Early childhood, from birth through school entry, was largely invisible worldwide as a policy concern for much of the twentieth century. Children, in the eyes of most countries, were 'appendages' of their parents or simply embedded in the larger family structure. The child did not emerge as a separate social entity until school age (typically six or seven). 'Africa's Future, Africa's Challenge: Early Childhood Care and Development in Sub-Saharan Africa' focuses on the 130 million children south of the Sahel in this 0-6 age group. This book, the first of its kind, presents a balanced...

This volume presents a framework designed to help international development partners consider the relevance of political economy issues for their programmatic support to decentralization and local government reform. The intention is neither to advocate decentralization in general or in any particular form, nor to presume or privilege any particular decentralization objective. Instead, the purpose is to document the potential value of better understanding how (primarily national and intergovernmental) political and institutional dynamics do or could affect the scope for realizing...

This Workbook offers a step-by-step guide for city officials in proactively planning for natural disasters and climate change impacts. It is based on learning from three cities in Vietnam - Ha Noi, Can Tho, and Dong Hoi - that developed Local Resilience Action Plans (LRAPs) containing a set of prioritized actions, related to both infrastructure as well as policy/ regulatory and socioeconomic actions. These LRAPs are based on vulnerability and risks assessments, a gaps analysis drawing on an inventory of planned investments and policy changes, and multi-stakeholder priority setting. The...

The Cash Dividend: The Rise of Cash Transfer Programs in Sub-Saharan Africa assimilates results of a thorough review of the recent use of cash transfer programs in Sub-Saharan Africa. Drawing from sources including program documentation, policy papers, peer-reviewed publications, and interviews, it paints a picture of the evolution and current state of cash transfers, which include unconditional and conditional cash transfers and emergency- and development-focused transfers. It presents analysis from data collected and describes broad trends in design features and implementation, including...

The development of an effective state, a reliable infrastructure, and a dynamic private sector has long been hampered by political economy obstacles in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Resilience of an African Giant identifies these obstacles, which prevent the country from realizing its economic potential as the second-largest country in Sub-Saharan Africa, and outlines how they can be and in some cases have been overcome. Four instruments that have been used to boost economic development in the past and that can contribute to more development in the future are explored in the book:...

Les principaux chapitres du present ouvrage correspondent a neuf etudes de cas qui illustrent ce qu'il faut faire pour creer et maintenir des universites de recherche. Les redacteurs ont choisi specifiquement ces etudes de cas en fonction de plusieurs criteres. Nous avons tout d'abord veille a un bon equilibre regional en incluant des exemples d'au moins cinq regions sur quatre continents: Amerique latine (Chili et Mexique), Asie du Sud (Inde), Asie de l'Est et du Sud-Est (Chine; RAS de Hong Kong, Chine; Republique de Coree; Malaisie; Singapour), Europe de l'Est (Federation de Russie) et...

Access to well-secured, well-zoned and well-serviced land is a crucial condition for industrial and commercial investment. In many developing countries, where the land market remains underdeveloped and the land governance framework is weak, systemic policy and institutional reforms are needed to bring security, efficiency and transparency to the process of business access to land. Land policy reform is challenging, politically, institutionally and technically. It must balance business, social and environmental imperatives to succeed. Empirical evidence suggests that a pragmatic approach...

This report contributes to the debate about the quality of education and returns to education investment in Latin America and the Caribbean (LCR). It aims to improve our understanding of the links from investment in education and training to labor market outcomes and to provide a basis for policy choices that will strengthen future outcomes. The report is organized in four main chapters. Chapter 2 documents the recent downturn in education earnings premia using standard 'mincerian' regressions based on household survey data. Chapter 3 explores the underlying supply-side and demand-side...

Millions of migrants worldwide send billions of dollars in remittances each year to their families or communities of origin. In many developing countries, remittances are an important source of family and national income and also are the largest source of external financing. Remittances are better targeted at the needs of the poor than foreign aid or foreign direct investment (FDI) as recipients often depend on remittances to cover daily living expenses, to provide a cushion against emergencies, or to make small investments in business or education. Therefore, international remittance...

Coming out of civil war, Mozambique had an enormous education deficit. In 1997, five years after the peace treaty, 80 percent of the labor force reported to have no education at all, and school enrollment outside the large cities was miserable. Since then, Mozambique has come a long way in improving access to lower and upper primary through sustained investments in education infrastructure and introduction of important reforms. The primary education reform programs implemented in 2004, combined with a continuing program of school construction and teacher training, resulted in a 70% increase...