The need for subnational demographic, social, economic, and fiscal data in designing effective intergovernmental fiscal systems is becoming increasingly evident. In Central and Eastern European countries, the legacy of the region's communist past are information systems rooted in the centralized economy. Such an approach becomes less acceptable as economic issues become more complex and subnational governments in these transition economies become responsible for the delivery of local services. As political imperatives support increasingly democratic forms of governance in which people's needs...

Produced by the Urban Institute for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the World Bank Institute, the sourcebook gives access to a wealth of knowledge and information on intergovernmental finance issues in Central and Eastern Europe by providing electronic links to a large number of documents included on a CD-ROM. The documents discuss basic concepts and principles, and describe the evolution of intergovernmental finance in the countries of the region, which include: Albania, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Macedonia, Poland, and Romania. The printed...

'Public Health in the Middle East and North Africa' documents the main highlights and findings from the Middle East Regional Symposium, Meeting the Public Health Challenges of the 21st Century in the Middle East and North Africa/Eastern Mediterranean Region, held in Beirut in June 2002. The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is currently undergoing both epidemiological and demographical transitions that are resulting in changing patterns of mortality and morbidity. Chronic and non-communicable diseases and injuries now account for a growing share of the overall burden of ill health....