Every country should develop strategies
for managing low-probability, high-impact extreme
events-strategies that reflect their own as well as global
experiences with mega-disasters. These strategies should
integrate structural and nonstructural measures tailored to
local conditions. Forecasting and early warnings, land-use
planning and regulation, hazard maps, education, and
evacuation drills are all vital. Lessons from the Great East

International migration has profound
implications for human welfare, and African governments have
had only a limited influence on welfare outcomes, for good
or ill. Improved efforts to manage migration will require
information on the nature and impact of migratory patterns.
This book seeks to contribute toward this goal, by reviewing
previous research and providing new analyses (including
surveys and case studies) as well as by formulating policy

This note on integrating
gender-sensitive disaster risk management (DRM) in
community-driven development (CDD) Programs is the sixth in
a series of guidance notes on gender issues in DRM in the
East Asia and the Pacific region. Targeting World Bank
staff, clients and development partners, this note gives an
overview of the main reasons for incorporating
gender-sensitive DRM into CDD programs, identifies the key

Much of the rural poor -- who are
growing in number -- are concentrated in ecologically
fragile and remote areas. The key ecological scarcity
problem facing such poor households is a vicious cycle of
declining livelihoods, increased ecological degradation and
loss of resource commons, and declining ecosystem services
on which the poor depend. In addition, developing economies
with high concentrations of their populations on fragile

Agricultural growth rates in the Latin
America and the Caribbean (LAC) region have been much slower
than the rest of the developing world. In the regions of
East Asia, South Asia and Middle East and North Africa, the
annual growth of agricultural Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
in 1980-2004 exceeded 3 percent, while growth in Sub-
Saharan Africa averaged almost 3 percent. This paper
attempts to present an overview of the agricultural sector

For many years, Rio de Janeiro has held
the dubious distinction of being one of the world s most
beautiful cities, and at the same time, one of the most
dangerous. This report is the story of Rio s attempt to
break with history and establish a new kind of state
presence in its favelas. This report documents how life in
the favelas is changing as a result of the Police
Pacification Unit (UPP) pacification effort, as seen through

The Multi Donor Fund for Aceh and Nias
(MDF) and the Java Reconstruction Fund (JRF) have played
significant roles in the remarkable recovery of Aceh, Nias
and Java, following some of the worst disasters in Indonesia
in recent years. The MDF and the JRF, which is patterned
after it, are each considered a highly successful model for
post-disaster reconstruction. This paper discusses the value
of a phased approach to post-disaster reconstruction as a

This paper presents an assessment of the
first phase (2008?2009) of Sierra Leone's cash for work
program based on a qualitative and quantitative analysis
examining program design features, main processes and
impact. The assessment highlights that while cash for work
was an appropriate crisis response, the challenge of
achieving good targeting should not be underestimated.
Findings from the assessment point to high inclusion errors

The Multi Donor Fund for Aceh and Nias
(MDF) and the Java Reconstruction Fund (JRF) have played
significant roles in the remarkable recovery of Aceh, Nias
and Java, following some of the worst disasters in Indonesia
in recent years. The MDF and the JRF, which is patterned
after it, are each considered a highly successful model for
post-disaster reconstruction. This paper presents lessons
from the MDF and JRF's efforts to facilitate

This paper examines the effects of
climate change on poverty through the relationship between
indicators of climate change (temperature and rainfall
change) and municipal level gross domestic product, and
subsequently between gross domestic product and poverty. The
evidence suggests that climate change could have a negative
impact on poverty by 2030. The paper proposes a two-stage
least squares regression where it first regresses

This workbook is intended to help policy
makers in developing countries plan for a safer future in
urban areas in the face of natural disasters and the
consequences of climate change. It is based on the
experiences of three cities in Vietnam, Can Tho, Dong Hoi,
and Hanoi, that worked with international and local experts
under World Bank supervision to develop local resilience
action plans (LRAPs) in 2009-10. An LRAP is a detailed

Following its devastating experience
with recent disasters, Japan has been strengthening or
drawing up new disaster management plans at the national and
local levels. The Great East Japan Earthquake (GEJE)
revealed a number of weaknesses in planning for complex and
extraordinary disasters. Central and local governments have
been revising their plans to reflect what they learned from
the GEJE. Japan's disaster management system addresses