About two years ago, an effort was launched to try and harmonize the World Bank's considerable experience with community participation in a number of African countries. This effort was initiated by a group of organizations including the Benin National Research Institute, the Benin National...

As a result of two years of constructive dialogue between the World Bank (WB), government agencies and grassroots' associations involved in the advancement of women, a workshop for the Promotion of the societal status of women in Francophone Sub-Saharan Africa was organized in March 1998 in...

The note presents an overview on gender strategies for Sub-Saharan Africa, and, illustrates the direct relevance of specific, regional gender characteristics, to its socioeconomic development. Strategic objectives point at increasing women's effective access to financial services, particularly...

Environmental degradation primarily affects the poor, both in rural and urban areas. Reversing the downward spiral of this degradation is essential to any strategy for reducing poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa. This study outlines the World Bank's strategy for improving its assistance to SSA...

This report, taking action for poverty reduction in Sub-Saharan Africa, commissioned in 1993 by the Bank's Africa region differs from others in that it focuses on the Bank's operational program to reduce poverty. It analyses the connections between its poverty assessments, country assistance...

The institutional crisis affecting economic management in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is a crisis of structural disconnect between formal institutions transplanted from outside and indigenous institutions born of the culture and traditional values of the African past. Building on the findings and...

The review of the literature demonstrates the variation, complexity and inter-relatedness of the factors that constrain female education in Africa. These factors are similar to yet different from those exhibited elsewhere in the developing world. There is a growing body of scholarly review of...

This report compares poverty levels and trends in sub - Saharan Africa with the rest of the world. It then uses national aggregate indicators to look at poverty trends and levels across African countries. This section makes use of demographic, economic and social indicators from the Bank's...