Civil service reconstruction is important in post-conflict countries because conflict erodes institutions and civil service capacity. And because successful reconstruction-in all sectors-requires domestic capacity to implement projects, a weak civil service undermines overall reconstruction...

The Arab Spring protests marked the beginning of a new era in the Syrian Arab Republic in 2011. Minor public protests began almost immediately after the initial protests in Cairo in January 2011. The first large demonstrations began two months later in March, and the following months saw a...

"The authors examine the distributional implications of selective compliance in sample surveys, whereby households with different incomes are not equally likely to participate. They discuss poverty and inequality measurement implications for monotonically decreasing and inverted-U...

More than 10 years after the overthrow of Saddam, the impatience of the Iraqi people and government for transformation of their economy to advance shared prosperity is growing. The government has expressed the desire for the World Bank Group to enhance its role in this transformation. This note...

Throughout the 20th century, the debate on women's rights and their role in Afghan society has been closely interlinked with the national destiny. Women not only carry the burden of symbolizing the honor of the family, but often are seen as embodying the national honor as well. Gender has thus...

Hurricane Ivan struck Grenada on September 7, 2004. The international and local communities responded with a massive reconstruction and recovery effort. Although the job is far from finished, the reconstruction to date is substantial. Large-scale efforts have been mounted by Grenadian Government...