'Administrative Capacity in the New EU Member States' reviews progress made in the development of public management systems capable of meeting European standards in the new member states of the European Union (EU), looking into the people, systems, and service delivery aspects of public management systems. The new member states face considerable challenges improving fiscal management, building absorption capacity of rapidly increasing levels of EU structural funds, and enhancing economic competitiveness making essential the building of high-quality public management systems. The study applies...

Vocational education is often ignored during discussions of secondary education reform even though it accounts for between 25 percent and 79 percent of upper secondary enrollment in the former centrally-planned countries of the European Union. Based on information, data, and feedback from most of these countries, this paper develops a set of propositions about vocational education reform, not with a view to prescribing a detailed 'one-size-fits-all' strategy, but rather it derives some principles that continued reform of vocational education could take into account, to the benefit of fiscal...

This study analyzes the performance of social assistance and family benefit programs in eight new member states of the European Union from the perspective of fiscal impact and effectiveness. It is based on household survey data for six countries, as well as budget data and information on program design collected at the national level.It finds that, although social assistance programs in the new member states are small in terms of coverage and expenditure levels (reaching 2 to 5 percent of the population), the programs are an important safety net for the poor. Programs are relatively well...

Regional economic development is an interest of policymakers throughout the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region. One of its principal aims is to reduce poverty in lagging regions by stimulating local economic growth. However, problems exist with this approach. First, it may miss the target. Although geographical concentrations of poverty exist, poor people also live in regions that are on average rich. Second, the sources of the problem may be misdiagnosed. Poverty is not only related to where people are, but to who people are. In ECA, poverty is associated with low levels of education and...

All development is ultimately about change, and this requires communication interventions. Communication must be framed in an integral 'two-way' process that involves stakeholders, accounts for their perspectives, and understands their socio-political context. This two-way process constitutes a new communication approach, providing a better understanding of the development context, tailoring development initiatives during design and implementation, and contributing to more sustainable results. This paper presents the methodology used by the Development Communication Division (DevComm) fo the...

'Female Genital Cutting, Women's Health, and Development' provides a comprehensive understanding of the issue of femal genital mutiliation/cutting scope, challenges, opportunities, best practices, and how communities, development agencies, and national governments can work together to eliminate the practices on the ground. The World Bank is committed to assisting governments in ending the practice of female genital cutting, as the practice has direct, negative impact on the health and well-being of women around the world. The recommendations set forth in this paper take advantage of the World...

Although host governments and investors may share one common objective the desire for projects to generate high levels of revenue their other goals are not entirely aligned. Host governments aim to maximize rent for their country over time, while achieving other development and socioeconomic objectives. Investors aim to ensure that the return on investment is consistent with the risk associated with the project, and with their corporations' strategic objectives. To reconcile these often conflicting objectives, more and more countries rely on transparent institutional arrangements and...

This report assesses the status and practice of higher education quality assurance in Sub-Saharan Africa, focusing on degree-granting tertiary institutions. A main finding is that structured national-level quality assurance processes in African higher education are a very recent phenomenon and that most countries face major capacity constrains. Only about a third of them have established structured national quality assurance mechanism, often only as recently as during the last ten years. Activities differ in their scope and rigor, ranging from simple licensing of institutions by the minister...

This World Bank Working Paper discusses equity and efficiency issues in secondary education transitions in Sub-Saharan Africa. Its main purpose is to identify and analyze national, regional, and local measures that may lead to the development of more efficient and seamless transitions between post-primary education pathways. In most African countries student transition from primary to junior secondary is still accompanied by significant repetition and dropout. Transitions within the secondary cycle also cause significant losses and should use more effective assessment and selection...

This study is based on research on secondary textbook and school library provision in Botswana, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Togo, as well as existing recent country reports on textbook provision and an extensive desk research. Considerable variations exist in Sub-Saharan African textbook requirements needed to meet secondary curriculum specifications just as significant differences exist between and within countries in regard to the average price of recommended textbooks. Some countries have no approved textbooks list. This World Bank Working Paper...