Policymakers often struggle to promote improvements in the well-being of the poorest individuals and families. The challenges are many. People living in extreme poverty frequently have multiple needs that require a range of services. They also may face special psychological and social challenges...

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have been adopted by the international community as a series of development targets to be accomplished over the period 1990-2015. The MDGs are an expanded set of the original International Development Goals (IDGs), which were initially put forward by the...

"The authors examine the empirical evidence in support of the poverty trap view of underdevelopment. They calibrate simple aggregate growth models in which poverty traps can arise due to either low saving or low technology at low levels of development. They then use these models to assess the...

Civil society organizations (CSOs) play a prominent role in conflict-affected and fragile states. In the absence of capable or credible public institutions due to conflict or weak policy environments, CSOs tend to substitute for public institutions and become primary providers of basic social...

The country study follows a framework that examines three dimensions of capacity building in the public sector: (1) institutional capacity, the framework of goals, incentives, rewards, and sanctions within which organizations, groups, and individuals operate; (2) organizational capacity, groups...