This paper reports on progress made on Nicaragua’s National Human Development Plan as of 2010. The operational goal for Nicaragua’s National Human Development Plan is economic growth with increased employment and reduced inequality and poverty. The results for 2007–10...

The paper presents the Annual Progress report on The Gambia’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper. This has enabled the government to substantially reduce the stock of domestic arrears that have been due to contractors, consultants, and suppliers and at the same time liquidate all loans owed...

This Annual Progress Report reviews the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper and Economic and Social Plan for 2007 for Mozambique. The report presents the new simplified structure adopted in the Review of the First Half of 2007. In the international context, the evolution of the international...

This paper discusses implementation of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) in Mauritania. The second phase of the PRSP is accompanied by a Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) for 2006–10. MTEF determines the overall cost of the action plan in terms of both current and capital...

This Selected Issues paper focuses on the reasons for the historically weak performance of Vanuatu. Among the key factors, growth has been hindered by substantial barriers to private sector development. Impediments include political uncertainty, high costs of doing business, poor and costly...

We trace the history of where and why investors from the most advanced countries directed funds, ultimately helping finance economic development in emerging market countries. To do this, we analyze the determinants of international investors' willingness to hold the external liabilities issued...

This paper shows that during the 1990s, and before the 1998-2000 border war with Eritrea, the gender gap in education in Eritrea has widened on the national level, and large regional disparities have persisted. The gender gap appears to be linked to lower female teacher participation and limited...

The working age population is expected to grow faster in the Middle East than in any other region in the world between now and 2015—rising annually by 2.7 percent, or 10 million people. This demographic explosion presents the region with a major challenge in terms of providing jobs, incomes,...