The urban population in Ethiopia is
increasing rapidly. If managed proactively, urban population
growth presents a huge opportunity to shift the structure
and location of economic activity from rural agriculture to
the larger and more diversified urban industrial and service
sectors. If not managed proactively, rapid urban population
growth may pose a demographic challenge as cities struggle
to provide jobs, infrastructure and services, and housing.

Affordable housing will be instrumental
to helping Vietnam achieve its goals for increasing
productivity and inclusive urban growth. Since Doi Moi, the
country has experienced impressive economic growth, averaged
at 7.4 percent per annum from 1990 to 2008, lowering to an
average of 6 percent per annum from 2007 to 2013. Strong
economic growth has supported a substantial reduction in
poverty, from 58 percent in 1993 to 17 percent in 20121.

This assessment of Moldova current state
of compliance with the Basel core principles for effective
banking supervision (BCPs) was undertaken as part of a joint
International Monetary Fund (IMF) - World Bank mission in
connection with a broader financial sector assessment
program exercise. This version of the assessment has a
greater focus on risk management policies and practices
implemented by supervised institutions and their assessment

This paper analyzes the socioeconomic,
fiscal, and governance impact of gold mining in Mali. The
analysis finds that, at the national level, mining plays an
important role by contributing to export earnings and
overall government fiscal revenue. In 2013, the mining
sector represented 7 percent of gross domestic product,
contributed 1.5 percent to growth in total gross domestic
product, and accounted for 65 percent of total export

Effective environmental and social risk
management in development policy financing (DPF) is central
to achieving the World Bank’s goals of ending extreme
poverty and promoting shared prosperity in a sustainable
manner. If the World Bank is supporting far-reaching member
country reforms that are intended to contribute to the twin
goals, then it should seek to understand the impact of those
reforms on the poor. It should also ensure that the

The response to the global reporting
initiative (GRI) indicators provides a brief introduction to
the World Bank’s (WB’s) complex suite of activities. The WB
consists of the International Bank of Reconstruction and
Development (IBRD) and the International Development
Association (IDA). Materiality is determined through an
assessment carried out based on GRI guidance. The assessment
evaluates the risks to the organization, the importance to

Over the past twenty years, Uganda’s
population density has been increasing rapidly, placing
significant pressure on the use of land. Uganda now has a
population density of 194 persons per square kilometer of
arable land, compared to 80 in Kenya and 116 in Ghana. At
present, the majority of Uganda’s population still lives in
rural areas, where the main source of livelihood is
agriculture. However, the proportion of the population

This country program evaluation (CPE)
assesses the outcomes of the World Bank Group (WBG) program
in Timor-Leste during the review period (2000 to 2010). The
WBG’s strategy during this period was to support the
government of the nascent country in three broad areas: (a)
poverty alleviation and the provision of basic social
services, including health and education; (b) development of
state institutions, including creating good governance and

This country assistance evaluation
assesses the outcomes of the World Banks program in Nigeria
during the period 1998–2007. The Country Assistance
Evaluation focuses on the objectives of that assistance and
the extent to which outcomes were consistent with those
objectives. It looks at the Banks contribution to the
achievement of those outcomes and at the lessons for the
Banks future activities in Nigeria and in other countries.

As part of a national experiment in 2008, Chengdu prefecture implemented ambitious property rights reforms, including complete registration of all land together with measures to ease transferability and eliminate migration restrictions. A triple difference approach using the Statistics Bureau’s regular household panel suggests that the reforms increased consumption and income, especially for less wealthy and less educated households, with estimated benefits well above the cost of implementation.

The inability to unlock natural resource
wealth for the benefit of developing countries’ local
populations, a phenomenon popularly known as the ‘resource
curse’ or the ‘paradox of plenty’, has spawned extensive
debate among researchers and policy makers in recent years.
There is now a well-established body of literature exploring
the links between natural resources and conflict, with some
sources estimating that over the past 60 years, 40 percent

Natural resources offer opportunities,
but also bring challenges. They have generally been linked
to a series of negative outcomes like economic decline,
corruption, and conflict. Oil and minerals reserves, in
particular, are often very spatially concentrated, and their
discovery becomes a potential source of conflict between the
governments, the people of the producing areas, and those of
the rest of the country. But can this increased risk of