Female labor force participation in the Mashreq is exceptionally low, a problem likely to be exacerbated by the Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This report calls for action in the following areas: stronger economic growth, effective policy action to close legal gaps, promotion of more...

Myanmar exhibits poor health outcomes and lags regional peers. Myanmar's Human Capital Index (HCI) score is 0.47, compared to a regional average of 0.60. Every year, 2,000 pregnant women and 50,000 children die from preventable causes, and 29 percent of children under age 5 are stunted. While...

The main objective of the report is to provide recommendations for policy makers and sector managers to help improve service delivery and the resultant outcomes in primary education. The fundamental premise of this analysis stems from Punjab Social Sector Public Expenditure Review conducted in...

This study "Opportunities for Improving Urban Service Delivery in South Sudan: A Tale of Two Cities" comprises a 3 part series. Part I-Service Delivery Status Report-gives a general overview of the service delivery models currently operating the country. Part II-International Case Studies...

Urbanization has provided opportunities for economic growth and poverty reduction in countries all over the world. Cities are well positioned to provide services due to the economies of scale that the density and spatial concentration of people and firms allow. That being said, if not carefully...

Bangladesh has set up an ambitious target of attaining middle-income status by 2021. To achieve this objective, the economy needs to grow at a sustained rate of 7.5-8 percent annually and this would in turn require an increase in private investment to at least 26.6 percent of GDP from 22 percent...

This study focuses on Bamako, the capital of Mali, that dominates the country's urban landscape. Acentral premise of policy-making in cities is that the flexibility, practicality, and focus of local governments make them ideal players to understand and respond to the needs of their citizens....

The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport (MoEYS) and the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), together with key Development Partners, conducted a Public Expenditure Tracking Survey (PETS) and Quality of Service Delivery Survey (QSDS) for the education sector in Cambodia. PETS identify...