Prior to the political and security
crisis of 2012, Mali, a large landlocked country in West
Africa already ranked among the poorest countries in the
world. In early 2012, the vast northern regions fell under
the control of extremist forces, while a coup d’état in
Bamako threw the country into political instability and
turmoil. A strong international military response in early
2013 prevented further destabilization, though part of the

This report argues that urbanization
brings significant opportunities for both rural and urban
areas and that Burundi needs to prioritize issues of
economic growth and job creation. Based on a diagnostic
evaluation of the current urbanization and spatial growth,
GDP, and job potential, the report highlights the importance
of prioritizing policies and investments to address
deficiencies in Burundi urbanization. These remedial actions

The volume emphasizes the need to rethink cities and to imagine a better urban future by providing the reader with diverse perspectives on urbanization such as the changing economic landscape, city competitiveness, entrepreneurship, inclusion, informality, sustainability, and provision of essential services.

Actions to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions to stabilize warming at 2 degree Celsius, as
agreed by the international community in 2009, will fall
short if they do not include the transport sector. Transport
is responsible for around 23 percent of global carbon
dioxide emissions and emissions are expected to rise without
further action to curb emission growth and invest in low
carbon transport modes. Investment needs are estimated at

Central America is undergoing an
important transition, with urban populations increasingat
accelerated speeds, bringing pressing challenges as well as
opportunities to boost sustained,inclusive and resilient
growth. Today, 59 percent of Central America's
population lives in urban areas, but it is expected that
within the next generation 7 out of 10 people will live in
cities, equivalent to adding 700,000 new urban residents

The recent decline in India’s rural
female labor force participation is generally attributed to
higher rural incomes in a patriarchal society. Together with
the growing share of the urban population, where female
participation rates are lower, this alleged income effect
does not bode well for the empowerment of women as India
develops. This paper argues that a traditional supply-side
interpretation is insufficient to account for the decline in

Sustainable development goals (SDGs)
placed access to basic services at the center of
international development in 2016-2030. Out of 17 goals,
five address the access of poor people to basic services: to
health in SDG3, to education in SDG4, and SDG5, to water and
sanitation in SDG6, to energy in SDG7, and to urban services
in SDG11. The mutually reinforcing relationship between
electricity access, economic development, and poverty

This report is based on a field study of
two large settlements, Satghara (a census town) and
Bhagwatipur (a rural cluster with 10,000 plus population) in
the Madhubani district of Bihar. The study explores the
social dynamics of the rural non-farm economy by empirically
mapping non-farm occupations in both the settlements. It
examines the dynamics of caste, community, and gender within
the social organization of the non-farm economy in terms of

This Country Partnership Framework (CPF)
presents the World Bank Group (WBG) program and the
associated results framework for Lebanon for the period
FY17-FY22. In a fragile and conflict-prone environment, this
CPF aims at mitigating the immediate, and potentially
long-lasting impact of the Syria crisis on Lebanon, while
strengthening state institutions, addressing existing
vulnerabilities, and bolstering efforts on longer term

This Country Partnership Framework (CPF)
covers the five-year period FY16-20. Anchored in the
government’s medium-term development plan as outlined in a
January 2015 Cabinet of Ministers Program of Action, it also
reflects the analysis and recommendations of the World Bank
Group’s (WBG) 2015 Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD) for
Uzbekistan and the lessons learned from the Completion
Report of the previous CPS. The CPF’s objectives and

Problems or even failure in transport
initiatives are more likely for projects set in the urban
areas of developing countries. Connecting a rural village to
an all-weather road or restoring a section of national
highway is usually straightforward. Costs are modest,
institutional issues limited, and the benefits obvious. In
contrast, urban transport is not a single mode governed by a
single agency but a collection of modes with varied

Today, the world is at a conjuncture where issues of exclusion and inclusion are assuming new significance for both developed and developing countries. The imperative for social inclusion has blurred the distinction between these two stylized poles of development. Countries that used to be referred to as developed are grappling with issues of exclusion and inclusion perhaps more intensely today than they did a decade ago. And countries previously called developing are grappling with both old issues and new forms of exclusion thrown up by growth.