Latin American and Caribbean countries are the most urban in the developing world and enjoy very high home ownership rates. But one look at the shantytowns clinging precariously to the hillsides around many of the region's cities is enough to know that poor housing remains a serious problem....

The present publication traces the history of the Bank's lending for urban development and discusses its approaches to current urban issues. It is intended for specialists and individuals interested in getting acquainted with the evolution of the Bank portfolio.

"Forest Resource Policy in Latin America" gathers the thinking of a score of experts on sustainable use and management of forests, including incentives for investment. The authors tackle the thorny social issues of property rights, deforestation, and forest management and ownership by indigenous...

Escaping the Poverty Trap proposes early childhood investment policies that could decisively change the prospects for the next generation of the region's poor. Contributors include Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen and Gro Harlem Brundtland, former director-general of the World Health Organization. In...

"An Unequal Democracy?: Seeing Latin America through European Eyes" is the result of a conference organized by the International Institute for Governance of Catalonia in November 2003, with support from the government of Catalonia and the Special Office in Europe of the IDB. At the conference, a...

The first part of this discussion paper attempts, within the inevitable data limitations, to present some picture of patterns of indigenous poverty over time. In addition, the first section examines some of the historical determinants that can explain the disproportionate poverty confronting...

This paper has the following main objectives: to review the actual or potential impact of land titling and cadastre programs on indigenous populations; to recommend actions that would minimize risk and ensure that land projects are tailored to the aspirations and needs of indigenous peoples; to...

The contributions included in this volume reflect both the challenges and opportunities of an incipient process of reflection and dialogue between indigenous peoples, governments and development agencies on a subject of vital importance for the approximately 40 million indigenous people of the...