that women and men in Jordan demonstrate different needs and priorities for...

Disasters are increasing worldwide with more devastating effects than ever before. The absolute number of disasters around the world has almost doubled since the 1980s, but the average number of natural disasters in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has almost tripled over the same period. In...

Like many countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, Kuwait faces considerable environmental challenges due to air pollution, increasingly scarce water resources and deteriorating arable land. As the problems associated with climate change intensify, governments and countries...

Before the Gulf wars, Baghdad had a well-functioning water and sewerage system, with standards of reliability, access, and quality similar to many first world countries, illustrated by a coverage of 95 percent in urban areas and 75 percent in rural areas in the 1990s. Because of the war,...