Rule of Law is a theoretical concept social scientists use to describe a political order where laws are predictable and applied equally to all citizens, regardless of their political or economic influence.
... See More + However, the drafting and implementation of laws and regulations compatible with principles of the Rule of Law depend on the incentives that lawmakers, implementing agencies, and ruling elites have. Realigning the incentive structures among key actors and organizations is therefore necessary to improve the chances for Rule-of-Law institutions to take root. Building the capacity of organizations without first changing institutional incentives is likely to lead to perverse outcomes, with the capacity ultimately channeled toward goals the reformers never envisioned. This book tells the story of how Rule of Law is applied in some countries in the Middle East and North Africa region.
See Less -
This brief has the analysis of gender gaps in Uttar Pradesh, India. Gender gaps in Uttar Pradesh are high and persistent. The state has one of the highest rates of maternal mortality.
... See More + The child sex ratio is low and declining. The share of women participating in the labor force is among the lowest in the country. Rural women have limited access to non-farm jobs and very few urban women work. And although more women complete secondary education in Uttar Pradesh as compared to other low income states, a little over half are illiterate. The closing of gender gaps in schooling and improvement in maternal mortality are gains toward gender equity.
See Less -
Women face multiple barriers to progress in Jharkhand. The child sex ratio is higher than in mostLow Income States, but is declining. Maternal mortality is poor.
... See More + There are few non-farm jobs forrural women. Very few urban women work, but they have more salaried jobs than urban men.There has been a sharp decline in female labor force participation in the state after 2005. As aresult, there are fewer women in the Jharkhand’s workforce compared to most other states. On apositive note, gender gaps in schooling have narrowed.
See Less -
Bihar’s performance in closing gender gaps is mixed. Adult women are twice as likely to be illiterate than adult men. The state has the lowest rate of female labor force participation in the country.
... See More + Though Bihar’s child sex ratio is more favorable than the national average, it is declining. On a positive note, gender gaps in elementary schooling have narrowed, and maternal mortality is declining. And although few women work, women workers have the same types of jobs as their male counterparts.
See Less -
Chhattisgarh has made mixed progress on gender. While the child sex ratio in the state is higher than in most other states, it is declining. Maternal health is poor, but has seen improvement.
... See More + Adult women have fewer years of schooling than adult men. Although the state’s female labor force participation rate is among the highest in the country, there has been a sharp decline in rural areas after 2005. On a positive note, gender gaps in elementary schools are closing and female labor force participation is increasing in urban areas.
See Less -
Women and girls in Rajasthan face persistent barriers to progress. The child sex ratio is amongthe lowest in India, and is declining. Maternal mortality is high, but has seen improvement.
... See More + Andalthough more women work in Rajasthan compared to other states, there has been a sharpdecline in female labor force participation since 2005. There are fewer non-farm job opportunitiesfor women in rural Rajasthan, and very few urban women work. On a positive note, gender gapsin schooling are starting to close for younger girls.
See Less -
Madhya Pradesh has made mixed progress on gender. Child sex ratio is deteriorating. Maternal mortality is high, but has seen improvement. Nearly one in every two adult females is illiterate.
... See More + There has been a sharp decline in female labor force participation after 2005 and only one-third of the adult women are in the labor force today. On a positive note, gender gaps in elementary schools have been eliminated and, although fewer women work they have the same types of jobs as men.
See Less -
Gender disparities are high in Odisha. The child sex ratio is higher than in most states, but is declining. Maternal mortality is poor. And although more women work in Odisha compared to some low-income states, there has been a sharp decline in female labor force participation after 2005.
... See More + There are fewer non-farm job opportunities for women in rural Odisha, and fewer salaried jobs for urban women. On a positive note, gender gaps in schooling are starting to close for younger girls.
See Less -
The objectives of the Three Gorges Modern Logistics Center Infrastructure Project for China are: 1) to enhance the efficiency of freight logistics along the Yangtze River within the urban area of Yichang; 2) to promote multimodal transportation of ports of the Yangtze River; and 3) to reduce carbon emission of logistic transportation.
... See More + Some of the negative impacts and mitigation measures include: offered support after displacement, for a transition period, based on a reasonable estimate of the time likely to be needed to restore their livelihood and standards of living; provided with development assistance such as land preparation, credit facilities, training, or job opportunities; particular attention shall be paid to the needs of vulnerable groups among those displaced, especially those below the poverty line, the landless, the elderly, women and children, indigenous peoples, ethnic minorities, or other displaced persons who may not be protected through national land compensation legislation; and in new resettlement sites or host communities, infrastructure and public services are provided as necessary to improve, restore, or maintain accessibility and levels of service for the displaced persons and host communities. Alternative or similar resources are provided to compensate for the loss of access to community resources (such as fishing areas, grazing areas, fuel, or fodder).
See Less -
The reform of China's collectively owned forest land, began in 2008, is arguably the largest land-reform undertaking in modern times in terms of area and people affected.
... See More + Under the reform, forest lands have been contracted to rural households, allowing them more independence in exercising their rights and interests in the forest lands, giving them more opportunities to improve family incomes, and creating incentives for them to cultivate, conserve, and manage forests. These lands are home to some 610 million people, many of them poor. With urbanization, vast numbers of Chinese men have migrated to cities to work, leaving women as the predominant labor force in rural areas. Indeed, some 70 percent of China’s agriculture labor force is now female. The immense scope of this change calls for a systematic examination of how China's rural women gain access to and exploit forest land and associated resources and services. The reform was designed to unfold in two broad stages. In the first, collectively owned forest lands suitable for contracting were allocated on equal terms to each household in affected villages. The ongoing second stage represents a deepening of the reform. It deals with subsidies and ecological compensation, financial services (including use of forest tenure as collateral and transfers of forest land), forest insurance, technical services and training, farmers’ associations and cooperatives, and market services. However, the monitoring had not covered the gender dimension of the reform, meaning that the gender data required to accurately reflect the full effects of the reform have been lacking. Building on the annual monitoring conducted by the FEDRC, the study reported here added gender-related investigation and analysis to obtain gender data about the current reform situation, its problems, and their causes. It also included structured interviews with rural women and group meetings with local government agencies, women’s federations, and village committees.The ultimate objective of the study is to achieve better gender-responsiveness in China’s collective forest tenure reform. Specifically, this includes: (i) equality in access to and control of forest lands, as well as access to associated resources and services; (ii) women’s participation and equality in decision-making concerning the conservation and utilization of forest resources; and (iii) impacts of the first two aspects on the status and well-being of women. The World Bank has had over 30 years of successful cooperation with China in the forestry sector. Women’s access to the services and resources that are the focus of the second stage of the reform will be a critical element of the World Bank’s continuing reform dialogue with its Chinese partners.
See Less -
This policy paper summarizes four corridor studies on bilateral social security agreements (BSSAs) between four European Union (EU) member and two non-member states, draws conclusions on their results, and offers recommendations.
... See More + BSSAs between migrant-sending and migrant-receiving countries are seen as the most important instrument to establish portability of social security benefits for internationally mobile workers. Yet, only about 23 percent of international migrants profit from BSSAs and their functioning has been little analyzed and even less assessed. The four corridors studied (Austria-Turkey, Germany-Turkey, Belgium-Morocco, and France-Morocco) were selected to allow for comparison of both similarities and differences in experiences. The evaluation of these corridors’ BSSAs was undertaken against a methodological framework and three selected criteria: fairness for individuals, fiscal fairness for countries, and bureaucratic effectiveness for countries and migrant workers. The results suggest that the investigated BSSAs work and overall deliver reasonably well on individual fairness. The results on fiscal fairness are clouded by conceptual and empirical gaps. Bureaucratic effectiveness would profit from information and communication technology-based exchanges on both corridors once available.
See Less -
The portability of social benefits is gaining importance given the increasing share of individuals working at least part of their life outside their home country.
... See More + Bilateral social security agreements (BSSAs) are considered a crucial approach to establishing portability, but the functionality and effectiveness of these agreements have not yet been investigated; thus, important guidance for policy makers in migrant-sending and migrant-receiving countries is missing. To shed light on how BSSAs work in practice, this document is part of a series providing information and lessons from studies of portability in four diverse but comparable migration corridors: Austria-Turkey, Germany-Turkey, Belgium-Morocco, and France-Morocco. A summary policy paper draws broader conclusions and offers overarching policy recommendations. This report looks specifically into the working of the Belgium-Morocco corridor. Findings suggest that the BSSA is broadly working well, with no main substantive issues in the area of pension portability, except for the non-portability of the noncontributory top-up pension and issues with widows’ pensions in case of divorce and repudiation, and in health care, the pending introduction of portable health care for retirees with single pensions from the other country. Process issues around information provision in Morocco and automation of information exchange are recognized.
See Less -
The development objective of the Guangxi Rural Poverty Alleviation Pilot Project for China is to increase income generation opportunities through demonstration of value chain development models in selected poverty counties of Guangxi.
... See More + Some of the negative impacts and mitigation measures include: (1) receiving in-kind resettlement upon the completion of the project; (2) receiving monetary compensation according to replacement price; (3) receiving transitional subsidies according to the actual transitional period; (4) providing other places available for the affected people to conduct production and business activities; (5) giving reasonable compensation for relocation of equipment and relevant loss; and (6) giving compensation for fixed assets such as houses that are partially or totally affected by the project according to the replacement price.
See Less -
The reform of China's collectively owned forest land, began in 2008, is arguably the largest land-reform undertaking in modern times in terms of area and people affected.
... See More + Under the reform, forest lands have been contracted to rural households, allowing them more independence in exercising their rights and interests in the forest lands, giving them more opportunities to improve family incomes, and creating incentives for them to cultivate, conserve, and manage forests. These lands are home to some 610 million people, many of them poor. With urbanization, vast numbers of Chinese men have migrated to cities to work, leaving women as the predominant labor force in rural areas. Indeed, some 70 percent of China’s agriculture labor force is now female. The immense scope of this change calls for a systematic examination of how China's rural women gain access to and exploit forest land and associated resources and services. The reform was designed to unfold in two broad stages. In the first, collectively owned forest lands suitable for contracting were allocated on equal terms to each household in affected villages. The ongoing second stage represents a deepening of the reform. It deals with subsidies and ecological compensation, financial services (including use of forest tenure as collateral and transfers of forest land), forest insurance, technical services and training, farmers’ associations and cooperatives, and market services. However, the monitoring had not covered the gender dimension of the reform, meaning that the gender data required to accurately reflect the full effects of the reform have been lacking. Building on the annual monitoring conducted by the FEDRC, the study reported here added gender-related investigation and analysis to obtain gender data about the current reform situation, its problems, and their causes. It also included structured interviews with rural women and group meetings with local government agencies, women’s federations, and village committees.The ultimate objective of the study is to achieve better gender-responsiveness in China’s collective forest tenure reform. Specifically, this includes: (i) equality in access to and control of forest lands, as well as access to associated resources and services; (ii) women’s participation and equality in decision-making concerning the conservation and utilization of forest resources; and (iii) impacts of the first two aspects on the status and well-being of women. The World Bank has had over 30 years of successful cooperation with China in the forestry sector. Women’s access to the services and resources that are the focus of the second stage of the reform will be a critical element of the World Bank’s continuing reform dialogue with its Chinese partners.
See Less -
The portability of social benefits is gaining importance given the increasing share of individuals working at least a part of their life outside their home country.
... See More + Bilateral social security agreements (BSSAs) are considered a crucial approach to establishing portability, but the functionality and effectiveness of these agreements have not yet been investigated; thus important guidance for policymakers in migrant-sending and migrant-receiving countries is missing. To shed light on how BSSAs work in practice, this document is part of a series providing information and lessons from studies of portability in four diverse but comparable migration corridors: Austria-Turkey, Germany-Turkey, Belgium-Morocco, and France-Morocco. A summary policy paper draws broader conclusions and offers overarching policy recommendations. This report looks specifically into the working of the Austria-Turkey corridor. Findings suggest that the BSSA between Austria and Turkey is broadly working well, with no main substantive issues in the area of pension portability and few minor substantive issues concerning health care portability and financing. Process issues around information and automation of information exchange are recognized and are beginning to be addressed.
See Less -
The objective of the Helwan South Power Project for Egypt, Arab Republic of is to increase electricity generation capacity and thus help improve reliability and security of electricity supply in the country.
... See More + Some of the negative impacts and mitigation measures include: the crop compensation register identified to the committee is then publicly displayed at the bulletin board within the relevant agricultural association office as well as within the drainage directorate office and the village local council office. The displayed information is maintained on display for a period of 30 days and identifies affected farmers, area of land affected and crop compensation amount due to each farmer; after depositing the compensation amount by the expropriating entity with ESA - the concerned local office- lists of all real properties and facilities being identified shall be prepared, their areas, location, description, names of their owners, and holders of property rights therein, their addresses, and the compensation determined by the compensation estimation committee; and owners of the properties and holders of rights therein shall be officially notified with an evacuation request within a period not to exceed 5 months from the date of their notification.
See Less -
The development objective of the Energy Resilience for Climate Adaptation Project for Belize is to strengthen transmission network structures to better withstand weather events and climactic impacts.
... See More + Some of the negative impacts and mitigation measures include: (1) dust control measures to ensure that the generation of dust is minimized and is not perceived as a nuisance by local residents, maintain a safe working environment; (2) all construction vehicles must have mufflers in good condition to avoid excessive noise emissions; (3) wash cars, trucks or machinery in or near natural water sources; (4) dispose of any material in environmentally sensitive areas, such as in areas of natural habitat or in watercourses; (5) used oil and grease shall be removed from site and sold to a recycling company approved by the Department of Environment; (6) in the event virgin vegetation is removed, the contractor shall remove topsoil from all areas where topsoil will be impacted on by rehabilitation activities, including temporary activities such as storage and stockpiling, of transmission line poles or structures etc; (7) any damages to existing utility systems of cable, telecommunications, water supply etc. shall be reported to authorities and repaired as soon as possible; (8) Belize’s requirements for worker health and safety will be followed; (9) soil contaminated with chemicals or hazardous substances shall be removed, transported and treated as hazardous waste; (10) coordinate with local authorities for agreed schedules of construction activities at areas near sensitive places; and (11) if the contractor discovers sites or artifacts of archeological, historical, significance,including graveyards and or individual graves during excavation or construction, the contractor shall stop the construction activities in the area of the chance find immediately.
See Less -
The development objective of the Farm-Level Irrigation Modernization Project for Egypt is to increase agricultural profitability and improve equity in access to higher-quality water for up to 140,000 small-scale farmers on up to 200,000 feddans (80,000 hectares) in the command areas of Mahmoudia, Manaifa, and Meet Yazid located in the Nile Delta.
... See More + Some of the negative impacts and mitigation measures include: (1) provide cash compensation for loss of crops, trees, or plants at replacement cost; (2) provide transitional cash compensation until new permanent employment is secured based on net income (for a maximum period of 6 months); (3) provide cash compensation for the duration of business or income generation that is disrupted based on net income; (4) priority shall be given to project affected persons (PAPs) in the provision of any relevant employment in the activities related to the project; and (5) provide development assistance to PAPs (that is, training in specific areas) in order to help them to maintain and or improve their income generation potential and access to gainful employment.
See Less -
The main objective of this Strategic Cities Project for Tanzania is to provide an acceptable plan for the resettlement and compensation of persons affected by land acquisition for the purpose of creating a buffer zone for the Mbeya landfill.
... See More + Negative impacts include: relocation or loss of shelter; loss of assets or access to assets; or loss of income sources or means of livelihood, whether or not the affected persons must move to another location; or the involuntary restriction of access to legally designated parks and protected areas resulting in adverse impacts on the livelihoods of the displaced persons. Mitigation measures include: compensation of the unfinished structure according to the type of structure, without fracturing in depreciation cost; compensation of land according to the replacement cost if the PAP owns the land, have customary right or established residency; where it is not feasible to avoid resettlement, resettlement activities should be conceived and executed as sustainable development programs, providing sufficient investment resources to enable the persons relocated by the sub-project to share in sub-project benefits. Relocated persons should be meaningfully consulted and should have opportunities to participate in planning and implementing resettlement programs; and relocated persons should be assisted in their efforts to improve their livelihoods and standards of living or at least to restore them, in real terms, to pre-displacement levels or to levels prevailing prior to the beginning of sub-project implementation, whichever is higher.
See Less -
The objective of this Integrated Platform for Gender Based Violence Prevention and Response Project is to raise awareness about, and improve response to, Gender Based Violence in Nepal.
... See More + This will be achieved by improving the quality and reach of services for GBV survivors through a helpline, promoting greater awareness among key stakeholders and strengthening the capacity of NWC. Some of the negative impacts and mitigation measures include: early forms of violence against women and girls include sex-selection and high girl child mortality. Nepal has high levels of excess female child mortality with sex selection being the key driver.8 UNICEF, estimates that 20 percent of the more than 70,000 abortions that take place in Nepal each year are carried out by women who prefer a son to a daughter.9 According to the Regional Report, Nepal ranks as the 9th country in the world with highest child marriage prevalence with highest proportions married by age 18 and 12th by proportions married by age 15.10 Nepal ranks 14 among the 15 countries with the highest global prevalence of intimate partner physical violence and it is reported that one-third of married women have experienced emotional, physical, or sexual violence from their spouse in their marital relationship. Beyond intimate partner violence, women suffer from sexual, physical and emotional forms of violence perpetrated by people they know within the family, community or work and from strangers. Women and girls in Nepal also face violence related to dowry and witch-hunting. The grievances will be managed through an institutional set up including (i) grievance recorder, (ii) district level grievance management committee comprising of district focal person and representatives from NWC’s network CSOs, (iii) PIU grievance monitoring and recommendation committee comprising of activity coordinator and project manager and (iv) central grievance management and policy recommendation committee comprising of representatives from NWC, World Bank and Care Nepal.
See Less -
