Poor governance and nearly fifteen years
of brutal conflict have made Liberia one of the poorest
countries in the world. An important objective for the
democratically elected government of post-conflict Liberia
is to reduce poverty. As part of its long-term vision plan,
the Government is preparing a second Poverty Reduction
Strategy (PRS) to set out its medium-term approach to
poverty reduction. The current climate of peace and

Water is a fundamental platform for
economic and social development, and contributes to reducing
multiple dimensions of poverty. It is essential to food and
energy security, industrial growth, and the protection of
ecosystems. Water has been going through unprecedented
pressures as growing populations and economies have
increased demand and at the same degraded supplies. As a
result, water insecurity has become one of the greatest

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

The objective of this study was to advance the process of prioritizing water storage investments that
could reduce water stress in economically important areas. The specific objectives of the study were to
(i) outline a comprehensive framework for screening of potential storage sites; (ii) identify important
water stressed areas through an updated water balance; (iii) assess alternative multipurpose water storage
projects through physical, hydrological and economic criteria; and (iv) analyze institutional and financing

After a policy-engineered slowdown in
2012, which saw GDP growth decline to 4.8 percent, the
lowest since 2008, Bhutan's economy is expected to
rebound to 6.5 percent this year, supported by hydropower
construction and higher electricity and food production,
following favorable rains. The tight fiscal stance
introduced in 2012 has been maintained to bring spending in
line with lower non-hydro revenues and a slowdown in foreign

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate
substantially exceeded China's population growth, which
averaged 1.4 percent annually between 1978 and 2009, and
real GDP per capita accordingly grew at 8.6 percent annually
during this period. China's urban population resides
primarily in city districts (shiqu) and town districts
(zhenqu), which constitute the urban core of larger
administrative units called cities (shi) and respectively

Group s gender action plan (GAP) trust
fund has financed a series of programs to promote gender
equality by empowering women to compete in key markets:
land, labor, agriculture, finance and the private sector.
Work and family: Latin American and the Caribbean women in
search of a new balance offer new analysis of how household
decision-making and allocation of resources affects female
labor market outcomes in the region. This project summarizes

The female population deficit in India
has been explained in a number of ways, but the great
heterogeneity in the deficit across districts within India
still remains an open question. This paper argues that
across India, a largely agrarian economy, soil texture
varies exogenously and determines the workability of the
soil and the technology used in land preparation. Deep
tillage, possible only in lighter and looser loamy soils,

Scientific evidence indicates that global warming could well lead to a sea-level rise of 1 meter or more in the 21st century. This paper seeks to quantify how a 1-meter sea-level rise that would affect coastal wetlands in 76 developing countries and territories, taking into account how much of wetlands would be submerged and how likely the wetlands would move inland as the coastline recedes. It is estimated that approximately 64 percent of the freshwater marsh, 66 percent of Global Lakes and Wetlands Database coastal wetlands, and 61 percent of brackish/saline wetlands are at risk.

This paper describes the serious fiscal
crisis faced by cities around the world following the Great
Recession of 2008. Five years later, the after-effects of
this major crisis continue to be felt and limit economic
opportunities in cities. Section 1 summarizes how the crisis
was triggered and how it unfolded in the US, then spread to
the rest of world -- highlighting the links between
financial sector and housing sector. Section 2 discusses the

The sector review includes seven
chapters and one annex. This first chapter is an overview of
agriculture, irrigation and the purpose and content of this
report. The second chapter provides a review of the Bank s
own strategy and priorities for irrigation and drainage
within its portfolio of investments, from the time of its
2004 Strategy until the present. It also includes a short
summary of key lessons learned in this sector. The third

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