In view of the growing number of projects in the social sector, the study previewed by this article examines procurement and disbursement issues in Bank-financed projects with community participation to collate and analyze Bank-wide experience, to identify issues, present cases of best...

For many African countries, and for developing countries in other regions, the latter half of the 1980s was a turning point in the struggle to alleviate poverty. In response to a marked deterioration in the living standards of the poor, caused by an economic crisis and the austerity measures...

The newest Bank supported social funds are designed explicitly to increase the participation of beneficiaries in identifying and managing microprojects, with the aim of making project activities more relevant and sustainable. Features which support participation are built into the design of the...

This book documents the experiences of men, women, and children in Armenia, Georgia, the Kyrgyz Republic, Latvia, Moldova, Tajikistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan as they struggle with the dramatic changes in lifestyle and extreme poverty that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union. Based on...

The last two decades have witnessed a growing recognition of the importance of taking cultural and ethnic diversity into consideration when designing and implementing development programs. As societies around the world have become more culturally diverse, and the role culture plays in the...