Favorable global economic conditions supported a turnaround in economic activity in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2017, easing pressure on weak policy frameworks.
... See More + Output growth rebounded to an estimated 2.6 percent after decelerating to 1.5 percent in 2016 amid challenging external and domestic conditions. Notwithstanding the recent upturn in economic activity, growth remained well below its pre–financial crisis average of around 5 percent; moreover, per capita growth was negative for a second consecutive year. Important near and longer term vulnerabilities remain in many of the region's economies: eroded policy buffers constrain the scope for countries to formulate an adequate policy response to adverse shocks; public debt relative to gross domestic product (GDP) is rising, with implications for debt sustainability; employment opportunities severely lag the growing labor force, and livelihoods and economic fortunes are still tied to commodity price shocks and production disruptions, underscoring the limited economic diversification in the region; and poverty is widespread.
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Favorable global economic conditions supported a turnaround in economic activity in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2017, easing pressure on weak policy frameworks.
... See More + Output growth rebounded to an estimated 2.6 percent after decelerating to 1.5 percent in 2016 amid challenging external and domestic conditions. Notwithstanding the recent upturn in economic activity, growth remained well below its pre–financial crisis average of around 5 percent; moreover, per capita growth was negative for a second consecutive year. Important near and longer term vulnerabilities remain in many of the region's economies: eroded policy buffers constrain the scope for countries to formulate an adequate policy response to adverse shocks; public debt relative to gross domestic product (GDP) is rising, with implications for debt sustainability; employment opportunities severely lag the growing labor force, and livelihoods and economic fortunes are still tied to commodity price shocks and production disruptions, underscoring the limited economic diversification in the region; and poverty is widespread.
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Progress towards gender equality in the Middle East and North Africa (MNA) region is a descriptive note on progress and gaps towards gender equality and women’s empowerment in the region, produced to provide the situational context to the World Bank Group’s regional gender action plan (RGAP) FY18-23.
... See More + It shows that the MNA region has made considerable gains in women’s access to education and health, and identifies persistent challenges that remain. Specifically, gaps need to be addressed in the areas of women’s economic opportunities (labor force participation, financial inclusion), women’s voice and agency (political participation, gender based violence, etc.), and gender specific vulnerabilities in conflict and fragility, as well as women’s participation in reconstruction efforts. In addition, the note shows that development outcomes are correlated with the larger issue of norms and stereotypes related to women’s role in society, another area in which MNA lags behind other regions.
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Working Paper 121679 SEP 01, 2017
Atamanov,Aziz; Lundvall,Jonna Maria; De Paz Nieves,Carmen; Constant,Samantha M.Disclosed
This note aims to provide information and analysis as a basis for a better understanding of the challenges and constraints of achieving gender equality in Bolivia, with a special focus on the intersectionality between gender and ethnicity.
... See More + Combining and analyzing existing evidence and new data, it seeks to document gender-specific disparities in development outcomes, highlight opportunities and constraints to women’s empowerment, and identify areas in which continuing knowledge gaps are particularly important to understand and address gender inequalities. The analysis in this note suggests that: there is important progress in development outcomes for women, in their access to services and to decision-making spaces; the intersection of gender and ethnicity deepens the gaps in some development outcomes in Bolivia; women feel discriminated against in different aspects of their lives, in particular indigenous women. Not having access to economic opportunities limit women’s agency; and while women with higher levels of agency are able to more fully take advantage of existing opportunities.
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In 2013 the World Bank set itself two ambitious goals: to end extreme poverty within a generation and to boost the prosperity of the bottom 40 percent of the population worldwide.
... See More + In Latin America, the significance of both goals cannot be overstated. Indigenous people account for about 8 percent of the population, but represent 14 percent of the poor and over 17 percent of all Latin Americans living on less than United States (U.S.) $2.50 a day. Though the World Bank has chosen two general indicators for measuring progress toward its twin goals - the proportion of people living on less than U.S. $1.25 a day (purchasing power parity, 2005) and the growth of real capital income among the bottom 40 percent of the population - this report acknowledges that these indicators offer only a partial view of the obstacles preventing many indigenous peoples from achieving their chosen paths of development. The report notes that in Bolivia, Quechua women are 28 percent less likely to complete secondary school than a nonindigenous Bolivian woman, while Quechua men are 14 percent less likely to complete secondary school than non-indigenous men. This report seeks to contribute to these discussions by offering a brief, preliminary glance at the state of indigenous peoples in Latin America at the end of the first decade of the millennium. The authors believe that this is the first, necessary step to start working on a concerted and evidence-based agenda for subsequent work in critical areas of development such as education, health, and land rights. The report makes a critical analysis of the many inconsistencies present in much of the data, which in many cases are intrinsic to the difficulties of approaching indigenous issues with tools and data sets not originally intended to account for or include indigenous peoples’ voices and special needs. The report is divided into six sections. The first part, how many and where they are provides a demographic overview of indigenous people in the region, including population, geographic distribution, number of ethnic groups, and indigenous languages. The second section, mobility, migration, and urbanization describes a growing tendency among indigenous people to migrate to Latin American cities, which are becoming critical, though largely ignored, areas for political participation, and market articulation. The third section, development with identity briefly discusses the concept of poverty and reflects on how the use of predominantly Western indicators of well-being might condition the understanding of indigenous peoples’ situations and needs. The fourth and fifth sections broaden this argument by focusing on two particular instances of exclusion - the market and education.
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In 2013 the World Bank set itself two ambitious goals: to end extreme poverty within a generation and to boost the prosperity of the bottom 40 percent of the population worldwide.
... See More + In Latin America, the significance of both goals cannot be overstated. Indigenous people account for about 8 percent of the population, but represent 14 percent of the poor and over 17 percent of all Latin Americans living on less than United States (U.S.) $2.50 a day. Though the World Bank has chosen two general indicators for measuring progress toward its twin goals - the proportion of people living on less than U.S. $1.25 a day (purchasing power parity, 2005) and the growth of real capital income among the bottom 40 percent of the population - this report acknowledges that these indicators offer only a partial view of the obstacles preventing many indigenous peoples from achieving their chosen paths of development. The report notes that in Bolivia, Quechua women are 28 percent less likely to complete secondary school than a nonindigenous Bolivian woman, while Quechua men are 14 percent less likely to complete secondary school than non-indigenous men. This report seeks to contribute to these discussions by offering a brief, preliminary glance at the state of indigenous peoples in Latin America at the end of the first decade of the millennium. The authors believe that this is the first, necessary step to start working on a concerted and evidence-based agenda for subsequent work in critical areas of development such as education, health, and land rights. The report makes a critical analysis of the many inconsistencies present in much of the data, which in many cases are intrinsic to the difficulties of approaching indigenous issues with tools and data sets not originally intended to account for or include indigenous peoples’ voices and special needs. The report is divided into six sections. The first part, how many and where they are provides a demographic overview of indigenous people in the region, including population, geographic distribution, number of ethnic groups, and indigenous languages. The second section, mobility, migration, and urbanization describes a growing tendency among indigenous people to migrate to Latin American cities, which are becoming critical, though largely ignored, areas for political participation, and market articulation. The third section, development with identity briefly discusses the concept of poverty and reflects on how the use of predominantly Western indicators of well-being might condition the understanding of indigenous peoples’ situations and needs. The fourth and fifth sections broaden this argument by focusing on two particular instances of exclusion - the market and education.
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In 2013 the World Bank set itself two ambitious goals: to end extreme poverty within a generation and to boost the prosperity of the bottom 40 percent of the population worldwide.
... See More + In Latin America, the significance of both goals cannot be overstated. Indigenous people account for about 8 percent of the population, but represent 14 percent of the poor and over 17 percent of all Latin Americans living on less than United States (U.S.) $2.50 a day. Though the World Bank has chosen two general indicators for measuring progress toward its twin goals - the proportion of people living on less than U.S. $1.25 a day (purchasing power parity, 2005) and the growth of real capital income among the bottom 40 percent of the population - this report acknowledges that these indicators offer only a partial view of the obstacles preventing many indigenous peoples from achieving their chosen paths of development. The report notes that in Bolivia, Quechua women are 28 percent less likely to complete secondary school than a nonindigenous Bolivian woman, while Quechua men are 14 percent less likely to complete secondary school than non-indigenous men. This report seeks to contribute to these discussions by offering a brief, preliminary glance at the state of indigenous peoples in Latin America at the end of the first decade of the millennium. The authors believe that this is the first, necessary step to start working on a concerted and evidence-based agenda for subsequent work in critical areas of development such as education, health, and land rights. The report makes a critical analysis of the many inconsistencies present in much of the data, which in many cases are intrinsic to the difficulties of approaching indigenous issues with tools and data sets not originally intended to account for or include indigenous peoples’ voices and special needs. The report is divided into six sections. The first part, how many and where they are provides a demographic overview of indigenous people in the region, including population, geographic distribution, number of ethnic groups, and indigenous languages. The second section, mobility, migration, and urbanization describes a growing tendency among indigenous people to migrate to Latin American cities, which are becoming critical, though largely ignored, areas for political participation, and market articulation. The third section, development with identity briefly discusses the concept of poverty and reflects on how the use of predominantly Western indicators of well-being might condition the understanding of indigenous peoples’ situations and needs. The fourth and fifth sections broaden this argument by focusing on two particular instances of exclusion - the market and education.
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This note aims to provide information and analysis as a basis for a better understanding of the challenges and constraints of achieving gender equality in Bolivia, with a special focus on the intersectionality between gender and ethnicity.
... See More + Combining and analyzing existing evidence and new data, it seeks to document gender-specific disparities in development outcomes, highlight opportunities and constraints to women’s empowerment, and identify areas in which continuing knowledge gaps are particularly important to understand and address gender inequalities. The analysis in this note suggests that: there is important progress in development outcomes for women, in their access to services and to decision-making spaces; the intersection of gender and ethnicity deepens the gaps in some development outcomes in Bolivia; women feel discriminated against in different aspects of their lives, in particular indigenous women. Not having access to economic opportunities limit women’s agency; and while women with higher levels of agency are able to more fully take advantage of existing opportunities.
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Effective policy making hinges on information - information that guides governments as to whether they are doing the right things, the right way, and how they might be done better.
... See More + Strong Monitoring And Evaluation (M&E) systems provide the means to compile and integrate this valuable information into the policy cycle, and consequently serve as an important contribution to sound governance and accountable public policies. Better evidence and M&E systems are valuable tools to ensure greater policy efficiency and effectiveness in terms of coverage, targeting, and delivery of services, and thus critical for achieving poverty reduction and shared prosperity. M&E systems rely on relevant, timely, reliable and user friendly information. Progress in developing systematic M&E frameworks and models across the Latin America and Caribbean region reflects countries institutional capacity, regulatory frameworks, data systems and degree of political leadership and commitment.
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Working Paper ACS3202 APR 15, 2013
John-Abraham,Indu; Azevedo,Joao Pedro Wagner De; Lundvall,Jonna MariaDisclosed
The Latin American and Caribbean region has made significant progress in some basic indicators of gender equality (access to education and health services and female labor force participation) and lags behind in others.
... See More + However, a second generation of emerging issues suggests that, although women continue to be disadvantaged in a number of indicators, boys' underachievement in education and their participation as perpetrators and victims of violent crime require a new gender paradigm that includes male issues. Despite the traditional focus on female-related indicators, there is a clear gender dimension to the problems of at-risk youth, since young boys and girls engage in different kinds of risky behaviors and in different ways. Boys and girls also tend to engage differently with schools, communities, and the labor market. This implies that programs and policies need to be designed and implemented with different approaches and tools to benefit and to reach effectively both girls and boys.
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Around the world, at least one out of three women is beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused during their lifetime. Women are most at risk to suffer violence at home and from men they know, usually a family member, intimate partner or spouse.
... See More + A comprehensive analysis of domestic violence in nine developing countries based on Demographic and Health Surveys shows that more than 40 percent of women reported being victims of spousal or intimate partner abuse. The analysis also demonstrates that domestic violence directly impacts the health and well-being of abused women. An example of this is that infant and mortality rates are higher among women who have been victims of violence than those who have not experienced any form of violence.
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Brief 52041 APR 01, 2009
Genta Fons,America Teresa; Sanchez De Boado,Milena; Lundvall,Jonna MariaDisclosed
Efforts to design effective development policies aimed at enhancing the welfare of people in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region depend on the improved measurement of living conditions, strengthened information baselines in monitoring and evaluation systems and the availability of high quality statistical information.
... See More + The World Bank's Team for Statistical Development (TSD) in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) Region is working to increase the capacity of users and producers of statistics to support improved evidence based policies through the use of high-quality statistics in their design, implementation and evaluation. TSD supports activities that emphasize innovative solutions and best statistical practices in the region. As part of this approach, and with the financial support of the British Department for International Development (DFID), a Regional Award for Innovation in Statistics was launched in July 2007. The Award aimed to recognize the importance of statistics in development and promote innovation in this area and was the first of its kind, not only in the LAC Region, but worldwide.
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Brief 46981 AUG 01, 2008
Molinas, Jose Vega; John-Abraham, Indu; Lundvall, JonnaDisclosed
