Preparation of the $1.45 billion Nam
Theun 2 (NT2) project in the Lao People's Democratic
Republic (Lao PDR) represented an important milestone for
the government, the developers, international partners, and
other stakeholders. The story of its preparation and
implementation is an important one, because it provides
valuable insights and lessons that can be applied in future
projects of similar size, scope, and complexity. Projects

This brief includes the following
headings: increasing access to land by the rural poor in
India; and KCP projects on service delivery for the poor.

The relatively slow pace of
Nigeria's development has often been attributed to the
phenomenon of the resource curse whereby the nature of the
state as a "rentier" dilutes accountability for
development and political actors are able to manipulate
institutions to sustain poor governance. The impact of the
political elite's resource-control and allocation of
revenues on core democratic mechanisms is central to

The objective of this report is to
respond to the request of the Ministry of Housing and
Urban-Rural Development (MOHURD), to assess the Housing
Provident Fund (HPF) system, and provide recommendations on
its positioning, strategy and future role in the overall
housing policy. The report focuses on a strategic review of
the HPF system and its strategy, mission, and operational
structure, and then analyses the market in which the

Expert statements indicate that annually
approximately 20 billion dollars will be needed to prevent
90 percent deforestation in tropical countries. Development
practitioners are eager to see the benefits from REDD plus
initiatives shared with local partners. Equally important to
understanding how local partners might benefit are questions
such as, who should derive benefits from REDD plus
initiatives, and how to ensure these initiatives reach the

Household enterprises -- usually
one-person-operated tiny informal enterprises -- are a
rapidly growing source of employment in Sub-Saharan Africa,
especially in lower-income countries. Household enterprises
tend to operate with limited interest or support from
governments. This is the case in Mozambique, where neither
the poverty reduction strategy nor small and medium
enterprise development policies include household

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

This overview summarizes the key
findings of the eight chapters and one policy note. It is
organized as follows. The first section provides a
background of Guangdong, while the second describes the
current situation of inequality in the province. Next is a
discussion of the potential impacts of the transfer of
industrial activities ('industrial transfer') in
mitigating regional disparity, followed by the

The World Bank's Communication for
Governance and Accountability Program (CommGAP) has spent
several years exploring the linkages between the media and
governance reform. The first stage of this process produced
public sentinel: news media and governance reform, an edited
volume that explored key issues surrounding the role of the
media in democratic governance and the policy interventions
that might enable this role. This how-to guide represents

Although charcoal is the single most
important energy source for millions of urban dwellers in
Tanzania, being used by all tiers of society from laborers
to politicians, it seems to be politically neglected and
even unwanted, given that it is not considered as a possible
mean to achieve long-term sustainable development, for
example as a low-carbon growth option contributing to energy
security, sustainable forest management, and poverty

In recent years, the number of studies
looking at the effect of politics on economic outcomes has
flourished. For developing economies, these studies are
useful to better understand why long overdue reforms are not
implemented. The studies analyze the overall context within
which reforms are being implemented and the underlying
incentive framework. However, it seems difficult to make
such studies actionable, especially in sectors where donors

Although many studies have explored the
impacts of political quotas for females, often with
ambiguous results, the underlying mechanisms and long-term
effects have received little attention. This paper uses
nation-wide data from India spanning a 15-year period to
explore how reservations affect leader qualifications,
service delivery, political participation, local
accountability, and individuals willingness to contribute