The devolution of procurement responsibilities to local levels of government is increasingly occurring across South Asia. This trend is significant because increasingly localized decision-making better enables communities to hold government authorities accountable for the effectiveness of public...

The World Bank is committed to assisting developing countries raise their educational standards, part of the United Nations millennium development goals. The work includes supporting projects that explore how best to support children staying in school. One recent project was in Cambodia, where...

The government of Burundi appealed to the World Bank Institute (WBI) for help in strengthening the capacities of leadership to implement policies and programs that would achieve measurable results. The new government needed to make tough decisions on competing priorities, including allocating an...

Entrepreneurship is of fundamental importance as a catalyst for innovation, job creation, and economic well-being. Policymakers have a strong interest in promoting entrepreneurship given that its development is necessary for fighting poverty and unemployment. This paper is an initial...

This report is the final product of a project financed by a grant from the World Bank's Youth Innovation Fund developed in conjunction with representatives of the Government of Sierra Leone (GoSL) spanning the period December 2011-June 2012. The report is an advisory document to assist the GoSL...

The book clarifies many policy, and technical issues that confront resettlement policymakers, and practitioners. It provides guidance on resettlement design, implementation, and monitoring, and, it discusses resettlement issues particular to development projects in different sectors, such as...

This handbook provides an overview of the main topics that need consideration when managing the supply of biomass to large biomass power plants. It will help investors in China to develop, with assistance of local biomass supply experts, their own solutions. The focus is on biomass residues, in...

This study points out that hydroelectric plants will continue to play a prominent role in the Brazilian electric matrix. A significant portion of the potential hydroelectric plants of the country is located in the Amazon, environmentally sensitive region. The licensing of hydroelectric projects...