Bangladesh has maintained an impressive track record on growth and development. However, even with a growing economy there is still widespread poverty and underemployment motivating many Bangladeshis to...
Indonesia’s biodiversity and cultural diversity are among what make it unique among the nations of the world. Out of more than one thousand government identified ethnic groups, roughly two hundred and...
Can governments be held accountable for spending by citizen organizations? In this issue the author present the experience of two civil society organizations (CSOs) engaged in budget and procurement review...
How does local context affect the targeting and selection of women in community-driven development (CDD) projects? This note explores how local social and economic structures shape the inclusion of female...
This note is intended to briefly describe the World Bank's experience supporting the development and implementation of an open government initiative in Nigeria's Edo State. It reflects upon the process...
Does providing a free text messaging (SMS) reporting tool, which facilitates communication between farmers and the state-level Project Implementation Unit (PIU) overseeing the Fadama III Project, improve...
Community driven development (CDD) is an approach that emphasizes community control over planning decisions and investment resources. A rigorous evaluation process helps determine CDD's effectiveness in...
The Japan Social Development Fund (JSDF), administered by the World Bank, provided a grant aimed at improving accessibility and accountability of the justice system in two of the poorest and most vulnerable...
As compared to biological differences, (usually termed 'sex'), gender refers to the 'socially constructed and learned female and male roles, behaviors, and expectations' which translate biological differences...
The Republic of the Philippines is an archipelago in South-East Asia with more than 7,000 islands. The Philippines has an average population of 101,833,938 (2011 Index Mundi) and the numbers keep on growing...
In 2004 when this Japan Social Development Fund (JSDF) project was approved, diarrheal diseases were one of the three main causes of morbidity and mortality for children under the age of five in Peru...
The project objective was to: i) rapidly revitalize PHC services so as to enable widespread delivery of a standard package of services; and ii) help strengthen the capacity of district management to coordinate...
Gender-poverty-environment links: a focus on the links between gender disparity, poverty and environmental degradation is increasingly recognized as a key strategy for improving the lives of poor women...
Approximately eighty percent of Cambodians live in rural areas with limited access to clean and affordable water and energy. Thirty-four percent of the rural population lives below the national poverty...
Women and men use rural and urban transport for different purposes based on their socially determined roles and responsibilities. Poor rural transport systems limit access to markets, education, and health...
Papua New Guinea (PNG) is a culturally diverse, environmentally rich country with over five million inhabitants, the majority of whom live on the eastern half of the rugged and mountainous island of New...
Vietnam's economic emergence is perhaps best experienced along its rural roads: over 175,000 km of pavement, rubble and dirt track extend to two-thirds of the country's population and nearly all of the...
The East Asia region is highly prone to the impacts of natural disasters. Situated in the ring of fire, countries in the region are regularly hit by typhoons, earthquakes, floods, and other events. Natural...
On Boxing Day morning, 2004, a 9.3 magnitude earthquake struck the Indian Ocean. The quake unleashed a blast of energy and created a tsunami three stories high. The disaster claimed more than 228,000 lives...