This report seeks to identify changes in human development outcomes in a period of deepening decentralization and to suggest how the country's decentralized governance structure will be improved to increase access to, as well as the quality of, relevant services. The report states decentralized...

In Europe, and Central Asia, the poor faces three problems: 1) the education system as a whole does not work well, and hence fails to meet adequately their needs; 2) the private cost of education has gone up, so that "education", as a commodity, competes with other consumption goods in shrinking...

This sourcebook aims to support efforts by countries to strengthen the role of the education sector in the prevention of HIV/AIDS. It was developed in response to numerous requests for a simple forum to help countries share their practical experiences of designing and implementing programs that...

This report focuses not only on the gaps facing Latin America in both education and technology, but especially on the interactions between the two. The central premise of the report is that skills and technology interact in important ways, and this relationship is a fundamental reason for the...

A free press is not a luxury. It is at the core of equitable development. The media can expose corruption. They can keep a check on public policy by throwing a spotlight on government action. They let people voice diverse opinions on governance and reform, and help build public consensus to...

The World Bank recently hosted a symposium on the priority of early child development (ECD) for economic growth and equity. The participants urged application of population-based tools and measures to assess the outcomes of children's early years and children's readiness for school. This study...

The first World Congress on Communication for Development (WCCD) took place in Rome, Italy, on October 25-27, 2006. The main goal of the WCCD was to position and promote the field of Communication for Development in the overall agenda of development and international cooperation. Toward this...

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are a challenge the global community has set for itself. They are a challenge to poor countries to demonstrate good governance and a commitment to poverty reduction. And they are a challenge to wealthy countries to make good on their promise to support...

The Uganda Nutrition and Early Childhood Development Project was one of the World Bank's first projects to demonstrate the value-added of strategic communication. The strategic communication component developed for this project included the use of formative research about values and attitudes...

Investing in young children is the responsible thing to do. All children deserve a chance to grow into healthy, educated, and competent people, no matter where and when they were born. While parents bear most of the responsibility for raising their children, especially in the early years of...