The Romanian government recognizes that there are current and future problems related to the risk of old-age poverty among elderly farmers, and has been working on sustainable solutions to avert this risk. The main objective of this report is to provide recommendations to the policy makers in...

Over the last several years, the Government of Togo has made important advances in the area of social protection. Although Togo has had limited social insurance and social assistance programs, the economic shock and natural disasters starting in 2008 brought the need for better mechanisms of...

Until 2008, Seychelles pursued a state-led economic model of self sufficiency which ultimately proved unsustainable. In 2008, precipitated by rising global commodity prices, Seychelles entered a balance of payments and debt crisis, as international reserves were virtually depleted and external...

This report aims to provide technical assistance to the Government of Lithuania in preparation for the June 2009 budget amendment and beyond. This Public Expenditure Review (PER) includes a number of recommendations on short run fiscal consolidation (mainly through spending cuts) as well as...

The Government of the Republic of Zambia (GRZ) has an ambitious long-term vision for the nation and its people, operationalized through the national development plans. A rapid increase in public spending financed through borrowing, due to lack of a concomitant increase in public revenue, meant a...

For most of the last two decades, Ghana's economy has been on a high growth path, which has been accompanied by significant reduction in poverty. Despite this progress, large macroeconomic imbalances threaten growth and continued poverty reduction. Rapid economic growth and poverty reduction has...

A major objective of this report is to provide a deeper, more policy relevant understanding of the welfare impacts of the coffee crisis - including the effects of the crisis on household income, consumption, poverty, as well as on basic human development outcomes, such as education and child...

The objective of this study is to help the government to decide what role safety net and transfer programs should play in the coming 5 to 10 years. It seeks to answer following three questions: (i) can increased spending on transfers accelerate poverty reduction in the medium to long term?; (ii)...

The objective of this study is to help the government to decide what role safety net and transfer programs should play in the coming 5 to 10 years. It seeks to answer following three questions: (i) can increased spending on transfers accelerate poverty reduction in the medium to long term?; (ii)...

The report is intended to determine the appropriateness of the social protection system in meeting the needs of the poor in Ukraine, and what are the changes which can be instituted to improve such system. To this end, the report presents the poverty measurement in the country, assesses current...