Proper public procurement practices directly reflect good governance. Transparent and effective procurement practices minimize expenditure and create opportunity. Procurement is an enormous component in the process by which governments build infrastructure, such as schools and hospitals. It...

Sub-Saharan Africa has just experienced one of the best decades of growth since the 1960s. Between 2000 and 2012, gross domestic product (GDP) grew more than 4.5 percent a year on average, compared to around 2 percent in the prior 20 years (World Bank various years). In 2012, the region's GDP...

Countries worldwide face challenges of high unemployment, unsustainable public finances and lower potential output. It is pertinent therefore to understand future challenges and devise policies accordingly. This document contains the proceedings of a conference co-hosted by the Organisation for...

Since the 1990s, the financial systems in developing and developed countries have gained in soundness, depth, and diversity, prompted in part by a series of financial sector and macroeconomic reforms aimed at fostering a market-driven economy in which finance plays a central role. Latin America...

Poverty reduction is the overarching objective of the World Bank Group and is reflected in the institution s commitment to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). More recently, the twin goals of the institution, eradicating extreme poverty by 2030 and boosting shared prosperity, expressed a...

Developing country governments and the international development community are looking for ways to accelerate access to improved water and sanitation services beyond the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets. Countries do not have the capacity to meet the need for improved water supplies and...

Despite efforts made by the international development financing organizations, the structure of intervention through multi-country projects with regional development goals has not been easy to design and implement. One of the reasons is the lack of clarity in the enabling legal framework and...

Access to affordable, reliable, and safe transportation is critical in improving the welfare of individuals in developing countries. Yet, transport data are limited overall, and data that address the different patterns of use by women and men are even scarcer. A few studies have shown, however,...

India’s 2005 National Rural Employment Guarantee Act creates a justiciable 'right to work' by promising up to 100 days of wage employment per year to all rural households whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. Work is provided in public works projects at the stipulated...

This report provides a systematic review of the evidence on HIV vulnerability and response in all 53 countries of the WHO European Region, stretching from Iceland to the borders of China. It focuses on key populations most at risk of HIV infection: people who inject drugs, sex workers and men...