This report was prepared by Mr. Kerfalla Yansane, a member of the Committee for Development Policy, as a background paper for deliberations by the Committee at its seventh session. The first part of the report reviews the status and trends in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in...

This report was prepared by Ms. Suchitra Punyaratabandhu, a member of the Committee for Development Policy, as a background paper for deliberations by the Committee at its sixth session (29 March-2 April 2004) on how to evaluate progress towards good governance in the context of the...

This study critically evaluates analytical models presently used to estimate the cost of achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) from sources including the UN Millennium Project, the UN Development Programme, the World Bank and the Zedillo Commission. Effective strategic choices for...

The current development policy focus on poverty reduction is erroneous. Historically, successful development policy—from the late fifteenth century until the beginning of the twenty-first—has achieved structural change away from dependence on raw materials and agriculture, adding specialized...

The recent revision of the World Bank’s global poverty estimates based on a new $1.25 (2005 PPP) poverty line underlines their unreliability and lack of meaningfulness. It is very difficult to justify various aspects of the Bank’s approach. In the short term, less weight should be given to...