Crime rates in Papua New Guinea's capital city of Port Moresby are among the highest in the world. Few youth work, and good jobs are scarce. In 2013, the National Capital District Commission partnered with the World Bank to implement the Urban Youth Employment Project. The project offers...

Analysis of Sri Lanka’s recent progress in reducing poverty and inequality is directly relevant to the new government’s development agenda. The newly sworn-in president ran for election on a platform that featured, among other goals, inclusive growth and support to the agricultural sector....

This paper examines the relationship between health aid and infant mortality, using data from 118 countries between 1973 and 2004. Health aid has a statistically significant effect on infant mortality: doubling per capita health aid is associated with a 2 percent reduction in the infant...

This paper investigates the occupational mobility and job quality of young people in Indonesia and relates this to the concept of “scarring.” The concept of labor market scarring in this paper is the occurrence of low or zero returns to certain types of work (for example, self-employment)....

This discussion paper presents an analysis of the humanitarian response following Tropical Cyclone (TC) Winston, and looks specifically at the role social protection played in improving disaster response and complementing the humanitarian assistance effort in Fiji. The paper also explores the...

The Pacific island countries (PICs) are some of the most exposed to frequent natural disasters and climate shocks, and their vulnerability is increasing due to mounting effects of climate change as well as demographic and economic forces. Natural disasters hit the poorest hardest and have...

This paper studies likely macroeconomic impacts and social consequences of devaluation of the Seychelles rupee. Analyzing potential welfare impacts of devaluation ex ante is crucial for policy making, since information obtained from such analyses would allow policy makers to design...