This report represents a further chapter in the dialogue between the World Bank and the People's Republic of China about how to promote economic growth and protect China's environment. There are three cross-cutting issues that keep recurring throughout the analysis. These issues characterize the...

The scope and urgency of the threats to Nigeria's rural land are no secret. In 2005, a working group dedicated to formulating a national agricultural land policy began the process with a comprehensive articulation of the challenges facing Nigeria's agricultural land. The litany included...

This paper reviews past studies on the costs of land degradation in Ethiopia, with a view to drawing implications for policies, programs, and future research on sustainable land management (SLM). Given the wide range of methods and assumptions used in the studies, their findings concerning...

The purpose of this study on the enabling environment for social accountability in Mongolia is: 1) to analyze conditions that influence the ability of citizens and their organizations to promote accountability of public institutions in Mongolia; 2) to identify priority areas for policy, legal,...

The objective of this report is to provide background and context on the housing and utilities sector in Belarus, focusing in particular on Bank-funded Water, Waste management, and biomass-based district heating projects. The report aims to assess the existing Social Accountability (SA)...

With the passing of the National Rural Employment Act (NREGA) in 2005, the Government of India established a landmark provision that enables communities to act as watchdogs on local level implementation of the Government's flagship anti-poverty program. While the concept of 'social audits'...