An efficient and affordable access to jobs, education and services is considered a fundamental element for development. However, the mobility conditions in the cities have deteriorated because of the increasing motorization and urbanization. The number of new cars that enter the cities every...

In 2005, an estimated 15.2 million people or 80 percent of the total population of the Amhara Region in Ethiopia lived in rural areas where sanitation-related indicators were low. Open defecation was common; hand washing, particularly after defecation, was practiced infrequently; and general...

Of all developing countries India has the largest number of poor, as measured by income, health, opportunities and access to basic needs. The national and state governments have carried out a number of initiatives affecting the poor. Of those initiatives, this report focuses on power sector...

Tariffs are low in Azerbaijan and need to be raised to finance badly needed network maintenance and to balance supply and demand. This study presents an analysis of the short-term impacts of a 50 percent electricity tariff increase on residential consumers. The study starts by reviewing...

The main objective of this sector work (ESW) is to provide the World Bank and the Government of Togo with a sound basis and proposals for decision-making about the main electricity sub-sector issues facing the country. The ESW therefore assesses the key challenges facing the sub-sector and...

The objectives of this study are to develop a taxonomy of the existing power market structures, as shown by the extent of vertical and horizontal unbundling found among restructured power systems, across developing countries; to design an analytical framework for assessing the desirability of...

Over the past decade, the Iranian electricity sector's ability to supply reliable service has come under increasing pressure. This is evidenced by more frequent gas supply constraints to generation plants, high levels of debt and increasing losses in the network. The key roots of the problems in...

Access to basic services plays an important role in both individual well-being and a country's economic development. For this reason, general availability of these services to citizens, regardless of income level and geographical location, has generally been viewed as an important public policy...