This paper presents such a stocktaking of land reform and farm restructuring in four countries (Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, and Moldova) that have had particular difficulties with land reform, farm restructuring, farm performance, or rural poverty. It is organized by case studies, each of...

While the countries of Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union have made significant progress in reducing poverty in the past five years, poverty and vulnerability remain significant problems. More than 60 million are poor and more than 150 million are vulnerable. Growth, Poverty, and...

This book documents the experiences of men, women, and children in Armenia, Georgia, the Kyrgyz Republic, Latvia, Moldova, Tajikistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan as they struggle with the dramatic changes in lifestyle and extreme poverty that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union. Based on...

The purpose of this study, carried out in the Kyrgyz Republic in 1999, was to investigate the impact of socioeconomic change on the characteristics and functions of the social networks of poor and non-poor households in rural and urban communities. A better understanding of the role of informal...

What is the relationship between employment and conflict in fragile states? Although this question cannot be definitively answered, a large body of research suggests that in countries emerging from conflict, peace is likelier to endure if growth can be rapidly restored and translated into...

Around the world, countries are becoming urbanized at an astonishing pace. As countries develop economically, their economies shift from mainly rural and agrarian to increasingly urban and nonagricultural. This rural-urban transformation presents both opportunities and challenges for...

This report, Europe and Central Asia - Missing Women in the South Caucasus : Local perceptions and proposed solutions, discusses research conducted on skewed sex ratios in the South Caucasus. It discusses (i) the factors that encourage sex selection in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, (ii)...

This study answers two questions about power sector reform in Moldova. First, did reform affect the poor and the non-poor differently? Second, are household consumption patterns different for private and public distribution networks? The study concludes that reforms have not disproportionately...