Tree-based production systems have enormous potential to reduce vulnerability and increase the resilience of households living in dryland regions of Sub-Saharan Africa. Trees are key providers of biomass, which is critical for many livelihood needs. Wood from trees is the leading source of energy in many dryland countries and is an important construction material. Foliage and pods from trees and shrubs are the most important source of feed for camels and goats, which are the dominant livestock species in the more arid parts of the drylands. Trees and shrubs offer enhanced sources of the...
Tree-based production systems have enormous potential to reduce vulnerability and increase the resilience of households living in dryland regions of S...
Integrated Landscape Approaches for Africa s Drylands presents emerging fi ndings on the importance of moving beyond single-sector interventions to embrace integrated landscape management that takes into account the health of the ecosystems that support human livelihoods and contribute to the resilience of rural communities in Sub-Saharan African drylands. Integrated landscape management is particularly important for these drylands because people depend on production systems that are frequently disrupted by exogenous shocks such as drought. The ecological and economic evidence presented in...
Integrated Landscape Approaches for Africa s Drylands presents emerging fi ndings on the importance of moving beyond single-sector interventions to...
As a low-income country, Ethiopia has made impressive progress in improving health outcomes. This report examines how Ethiopia's Health Extension Program (HEP) has contributed to the country's move toward Univeral Health Coverage (UHC), and to shed light on how other countries may learn from Ethiopia's experiences of HEP when designing their own path to UHC. HEP is one of the government's UHC strategies introduced in a context of limited resources and low coverage of essential health services. The key aspects of the program include the capacity building and mobilization of more than 30, 000...
As a low-income country, Ethiopia has made impressive progress in improving health outcomes. This report examines how Ethiopia's Health Extension Prog...
In countries such as the United Kingdom, the need to manage fi nances in a professional manner has been hampered by the severe fi scal constraints of the 2008 fi nancial crisis. These pressures are likely to persist in the long term as a result of an aging population and rising public expectations of the quality of public services. Whereas much attention has been paid to technical reforms to improve budgeting, expenditure control, accounting, and auditing, less attention has been given to the process of developing skilled financial managers, whose expertise is key to sustained improvement in...
In countries such as the United Kingdom, the need to manage fi nances in a professional manner has been hampered by the severe fi scal constraints of ...
As the Government of Malawi investigates options to expand access to higher education and improve the quality of higher education provision, the objective of this report is to contribute to an improved understanding of the challenges confronted by the higher education sub-sector in Malawi. The report summarizes the key findings of an in-depth study of factors affecting access and equity in the Malawian higher education sub-sector, the quality and relevance of educational outputs, the financing of the sector, and the frameworks structuring governance of the sector and its management. The study...
As the Government of Malawi investigates options to expand access to higher education and improve the quality of higher education provision, the objec...
The global movement toward universal health coverage (UHC) is accompanied by requests for large increases in government health spending in some countries. This combined with the global economic situation and stagnant economic growth across many low- and middle-income countries make it more critical than ever to place health financing discussions firmly in the context of macroeconomic and fiscal realities. Unfortunately, there is often a disconnect in decision making, with key fiscal decisions made in the absence of a clear understanding on the one hand of the potential consequences for the...
The global movement toward universal health coverage (UHC) is accompanied by requests for large increases in government health spending in some countr...
The objective of this report is to inform an improved understanding of expenditure allocations and processes, the quality of service delivery in terms of inputs and outputs, and educational outcomes associated with primary education in Malawi. The report will also assess the government's own diagnosis of challenges in the primary education sub-sector, and the reform program intended to address them. The findings of this report are intended to inform discussions as to how to strengthen the government program and associated financing mechanisms, to enhance the likelihood of success.
The objective of this report is to inform an improved understanding of expenditure allocations and processes, the quality of service delivery in terms...
Over 60 million people are currently displaced due to conflict or violence, and about 140 million are exposed to natural disasters. As part of humanitarian responses to those affected populations, growing attention is paid to cash transfers as a form of assistance. Cash is being strongly advocated by several actors, and for good reasons: they have the potential to provide choice, empower people, and spark economic multipliers. But what is their comparative performance relative to in-kind transfers? Are there objectives for which there are particular evidence gaps? And what should be...
Over 60 million people are currently displaced due to conflict or violence, and about 140 million are exposed to natural disasters. As part of huma...
More than 200 million people living in dryland regions of Sub-Saharan Africa make their living from agriculture. Most are exposed to weather shocks, especially drought, that can decimate their incomes, destroy their assets, and plunge them into a poverty trap from which it is diffi cult to emerge. Their lack of resilience in the face of these shocks can be attributed in large part to the poor performance of agriculture on which their livelihood depends. Opportunities exist to improve the fortunes of farming households in the drylands. Improved farming technologies that can increase and...
More than 200 million people living in dryland regions of Sub-Saharan Africa make their living from agriculture. Most are exposed to weather shocks, e...
South Asia Region (SAR) has decreased maternal mortality ratio (MMR) by 65 percent between 1990 and 2013, which was the greatest progress among all world regions. Such achievement implores the question, What made SAR stand out against what is predicted by standard socioeconomic outcomes? Improving Maternal and Reproductive Health in South Asia: Drivers and Enablers identifies the interventions and factors that contributed to reducing MMR and improving maternal and reproductive health (MRH) outcomes in SAR. In this study, the analytical framework assumes that improving MRH outcomes is...
South Asia Region (SAR) has decreased maternal mortality ratio (MMR) by 65 percent between 1990 and 2013, which was the greatest progress among all wo...
