This book offers an original perspective on HIV and AIDS as a development issue in South Asia, a region with a heterogeneous epidemic and estimated national HIV prevalence rates of up to 0.5 percent. The analysis challenges the common perception of HIV and AIDS, which has been shaped to a large...

There are many important questions to ask about the widespread push toward world-class status for universities around the world. Why is 'world-class' the standard to which a nation should aspire to build at least a subset of its tertiary education system? Might many countries be better served by...

The health workforce plays a key role in increasing access to health services for the poor in developing countries. Recent evidence has demonstrated an important link between staffing levels and both service delivery and health outcomes. Various global and country-level estimates have also shown...

The school-based management (SBM) has become a very popular movement over the last decade. The World Bank's work on school-based management emerged from a need to better define the concept, review the evidence, support impact assessments in various countries, and provide feedback to project...

This review highlights three main findings. First, school feeding programs in low-income countries exhibit large variation in cost, with concomitant opportunities for cost containment. Second, as countries get richer, school feeding costs become a much smaller proportion of the investment in...

The case studies in this book provide useful information on the characteristics of students and the performance of various types of schools that benefit from public-private partnerships. While these case studies are empirically grounded, their results are not necessarily of universal...

This book began in 2003 during the initial formulations of China's 11th five-year plan, which covers the period 2006-10. During the entire period, the rural health Analytic and Advisory Activities (AAA) team analyzed the sector and debated reform options with government officials and scholars....

Indonesia is at a critical stage in the development and modernization of its health system. The government of Indonesia has made major improvements over the past four decades, but struggles to maintain and continue to improve important health outcomes for the poor and achieve the Millennium...

This book seeks to achieve a balance, describing challenges that are being faced as well as developments that are underway. It seeks a balance in terms of the voices heard, including not just voices of the North commenting on the South, but voices from the South, and in concert with the North....

Education plays a central role in preparing individuals to enter the labor force, as well as equipping them with the skills to engage in lifelong learning experiences. The objective of this study is to review what is known about the role of education in improving labor market outcomes, with a...