The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank introduced the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) process in 1999 to strengthen the poverty alleviation focus of their assistance to low-income countries. At the IMF, the introduction of the PRSP was accompanied by the transformation...

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank introduced the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) process in 1999 to strengthen the poverty alleviation focus of their assistance to low-income countries. This report reviews Tajikistan s experience with the PRSP process, focusing on...

The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) launched the poverty reduction strategy (PRS) initiative in 1999 to improve the planning, implementation, and monitoring of public actions geared toward reducing poverty. The PRS paper and poverty reduction and growth facility (PRGF) were...

The Global Monitoring Report 2013: Rural-Urban Dynamics and the Millennium Development Goals examines rural-urban disparities in the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and how urbanization, if managed well, can contribute to the attainment of these goals. The report provides...

The experience of many countries around the world clearly shows that while financial sector development can spur economic growth, financial fragility and instability can seriously harm growth. Following the financial crises of the late 1990s, there has been increasing interest in the systematic...

The global financial crisis, the most severe since the great depression, is rapidly turning into a human and development crisis. The financial crisis originated in the developed world, but it has spread quickly and inexorably to the developing world, sparing no country. Increasingly it appears...

What is the human cost of the global economic crisis? How many people will the crisis prevent from escaping poverty, and how many will remain hungry? How many more infants will die? Are children being pulled out of schools, not getting the education they need to become more productive adults and...

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the Monterrey Consensus have created a powerful global compact for development. But the continued credibility of this compact hinges on fostering momentum in its implementation. With the five-year stocktaking of the implementation of the Millennium...