In the past decade, Latin America and
the Caribbean has achieved impressive social and economic
successes. For the first time in history, more people are in
the middle class than in poverty. Inequality, although still
high, declined markedly. Growth, jobs and effective social
programs have transformed the lives of millions. In a
striking departure from the crisis-prone Latin America of
the past, the region has shown it is better prepared to

Rahees Mohammed and his wife lived in a
rented house in a slum and had one wish - to build a house
that will be a permanent home for the whole family. Aadhar
Housing Finance Private Limited can help Rahees realize his
dream by offering a housing finance product that
corresponded to his needs, preferences, and capacities. This
smart lesson, building on Aadhar’s experience and that of
other housing finance clients in South Asia, provides a

This paper's objective is to strengthen the capacity of various institutions in the Ministry of
Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation for sustainable water resources management, and to develop training tools for innovative techniques for further dissemination to state agencies and other stakeholders.

Iraq appears to have firmly entered the
ranks of upper middle-income countries in 2012, having
experienced strong economic growth following the
establishment of a civilian elected government in 2005-06.
In 2012 the years of growth culminated in a per capita GDP
of 2472 constant 2005 US$. This three-volume poverty and
inclusion assessment provides the first in-depth analysis of
Iraq's economic and social development during the

This report was prepared as part of the
World Bank engagement in the Philippines to support Islamic
Finance and Financial Inclusion. It provides an overview on
the context for the development of Islamic finance in the
Philippines and is accompanied by two focused reports
providing further detail and suggestions on enhancing
financial inclusion in the Philippines through Islamic
microfinance and assessment of the status of financial

The purpose of this note is to provide the monetary cost of various social safety net
targeting schemes that can be deployed to reduce vulnerability and increase resilience. It is
believed that gradually switching to the provision of social safety nets can reduce the chronic
dependency on humanitarian (mainly food) aid. At the same time, it could help to alleviate reliance
on patronage networks and switch a portion of the public spending from unproductive uses (e.g.,

This is the first investment climate
assessment (ICA) for Myanmar. The main objectives of this
ICA are to: (i) provide an up-to-date and fact-based
analysis of the business environment for the government and
other stakeholders in Myanmar to help prioritize and
contextualize the reform agenda, and (ii) to offer a
baseline for future assessments of progress in terms of the
investment climate reform agenda. As requested by the

Bulgaria experienced strong economic
growth prior to and shortly after joining the European Union
(EU) in 2007. Under the better regulation program, the
government adopted over 100 measures to reduce the
regulatory and administrative burden, but no formal
mechanism was introduced to regularly monitor and review its
implementation at the national or municipal level. Some
areas, in which entrepreneurs expected to see improved

This study was undertaken in support of the World Bank
project, Agroweather Tools for Adapting to Climate
Change. The overall goal of this pilot project is to establish
community-based agro-weather risk management
tools. These tools are to be supported by a flow of weather
and climate information via information and communication
technology (ICT) delivery systems.
While some advice is provided on how farmers
can use meteorological and climatological information
in their operations, this is not the main thrust of the

In July 2013, the World Bank Group
launched its Strategy, outlining how it will partner more
effectively with clients to help them achieve the ambitious
goals of eradicating extreme poverty and boosting shared
prosperity through economic growth, inclusion,
sustainability and resilience. In April 2014, the World Bank
Group Corporate Scorecard was launched for the first time
and the World Bank Scorecard revised to monitor the

Georgia has an impressive growth record
but social vulnerabilities persist. It remains a challenge
to tackle social vulnerabilities within a sustained
macroeconomic framework. This programmatic public
expenditure review (PER) assesses the alignment of selected
fiscal programs with the government’s social objectives.
Building on the analysis and recommendations of the 2014
PER, this PER analyzes the impact of recent reforms

This note is a summary of a report that
considers urban areas as the complement to rural areas that
will allow the Plurinational State of Bolivia to achieve the
goals set forth in its Patriotic Agenda for the Bicentennial
2025. The report uses data available at the national level
from censuses and household surveys from the National
Statistics Institute (INE) and the Social and Economic
Policy Analysis Unit of the Ministry of Development Planning