This note analyzes whether and how the country's rising urbanization levels (measured primarily by population density) are associated with nonfarm job creation and poverty reduction. By focusing on Rwanda's 416 geographic sectors for the decade from 2002 and 2012, the analysis shows that,...

The overall objective of the Maputo Urban Poverty and Inclusive Growth Study is to inform the municipal governments of Maputo and Matola in the Greater Maputo Area (GMA) on how to better target and finance urban poverty reduction programs by building critical knowledge on urban poverty and...

In 2006-07, the Water and Sanitation Program-South Asia (WSP-SA) initiated a research toidentify barriers to service delivery for the urban poor. The research included a review ofvarious initiatives from across the globe that have resulted in improved service delivery for theurban poor and...

In recent decades, economic growth in the Dominican Republic (DR) has been steady. However, growth has not occurred in such a way as to make the benefits widely and evenly available. In fact, although the DR economy grew faster than that of other LAC countries before the Covid-19 pandemic, its...

Gender gaps in Togo cut across many dimensions. Inequality starts in childhood, when girls are disadvantaged in access to schooling because of prevalent social norms and gender roles. It continues into adolescence, when a larger share of girls starts dropping out of school, unable to continue...

This report -- the Central African Republic's (CAR's) first ever poverty assessment -- draws on unparalleled microdata to propose practical strategies for lifting Central Africans out of poverty. Against the backdrop of a wide range of development challenges -- including persistent low growth,...

This report aims to map poverty and inequality in Sudan and would be representative of the 18 states and 131 localities of Sudan. The poverty mapping technique is based on a small area estimation (SAE) technique developed by the World Bank to derive estimates of geographic poverty and...

Rice is an important agricultural product and food staple in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), especially for its three low-income members - Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Myanmar. These countries are net exporters of rice, similar to their more advanced neighbors, Thailand and Vietnam, but their rice...

Moldova has experienced rapid economic growth in the past decade, which has been accompanied by reductions in poverty and good performance in shared prosperity. Nonetheless, Moldova remains one of the poorest countries in Europe and faces challenges in sustaining the progress. The challenges for...