Ratings for the Community-Driven Development Project (CDD) for Togo were as follows: outcomes were satisfactory, the risk to development outcome was substantial, the Bank performance was satisfactory, and the Borrower performance was also satisfactory.
... See More + Some lessons learned included: the project was highly effective in providing a quick response to Togo's difficult situation after fifteen years of socio-economic decline. The experience showed that rapid impact on poverty in such a situation can be achieved by a CDD approach backed up by an institutional structure that empowers local communities by decentralizing decision taking and strengthens their capacity through sustained support and capacity building. The principal lesson is that effective poverty reduction through community-level initiatives requires well-structured support and implementation mechanisms together with intensive supervision and capacity building. In the particular case of Togo, the resulting recommendation is that the Government and Bank now need to focus on how to institutionalize, strengthen and finance the functions currently carried out by the central (Technical Secretariat) and regional (AGAIB) organizations to provide the continued investment finance, institutional and technical support and capacity building necessary to sustain the CDD momentum in communities already supported and to extend the CDD approach to all poor communities nationwide.
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Implementation Completion and Results Report ICR2988 MAY 26, 2014
This is a statement by Mr. Takehiko Nakao, President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), at the eighty-ninth meeting of the Development Committee held on April 12, 2014.
... See More + He discusses some of the key development challenges in the Asia and Pacific Region and also outlines outline the ADB's proposed strategic directions to help this dynamic region in meeting its changing needs.
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This is a statement by Dr. Arvind Mayaram, Alternate Governor, India, representing the Constituency of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Sri Lanka, at the eighty-ninth meeting of the Development Committee held on April 12, 2014.
... See More + He discusses the post-2015 development agenda, the WBG change process, the IDA 17 replenishment, and disaster risk management. He proposes the following three areas of emphasis for poviding transformational, innovative csolutions to the challenges facing the WBG: i) agriculture and food security, ii) infrastructure, and iii) urbanization.
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This is a statement by Minister Gerd Müller, Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany, at the eighty-ninth meeting of the Development Committee held on April 12, 2014.
... See More + He discusses globalization with respect to the limits of our natural environment.
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This is a statement by H.E. Ahmed Bin Mohammed Al-Khalifa, Minister of Finance, Kingdom of Bahrain, on behalf of Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Maldives, Oman, Qatar, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, at the eighty-ninth meeting of the Development Committee held on April 12, 2014.
... See More + He emphasizes sustainable development and slow growth shared within and between member countries.
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This is a statement by Mr. Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Iceland, on behalf of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden, at the eighty-ninth meeting of the Development Committee held on April 12, 2014.
... See More + He discusses social inclusion and human rights, a foundation for shared prosperity, gender equality as a right in itself and as smart economics, environmental sustainability, and natural resources.
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This is a statement by Mr. Koen Geens, Minister of Finance at the eighty-ninth meeting of the Development Committee held on April 12, 2014. The report states growth in the post-crisis global economy: policy challenges for developing countries; and mainstreaming disaster risk management in World Bank Group operations.
... See More + It recognizes the efforts deployed in incorporating disaster risk management into the new country partnership framework model, thereby better informing policy and investment decisions.
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This is a statement by Mr. Alberto Arenas, Minister of Finance at the eighty-ninth meeting of the Development Committee held on April 12, 2014.
... See More + He states that the developing countries are facing new challenges to secure World Bank Group (WBG) twin goals: to end extreme poverty and promote shared prosperity. The developed world has shown signs of recovery reflected, for example, by improvements in economic growth and business confidence, and reduction in unemployment rates.
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This is a statement by Mr. Yaobin Shi, Vice Minister, Ministry of Finance at the eighty-ninth meeting of the Development Committee held on April 12, 2014.
... See More + He states that the international community should pay more attention to development, transfer more resources to developing countries, and provide stronger support for their economic growth, so as to inject lasting dynamism to sustain global economic development. The Bank Group should help channel capital inflows into real economy, by working across its institutions and with development partners, and fully utilize its global convening powers and comparative advantages in resources mobilization, financial innovation, and projects development.
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This is a statement by Mr. Hon Steven Ciobo, Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer of the Commonwealth of Australia at the eighty-ninth meeting of the Development Committee held on April 12, 2014.
... See More + He states that the growth in high income countries is slowly showing signs of improvement, but the external environment for many countries remains uncertain. The tightening of fiscal and monetary policy in the developed world remains necessary in order to restore balance following the period of post-crisis stimulus. However, this may lead to short-term volatility and, over time, tighten access to capital for many countries, including those represented in constituency. In this context, it is important for all countries to renew commitment to the reforms required to reduce vulnerabilities and spur growth.
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This is a statement by The Right Honourable Helen Clark, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme and Chair of the United Nations Development Group, United Nations, at the eighty-ninth meeting of the Development Committee held on April 12, 2014.
... See More + She promotes more inclusive and sustainable patterns of growth in the post-2015 development agenda.
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This is a statement by Mr. Kanayo Nwanze, President at the eighty-ninth meeting of the Development Committee held on April 12, 2014. In recent years, the best rates of economic growth have been in developing countries.
... See More + Africa has been a particularly bright spot, with six of the ten fastest growing economies in the world. The continent also has the world's fastest growing population and the highest growth rate of urbanization, along with a rapidly expanding middle class. These signs of global recovery are welcome, but for many developing countries, the situation remains precarious. Export markets that had helped many developing countries post solid growth in recent years may prove less robust in years ahead. Internal structural problems may prove a further impediment to future growth. The growing inequality among and within countries points to the increasingly urgent need to address not only the rate but also the quality of economic growth. Tackling this inequality - both within developing countries and between developing and advanced economies must be a priority for everyone working to reduce global poverty and hunger.
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This is a statement by Mr. Daniel Kablan Duncan, Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, on behalf of the Group II African Countries, at the eighty-ninth meeting of the Development Committee held on April 12, 2014.
... See More + His statement focuses primarily on the topics appearing on the agenda of the April 12, 2014 meeting, namely (i) Growth in the Post-Crisis Global Economy: Policy Challenges for Developing Countries; and (ii)) the Progress Report on Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Management in World Bank Group Operations.
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This is a statement by Mr. Ignazio Visco, Governor of the Bank of Italy at the eighty-ninth meeting of the Development Committee held on April 12, 2014.
... See More + Addressing the challenges to growth in developing countries as a central theme was timely and relevant to the wider discussion taking place in other fora, like the Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, and the European Union (EU) (G20). The analysis presented by the World Bank is accurate and the policy recommendations go in the right direction. In the relative short-term, countries need to be prepared to manage the major risks associated with the gradual return to normal of monetary policy in highly advanced economies; in the longer-term, they will have to adopt appropriate policies to tackle the drastic reduction in productivity growth that, as shown in the global economic prospects, is at the root of the slow post-crisis recovery. A sound combination of fiscal and monetary policies to address short-term challenges, together with growth enhancing structural reforms is the appropriate way forward.
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This paper reviews the empirical evidence on the existence of poverty traps, understood as self-reinforcing mechanisms through which poor individuals or countries remain poor.
... See More + Poverty traps have captured the interest of many development policy makers, because poverty traps provide a theoretically coherent explanation for persistent poverty. They also suggest that temporary policy interventions may have long-term effects on poverty. However, a review of the reduced-form empirical evidence suggests that truly stagnant incomes of the sort predicted by standard models of poverty traps are in fact quite rare. Moreover, the empirical evidence regarding several canonical mechanisms underlying models of poverty traps is mixed.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS6835 APR 01, 2014
Turkey's poverty reduction performance in the 2000s has been remarkably consistent. Extreme and moderate poverty have fallen considerably since 2003.
... See More + Between 2002 and 2011, extreme poverty fell from 13 percent to 5 percent, while moderate poverty halved from 44 percent to 22 percent (respectively, defined using the World Bank's Europe and Central Asia regional poverty lines of 2.5 and 5 USD/PPP). Most of this poverty reduction (89 percent) has been driven by growth, a performance consistent with most countries in Europe and Central Asia. This is substantially different form the recent performance of other regions, such as Latin America, where redistribution contributed to poverty reduction almost four times more than in Turkey. Turkey has also achieved sustained consumption growth of the bottom 40 percent of the population, even during the years of the world recession. Turkey's performance in poverty reduction and increased shared prosperity has been complemented by the systematic expansion of the middle class by 20 percentage points. This paper analyzes the main drivers of poverty reduction, shared prosperity, and changes in inequality in Turkey from 2002 to 2011. The analysis shows that labor markets, demographics, pensions, and social assistance have played a critical role in this process. It further explores some of the mechanisms that have facilitated these changes.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS6834 APR 01, 2014