Directions in Development - Human Development
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Entrepreneurship Education and Training Programs around the World
by Alexandria Valerio
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Unlock the secrets to successful entrepreneurship education and training worldwide. This study provides a comprehensive analysis of entrepreneurship education and training (EET) programs around the world, offering valuable insights for policymakers, program managers, and practitioners.
Explore a heterogeneous mix of programs, from secondary and post-secondary education to initiatives for potential and practicing entrepreneurs. Discover key dimensions that shape program outcomes, including program characteristics, participant profiles, and contextual factors. Gain a deeper understanding of how EET programs can be designed and implemented effectively to promote entrepreneurial success.
This study is essential for anyone seeking to understand and improve entrepreneurship education and training programs globally. It offers a framework for analyzing programs, identifying best practices, and tailoring interventions to specific target groups. Discover the dimensions for success and contribute to the ongoing global experiment of EET.
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Beyond Contributory Pensions
by Various Authors
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Latin America's population is aging, and many among the growing elderly population are not protected by traditional pension schemes. In response, policy makers have been reevaluating their income protection systems so that between 2000 and 2013, the majority of Latin American countries reformed their social pension schemes to provide near-universal coverage for the elderly. Before this unprecedented wave of reform, most income protection in Latin America was provided through contributory pensions available only to formal sector workers. Considering that informal and unpaid employment characterize labor force participation throughout the region, many elderly were left vulnerable to poverty. The new noncontributory pension programs have alleviated this risk. But countries are still evaluating how to best balance the need for inclusivity with the need for fiscal sustainability. 'Beyond Contributory Pensions: Fourteen Experiences with Coverage Expansion in Latin America' examines recent reforms in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, and Uruguay. All countries share the goal of comprehensive pension coverage, but each has unique political environments, social conditions, and economic capacities. Design and implementation of coverage expansion, consequently, has diverged. Comparing results across the region reveals which policies have yielded the most equitable and sustainable outcomes. Each chapter includes a comprehensive analysis of a country's reform experience: a description of significant political and economic developments, the challenges of implementing income protection policies, and prospects for the reforms' durability over time. 'Beyond Contributory Pensions' represents a significant addition to the literature on income protection for the elderly.
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Health Labor Market Analyses in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
by Various Authors
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This book, produced jointly by the World Bank, the University of California, Berkeley, and the WHO, aims to provide decision-makers at sub-national, national, regional and global levels with additional insights into how to address their workforce challenges rather than describe them. In order to optimize and align HRH investments and develop targeted policy responses, a thorough understanding of unique, country-specific labor market dynamics and determinants of these dynamics is critical. Policies need to take into account the fact that workers are economic actors, responsive to different levels of compensation and opportunities to generate revenue found in different sub-labor markets. Policies need to take into account the behavioral characteristics of the individuals who provide health care, but also the individuals who consume health care services and the institutions that employ health personnel. In other words, it is necessary to understand the determinants of both the supply (numbers of health workers willing to work in the health sector) and the demand for health workers (resources available to hire health workers), how these interact, and how this interaction varies in different contexts. This interaction will determine the availability of health personnel, their distribution as well as their performance levels, thus ensuring stronger health systems capable to deliver universal health coverage. The book is structured to be of use to researchers, planners, and economists who are tasked with analyzing key areas of health labor markets, including overall labor market assessments as well as and more narrow and targeted analyses of demand and supply (including production and migration), performance, and remuneration of health workers. The chapters, written by a number of internationally renowned experts on Human Resources for Health, discuss data sources and empirical tools that can be used to assess health labor markets across high-, middle- or low-income countries, but draws primarily from examples and case-studies in LMICs.
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Out-of-School Youth in Sub-Saharan Africa
by Keiko Inoue
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The economic and social prospects are daunting for the 89 million out-of-school youth who comprise nearly half of all youth in Sub-Saharan Africa. Within the next decade, when this cohort becomes the core of the labor market, an estimated 40 million more youth will drop out, and will face an uncertain future with limited work and life skills. Furthermore, out-of-school youth often are "policy orphans," positioned between sectors with little data, low implementation capacity, lack of interest in long-term sustainability of programs, insufficient funds, and little coordination across the different government agencies. This report provides a diagnostic analysis of the state of out-of-school youth in Sub-Saharan Africa, focusing on the 12- to 24-year-old cohort. This report also examines the decision path youth take as they progress through the education system and the factors that explain youth's school and work choices. It finds that individual and household characteristics, social norms, and characteristics of the school system all matter in understanding why youth drop out and remain out of school. In particular, six key factors characterize out-of-school youth: (i) most out-of-school youth drop out before secondary school; (ii) early marriage for female youth and (iii) rural residence increase the likelihood of being out of school; (iv) parental education level and (v) the number of working adults are important household factors; and (vi) lack of school access and low educational quality are binding supply-side constraints. Policy discussions on out-of-school youth are framed by these six key factors along with three entry points for intervention: retention, remediation, and integration. This report also reviews policies and programs in place for out-of-school youth across the continent. Ultimately, this report aims to inform public discussion, policy formulation, and development practitioners' actions working with youth in Sub-Saharan Africa.
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Preparing the Next Generation in Tanzania
by Various Authors
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Human capital encompasses a broad range of knowledge, skills, and capabilities for success in life and work; quality education is the prerequisite for such capital accumulation. Investment in quality education provides a nation with the workforce equipped to achieve increased productivity and growth. Tanzania has established the goal of attaining middle-income country status by 2015. The country has embraced a nationwide initiative to transform the educational system and prepare its youth to become competitive members of the East African and global economic communities. Building on improvements in access to primary and secondary education, the Big Results Now in Education program, launched in 2013, provides a major vehicle for systemic change to improve service delivery and learning outcomes. Key components for innovation and reform are improving teacher incentives and implementing accountability systems. Preparing the Next Generation in Tanzania: Challenges and Opportunities in Education provides a knowledge base to inform policy makers as they continue to address educational issues. The authors focus the discussion on areas for reform requiring continued attention: unequal access linked to income and gender, poor quality of service delivery, weak and unequal learning outcomes, inefficient resources allocation across educational levels and districts, and weak quality of administrative statistics. Having diagnosed and analyzed the ongoing challenges, the authors enumerate opportunities; outlining the broad policy directions for change to facilitate the program's goals.
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Toward More Efficient and Effective Public Social Spending in Central America
by Pablo Acosta
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Central America has come a long way both in terms of economic and political stability. Increasingly the region is focusing on implementing productivity-enhancing reforms as well as supporting reductions in poverty and inequality. This report analyzes recent trends in public social spending in Central America from 2007 to 2014, conducts international benchmarking, examines measures of the effectiveness and efficiency of social spending, and discusses the quality of selected institutions influencing this spending. We examine total social spending, as well as detailing its four components: public spending on the education, health, and social protection and labor (SPL) sectors. In analyzing public social spending, the report addresses three crucial policy issues: (a) how to improve the coverage and redistributional incidence of public social spending; (b) how to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of public social spending; and (c) how to strengthen the institutions governing public spending in the social sector. While based heavily on a series of recent analytical social spending studies in six countries in the subregion-Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama-this report also takes a broader regional perspective and includes some comparisons to countries in other regions.
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Demographic Change in Uruguay
by Various Authors
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Uruguay's population is slowly aging, driven by the demographic transition that started early in the 20th century. While this reflects significant improvements in mortality and fertility trends, it also creates important challenges for the fiscal sustainability of some social policies and for sustaining medium- and long-term economic growth. Uruguay is going through the "demographic dividend" stage of this process as the proportion of the population ages 15–65 peaks. This temporary situation creates the possibility of increasing the endowment of capital and the labor force and sparking sustained economic growth. For this to happen, institutional, financial, and fiscal conditions are needed that promote larger savings and investment. Demographic Change in Uruguay: Economic Opportunities and Challenges studies the opportunities and challenges that the demographic transition poses for Uruguay's economy. Once the demographic dividend has passed, population aging will have a significant impact on fiscal accounts, especially in social protection expenditures. This is a serious policy challenge, demanding reforms to adapt the institutions and systems to a new demographic context. The main challenge in the next few decades will be to maintain economic growth on a solid path as the working-age population declines. This will require that labor force participation rates increase, particularly among women and older people, but will also require that those in the labor market increase their productivity. This will be achieved only through sustained growth of the capital per worker ratio and the incorporation of innovations and technological developments that facilitate increased production of goods and services for the entire population.
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As Time Goes By in Argentina
by Michele Gragnolati
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Navigating Argentina's Demographic Shift: Challenges and Opportunities. This study explores the economic and social implications of Argentina's demographic transition, offering insights for policymakers and researchers.
As Argentina's population ages, this analysis identifies key challenges in social security, healthcare, and education. It examines potential fiscal trade-offs and the need for strategic public policies to foster economic growth and social well-being. Discover how intergenerational transfers and life-cycle deficits impact Argentina's future.
For economists, policymakers, and those interested in Argentina's socio-economic development, this report provides a comprehensive overview of the opportunities and risks presented by demographic change. Understand the forces shaping Argentina's future and the policy choices that can ensure a prosperous and equitable society.
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Teacher Performance in Bihar, India
by Shabnam Sinha
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Teachers and Teacher Performance in Bihar: Implications for Teacher Education is a study undertaken in the low income state of Bihar in India to create effective teacher perfomance measuring standards. Undertaken as a World Bank and Govt. of Bihar collaborative initiative to study has developed benchmarks against which teachers' performance were assessed so that the quality of pre-service training and continuous professional development can be reviewed and improved. These teacher performance standards track (i) teacher subject knowledge; (ii) classroom teaching; and (iii) time on task. These inputs and index based scores of teacher performance feed into and inform the development of Bihar's teacher training strategy. This study undertaken by the ASER Center of Pratham explores a set of interrelated factors that influence how teachers teach. Designed as a series of data collection exercises that were conducted between July 2013 and December 2014, the study covered 400 schools and over 2200 teachers tracked during visits to each school. The study uses teacher surveys and classroom and school observations methods. It evaluates teachers' subject matter knowledge, ability to communicate as well as their ability to learn from children's work. The findings generated by the study provide significant inputs and suggestions for designing future teacher training and teacher professional development programs. The research potentially has utility not only in India but more widely to influence teacher policy reform, identifying cost effective financing strategies, developing accountability measures for effective management of teacher education.
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Gender and Macroeconomic Policy
by Raj Nallari
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Mainstream economic analysis has traditionally overlooked gender. The individual-the basic category of analysis-was regarded as genderless. Neither gender discrimination nor segmentation and segregation within the labor market or within the household was present. Contributions from development theory, new household economics (NHE), labor economics, and feminist analysis have done much to change this. Focusing on gender equality-by which we mean equality in opportunity, inputs, and outcome-has yielded important insights for the growth and development of an economy. But we are still at the cusp. While there have been huge improvements in recognizing gender as an analytical category at the microeconomic level, the macroeconomic implications of gender equality remain undeveloped. Engendering macroeconomics is an important and valid research and policy area. Over the past three decades, economic development has generally affected women differently than men in the developing world. At the same time, gender relations have affected macroeconomic outcomes. This volume examines the research and policy implications of engendering macroeconomic policy.
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Fostering Skills in Cameroon
by Shobhana Sosale
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Cameroon has strong goals for its growth and development. By 2035, it aims to be an emerging economy. The country's medium-term goals are focused on alleviating poverty, consolidating democracy, and achieving national unity-while respecting diversity. This report contributes substantively to the Government's vision on Strategy for Growth and Employment, putting human development and employment at center stage. Cameroon faces three main challenges: • Developing more robust formal and informal employment opportunities by strengthening human development. • Increasing productivity in agriculture, mining, and key value chains (timber, tourism, and information and communication technology). • Advancing growth by investing in infrastructure and improving the business climate and regional integration. The Strategy sets a target for reducing underemployment from 76 percent of the workforce to 50 by 2020 by creating tens of thousands of formal jobs. But based on results from the first two years of its implementation, the strategy is far from achieving that target. This report is meant to support Cameroon's efforts to build the skills of its workers. This report reaches conclusions and offers policy recommendations to answer six questions: • What has been the trajectory of Cameroon's economic growth? Which sectors have contributed to growth? • What jobs are being created? • What types of skills are being used in the sectors where the highest percentages of the population are employed? • What are the demand and supply barriers to skills? • Which policies and institutions are in play? Are they sufficient? • What needs to or could be reformed? Cameroon has good prospects for moving to middle-income status. It can create a more dynamic, responsive workforce. But a new strategy is required. It can be done.This report proposes new directions and provides recommendations. Outcomes are expected. Work has never been easy. But many have been working-and Cameroon can work.
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Skilling up Vietnam
by Christian Bodewig
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Equipping Vietnam's workforce for a modern market economy.After decades of remarkable economic growth, Vietnam needs a workforce equipped with the right skills to foster continued economic modernization. This report examines Vietnam's education system and identifies key areas for improvement.
Skilling Up Vietnam argues that, in addition to job-specific skills, Vietnamese employers value cognitive and behavioral skills. To prepare workers for the future, Vietnam should focus on:
- Promoting school readiness
- Building cognitive and behavioral foundations
- Connecting education with industry
This report is for students, parents, business leaders, and policymakers interested in Vietnam's economic and educational development.
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Linking Education Policy to Labor Market Outcomes
by Tazeen Fasih
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'Linking Education Policy to Labor Market Outcomes' examines current research and new evidence from Ghana and Pakistan-representative of two of the poorest regions of the world-to assess how education can increase income and help people move out of poverty. This study indicates that in addition to early investments in cognitive and noncognitive skills-which produce a high return and lower the cost of later educational investment by making learning at later ages more efficient-quality, efficiency, and linkages to the broader macro-economic context also matter. Education and relevant skills are still the key determinants of good labor market outcomes for individuals. However, education policies aimed at improving skills will have a limited effect on the incomes of that skilled workforce or on the performance of a national economy if other policies that increase the demand for these skills are not in place. For education to contribute to national economic growth, policies should aim at improving the quality of education by spending efficiently and by adapting the basic and postbasic curricula to develop the skills increasingly demanded on the global labor market, including critical thinking, problem solving, social behavior, and information technology.
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Scaling Up Nutrition
by Susan Horton
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A practical guide to scaling up nutrition interventions in developing countries. This book addresses the urgent need to combat undernutrition, which affects millions of children and hinders economic development. It provides a comprehensive analysis of the costs and financing mechanisms required to scale up effective nutrition interventions in 36 countries with the highest burden of undernutrition.
Scaling Up Nutrition: What Will It Cost? offers a roadmap for policymakers, public health officials, and international development organizations seeking to improve child nutrition and health outcomes. It outlines a phased approach to scaling up interventions, identifies key challenges and opportunities, and provides evidence-based recommendations for achieving sustainable progress. This book will help you:
- Understand the economic impact of undernutrition and the benefits of investing in nutrition interventions.
- Identify cost-effective strategies for scaling up nutrition programs in resource-constrained settings.
- Explore innovative financing mechanisms for mobilizing resources and ensuring sustainable funding.
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Life Chances in Turkey
by Jesko Hentschel
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Children in Turkey have vastly different odds of success. Their paths are affected by factors over which they have no control, such as how wealthy or educated their parents-and even grandparents-are. By investing in its children and youth, Turkey can create a virtuous cycle whereby these children and youth contribute more to their country's economic growth and social development, helping to realize its ambitious goals.
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Building on Early Gains in Afghanistan's Health, Nutrition, and Population Sector
by The World
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This volume is the first of its kind to present a comprehensive assessment of the health sector in Afghanistan. Although health outcomes here are some of the worst in the world, the sector has made considerable progress since 2001. A nationwide survey conducted in late 2006 found that the infant mortality rate had fallen from 165 to 129 per 1,000 live births, and the under-five mortality rate had fallen from 257 to 191 per 1,000 live births. These figures represent a 22 percent and a 26 percent decline, respectively, from the end of 2001. Similarly, coverage of prenatal care has increased from less than 5 percent to 32 percent, and childhood vaccinations of DPT3 (diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus) have increased from less than 20 percent to 35 percent between 2003 and 2006. Administrative data indicate that the number of functioning primary health care facilities has nearly doubled, from 498 in 2001 to more than 936 in 2008. Also, the quality of care in publicly financed facilities has increased by about 22 percent from 2004 to 2006. Although this progress is encouraging, it is not sufficient to ensure that Afghanistan will achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). 'Building on Early Gains in Afghanistan's Health, Nutrition, and Population Sector' presents specific policy options for Afghanistan's Ministry of Public Health to consider in advancing to the next level of care for its population. The guiding principles of these options are consistency with the ministry's vision and the feasibility of implementation. The specific challenges include revising the content of the basic package of health services (BPHS), rethinking the delivery of the BPHS, securing sustained and predictable financing, defining the role of the emerging private sector, addressing the shortage of human resources for health, and expanding the capacity of the ministry to enable it to effectively carry out its stewardship functions. This book was prepared as a resource for policy makers, practitioners, and researchers in Afghanistan and other conflict-affected countries. It emphasizes the policy implications of the findings presented.
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Achieving Effective Social Protection for All in Latin America and the Caribbean
by Helena Ribe
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This study highlights the interaction between social protection programs and labor markets in the Latin America region. It presents new evidence on the limited coverage of existing programs and emphasizes the challenges caused by high informality for achieving universal social protection for old age income, for health, for unemployment risks and for anti poverty safety nets. It identifies interaction effects between SP programs and the behavioral responses of workers, firms and social protection providers, which can further undermine efforts to expand coverage, summarizing evidence from recent work across the region. It argues for a re-design of financing to eliminate cross subsidies between members of contributory programs and subsidies that effectively tax income from formal employment. Instead, it advocates well-targeted, tax-funded tapered subsidies to provide incentives to the savings efforts of low income workers, coupled with an effective safety net for the extreme poor who have no capacity to contribute to financing their own social protection arrangements. It also argues for the consolidation of programs and harmonization of benefits packages across different insurers. The book develops an overall conceptual framework and presents in-depth analysis of the main SP sectors of pensions, health, unemployment insurance and safety net transfers.
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Malnutrition in Afghanistan
by Emily Levitt
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South Asia has the highest rates of malnutrition and the largest number of malnourished women and children in the world. Childhood malnutrition is the main cause of child mortality-one-third of all child deaths are due to the underlying cause of malnutrition. For the children who survive, malnutrition results in lifelong problems by severely reducing a child's ability to learn and to grow to his or her full potential. Malnutrition directly leads to less productive adults and thus to weaker national economic performance. The negative impact of malnutrition on a society's productivity and a nation's long-term development is difficult to underestimate. Malnutrition is a key development priority for the World Bank's South Asia region. The Bank intends to increase its commitment to reducing malnutrition in the region. As a first step, Bank staff are preparing a series of country assessments such as Malnutrition in Afghanistan. These assessments will be useful for governments and development partners committed to scaling up effective, evidence-based interventions to reduce malnutrition in their countries. Conclusive evidence shows that a multisectoral planning approach, followed by actions in the various sectors, is the most successful method to improve a populations' nutrition. Malnutrition in Afghanistan provides the background analysis for the development of a comprehensive nutrition action plan. The timing of this report is propitious. The international communities' interest in the developmental benefits of nutrition programming is high. This analytical report is part of a broader effort by the World Bank South Asia region to increase investments in nutrition, recognizing that good nutrition is important to economic growth and development, and because investing in well-proven nutrition interventions pays high dividends in poverty reduction and national economic development.
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At a Crossroads
by María Marta Ferreyra
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Higher education in Latin America and the Caribbean has expanded dramatically in the past 15 years, as the average gross enrollment rate has more than doubled, and many new institutions and programs have been opened. Although higher education access has become more equitable, and higher education supply has become more varied, many of the 'new' students in the system are, on average, less academically ready than are their more advantaged counterparts. Furthermore, only half of higher education students, on average, complete their degree, and labor market returns to higher education vary greatly across institutions and programs. Thus, higher education is at a crossroads today. Given the region's urgency to raise productivity in a low-growth, fiscally constrained environment, going past this crossroads requires the formation of skilled human capital fast and efficiently. 'At a Crossroads: Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean' contributes to the discussion by studying quality, variety, and equity of higher education in Latin America and the Caribbean. The book presents comprehensive evidence on the recent higher education expansion and evolution of higher education labor market returns. Using novel data and state-of-the-art methods, it studies demand and supply drivers of the recent expansion. It investigates the behavior of institutions and students and explores the unintended consequences of large-scale higher education policies. Framing the analysis are the singular characteristics of the higher education market and the market segmentation induced by the variety of students and institutions in the system. At this crossroads, a role emerges for incentives, information, accountability, and choice.
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Learning From Economic Downturns
by Xiaohui Hou
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Health and economic development are interconnected. Over the past decades, the health sector has become an increasingly important component of the global economy, evidenced by the growing trend of health expenditures as a share of GDP. The interconnectivity of health and economic development and the cyclical nature of economic performance have emphasized the critical need to build health sector resilience to prepare for inevitable economic downturns. The objective of the book is to raise awareness of the challenges that health systems, in both developing and developed countries, face in times of economic crisis and provide an Assessment, Tracking and Mitigation (A.T. M.) framework by which governments and policy makers can meet the critical challenge of health sector stabilization and resilience building. The A.T.M. framework emphasizes the importance of the interdependence of these three pillarsfor effective crisis response and strengthening health system resilience to economic shocks. The framework proposes that, in order to be effective in mitigation, governments and policy makers must possess or develop: (i) Tools to assess the health sector vulnerability to economic crisis. (ii) Tools, information systems, and data sources to track system and population level effects quickly during the crisis. (iii) Ability to implement effective policies to mitigate effects when a crisis hits. In conclusion, while the links between health and the overall economy are increasingly understood and appreciated, the role of health in an economic downturn is still not well understood or planned for. This book builds on the lessons of the most recent global financial crisis, especially in Europe and Central Asia and proposes a more effective role for the health sector as part of a safety net function and as a stabilizer for the population during a crisis. To mitigate the impacts of crises on vulnerable populations and assume the role of a stabilizer, the health sector must use assessment tools to identify system vulnerabilities, track to detect early impacts, and build targeted systems that are prepared to meet the challenges of the future. The experience and instruments in the Social Protection sector offer lessons and opportunities for collaboration with health.
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Making Remittances Work
by Emiko Todoroki
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H.M. Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, United Nations Secretary-General's Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development stated that 'the impact of helping migrants and their families will be lasting and global if we link remittances to other financial services and make them more affordable and more relevant to their needs." Remittances are a critical source of financing for most developing countries. The importance of remittances goes beyond numbers. For many households in developing countries, they are probably the most stable source of primary or additional income. At the same time, the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks exposed the use and abuse of remittance channels for financing terrorism. In response to this threat, the international community issued new international anti-money laundering/combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) standards on remittance transfers and their service providers. For the first time, remittance service providers were required to be brought under the government oversight and either registered with or licensed by a competent authority, and to be subject to AML/CFT obligations. While the FATF Recommendations appear straightforward on paper, regulating and supervising in practice the money transfer business has proved to be a very challenging task in both developed and developing countries. This book assists policy makers, regulators, and supervisors of money transfer businesses to craft effective regulatory and supervisory frameworks governing remittances that meet international AML/CFT standards, while at the same time ensuring that the neediest have access to these crucial services.
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Accounting for Mismatch in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
by Michael J. Handel
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To stimulate economic advancement, low- and middle-income countries need well-educated and trained workforces to fill the types of skilled jobs that drive economic growth. Improving educational quality and attainment and providing better training are all rightly put forth as policy recommendations to leverage economic growth and job creation. However, new findings based on large scale surveys of adult skills from the World Bank Group's STEP (Skills toward Employment and Productivity) Skills Measurement Program suggest that many workers are overqualified for their current jobs (based on the education those jobs require). The results of this study suggest that countries may not reap as much benefit from their investments in quality education and training if weak job creation leaves workers' skills underutilized. Most of the literature on mismatch focuses on higher-income countries and rates of over-education among college graduates. Accounting for Mismatch in Low- and Middle-Income Countries uses new STEP Skills Survey data from 12 low- and middle-income countries, representing a range of economic and educational and training climates, to better understand the scope and patterns of education and skills mismatch. STEP collects information not only on workers' level of education and employment status, but also on the types, frequency, and durations of tasks they carry out at their jobs as well as some of the cognitive skills they use. The study also explores additional factors such as gender, health, career stage, and participation in the informal labor sector that may help explain the degree of mismatch rates. The study's findings indicate that over-education is common in low and middle income countries with both lower and higher rates of educational attainment. There is also evidence that over-educated tertiary workers do not use all of their skills, potentially wasting valuable human capital and educational resources. Aimed at policy makers, business and education leaders, and employers, Accounting for Mismatch in Low- and Middle-Income Countries suggests that job growth must go hand-in-hand with investments in education and training.
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Student Learning in South Asia
by Halil Dundar
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For the past decade, most South Asian countries have directed their efforts towards achieving universal access to elementary education. While these investments have led to more children being retained in school, they have not translated into better learning outcomes. This report comprehensively analyzes the performance of South Asian educational systems in terms of student learning. It attempts to answer three questions: •How well do education systems in South Asia perform? •What determines student learning outcomes? •What policy options are effective in improving learning outcomes, especially given increasing demand and competition for public resources? Because learning outcomes and skill acquisition in the region are low in both absolute and relative terms, schooling does not translate, as it should, into better life chances, including escape from poverty for many more. Nor does schooling contribute to higher productivity and economic growth, so that countries in the region find it difficult to accelerate economic and social development. Governments in the region now fully realize that they need to direct their attention toward improving quality so that students can aspire to fuller lives as both individuals and labor market participants. Merely spending time in school is not enough; students need to register a significant gain in both noncognitive and cognitive skills if countries in the region are to reap full returns on their investments and generate gains in employment, job creation, and productivity. To examine what policies hold promise for improving student learning, the report reviews evidence from large-scale national learning assessments and findings from impact evaluations being conducted in the region. It identifies the following strategic priorities for improving learning outcomes in South Asia: (1) Make learning outcomes the central goal of education policy; (2) Invest in early childhood nutrition; (3) Improve teacher effectiveness and accountability; (4) Provide additional support to disadvantaged children in early grades; (5) Use financing effectively; (6) Leverage the contribution of the non-state sector; and (7) Build learning assessment systems. Each of these policy options will need to be integrated within a larger agenda of inclusive economic growth and governance reform to be truly effective.
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Sharing Higher Education's Promise beyond the Few in Sub-Saharan Africa
by Peter Darvas
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Despite a spectacular expansion of the higher education sector in Sub-Saharan Africa, the supply of tertiary education has generally failed to keep pace with demand, and the region continues to lag behind all other regions in terms of access to tertiary education. This is in part a consequence of deeply entrenched patterns of inequitable access to higher education, and the perpetuation of what researchers refer to as "elite systems." To date, access to tertiary education in Sub-Saharan Africa has unduly benefited students drawn from the region's wealthiest households, and overall enrollment remains disproportionately male and metropolitan. These factors stifle the catalytic potential of higher education, corroding its potential for driving economic growth and sustaining poverty reduction. Instead, patterns of access to tertiary education have generally reinforced and reproduced social inequality, instead of eroding its pernicious social and economic effects. Sharing Higher Education's Promise beyond the Few in Sub-Saharan Africa aims to inform an improved understanding of equity in tertiary enrollment in Sub-Saharan African countries and to examine the extent to which inequity functions as a bottleneck, inhibiting the ability of African universities to effectively drive improvements in overall quality of life and economic competitiveness. In our survey of the evidence, we also aim to identify which policies most effectively address the challenge of promoting equity of access in Sub-Saharan African tertiary education systems. To achieve these objectives, the book collects, generates, and analyzes empirical evidence on patterns of equity; examines the underlying causes of inequity; and evaluates government policies for addressing inequity.
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Options for Aged Care in China
by Elena Glinskaya
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China is aging at an unprecedented rate. Improvements in life expectancy and the consequences of the decades-old family planning policy have led to a rapid increase in the elderly population. According to the United Nations World Population Prospects, the proportion of older people age 65 and over will increase by about one-fourth by 2030, and the elderly will account for about one quarter of the total population by 2050. Population aging will not only pose challenges for elder care but also have an impact on the economy and all aspects of society (World Bank, 2016a). The government is aware of the need to develop an efficient and sustainable approach to aged care. To this end, the General Office of the State Council issued the 12th Five-Year Plan for the Development of Aged Care Services in China and the Development Plan for a System of Social Services for the Aged (2011-2015). It is now in the process of formulating the 13th Five-Year National Plan on Aging, which will further elaborate and finalize the reform roadmap for 2016 to 2020. The Plan is expected to be finalized and launched by June 2016. The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) helped draft these plans and is now leading the development of policy measures for the provision of social services for the elderly. This volume has been prepared to support the translation of the broad ideas on aged care provision expressed in the 12th and 13th Five-Year Plans and other government plans into reality and to help the government tackle the challenges described above. It strives to identify a policy framework that fits the Chinese context and can be put in place gradually. Specifically, it aims to provide an up-to-date understanding of the evolving aged care landscape in China; review international experiences in long-term care provision, financing, and quality assurance and assess their relevance to China's current situation; discuss implications of current developments and trends for the future of aged care in China; and propose policy options based on available evidence and best practices.
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Developing Socioemotional Skills for the Philippines' Labor Market
by Pablo Acosta
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While the Philippines has achieved remarkable progress in raising the education level of its labor force, the standard proxy for educational attainment-years of formal schooling-is increasingly inadequate as a measure of workforce skills. About one-third of employers report being unable to fill vacancies due to lack of applicants with the requisite skills. Most of these "missing skills" are socioemotional skills," also known as "non-cognitive skills", "soft skills" or "behavioral skills." Emerging international evidence suggests that socioemotional skills are increasingly crucial to the types of jobs being created by the global economy. The following study presents new evidence from employer and household surveys on the role of socioemotional skills in the Philippine labor market. The analysis reveals that: • Two-thirds of employers report difficulty in finding workers with adequate work ethics or appropriate interpersonal and communications skills. Firm-based training increasingly focuses on socioemotional skills. • The more educated and employed workers tend to score higher on measures of grit, decision-making, agreeableness, and extroversion. • Socioemotional skills are associated with an increase in average daily earnings, in particular for women, young workers, less-educated workers, and those employed in the service sector. • Higher levels of socioemotional skills are also correlated with a greater probability of being employed, having completed secondary education, and pursuing tertiary education. Studies suggest that primary school is the optimal age for shaping socioemotional skills, but the Philippines' elementary education curriculum devotes limited resources to their development. Schools continue to be judged solely by students' performance in cognitive achievement tests, but not on soft-skills competencies, and teachers are not appropriately trained to foster the development of them. Finally, interventions targeting workers entering the labor force can also effectively bolster their socioemotional skills, complementing effects to improve labor-market information and vocational counseling.
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Data for Learning
by The World Bank Group
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Data are a crucial ingredient in any successful education system, but building and sustaining a data system are challenging tasks. Many countries around the world have spent significant resources but still struggle to accomplish a functioning Education Management Information System (EMIS). On the other hand, countries that have created successful systems are harnessing the power of data to improve education outcomes. Increasingly, EMISs are moving away from using data narrowly for counting students and schools. Instead, they use data to drive system-wide innovations, accountability, professionalization, and, most important, quality and learning. This broader use of data also benefits classroom instruction and support at schools. An effective data system ensures that education cycles, from preschool to tertiary, are aligned and that the education system is monitored so it can achieve its ultimate goal-producing graduates able to successfully transition into the labor market and contribute to the overall national economy. Data for Learning: Building a Smart Education Data System and its forthcoming companion volume shed light on challenges in building a data system and provide actionable direction on how to navigate the complex issues associated with education data for better learning outcomes and beyond. Data for Learning details the key ingredients of successful data systems, including tangible examples, common pitfalls, and good practices. It is a resource for policy makers working to craft the vision and strategic road map of an EMIS, as well as a handbook to assist teams and decision makers in avoiding common mistakes. It is designed to provide the "how-to" and to guide countries at various stages of EMIS deployment. A forthcoming companion volume will focus on digging deeper into the practical applications of education data systems by various user groups in different settings.
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Moving toward Universal Coverage of Social Health Insurance in Vietnam
by Aparnaa Somanathan
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Over the past two decades Vietnam has made enormous progress towards achieving universal coverage (UC) for its population. Significant challenges remain, however, in terms of improving equity with continuing low rates of enrollment. Ensuring financial protection also remains an elusive goal. The Master Plan for Universal Coverage approved in 2012 by the Prime Minister directly addresses both these deficiencies in coverage. The objective of this report is to assess the implementation of Vietnam SHI and provide options for moving towards UC. This is a joint assessment with development partners, World Health Organization, United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) and Rockefeller Foundation. Expanding breadth of coverage, particularly for those hard to reach groups such as the near-poor and informal sector would require substantially increasing general revenue subsidies and fully subsidizing the premiums for the near-poor. High enrollment rates would, however, have little impact on financial protection and equity if OOP costs remain high. Achieving UC will require sustained efforts to improve efficiency in the system, and gain better value for money from available budgetary resources; without these efforts, any further progress towards UC would be financially unsustainable. There is considerable scope for improving efficiency in Vietnam. Fragmentation in the pooling of funds gives rise to unnecessary costs. Inefficiencies in resource allocation and purchasing arrangements include: (i) an overly generous benefits package; (ii) provider payment mechanisms and the mix of incentives facing providers which result in an oversupply of services; (iii) high prices, overconsumption and inappropriate use of pharmaceuticals; and (iv) the structure and incentives embedded within the delivery system. The organization, management and governance of SHI are fragmented and often dysfunctional. The present institutional setting for SHI needs to be assessed and changed.
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Building the Skills for Economic Growth and Competitiveness in Sri Lanka
by Halil Dundar
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Despite armed internal conflict and the global financial crisis, Sri Lanka has made remarkable progress in recent years, enjoying healthy economic growth and substantially reducing poverty. Moreover, Sri Lankans are the best-educated people in South Asia, with widespread access and high completion rates in primary and secondary education. Economic growth and structural changes in the economy, however, make skills development imperative as Sri Lanka implements its plan-the Mahinda Chintana (MC)-to become a regional hub in strategic economic areas. . Yet skills shortages and mismatches are widespread, and firms with undereducated employees and a shortage of skilled labor are less productive. An effective skills development system will help diversify the economy; improve labor productivity and competitiveness; give the country the flexibility it needs to compete effectively in the global economy; and further reduce poverty. As Sri Lanka moves from a factor-driven to an efficiency-driven economy, its workforce is shrinking even as demand for skills-especially sophisticated skills-is rising. Unfortunately, Sri Lanka has been slow to expand technical and vocational education and training (TVET) and tertiary education. Responsibility for TVET is fragmented; the system is supply-driven; there is a shortage of reliable information on labor market skills demand and supply; employers are sidelined; and the resources invested are not linked to performance. The MC recognizes the severity of the skills constraint and highlights the importance of investing in workforce skills to raise both productivity and competitiveness. This report analyzes skills demand and supply in Sri Lanka and scrutinizes how skills are formed, the factors shaping skills demand, and the responsiveness of the system. Finally, it offers suggestions for how skills development can be improved so that Sri Lanka can meet its economic growth and poverty reduction goals.
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Sri Lanka Education Sector Assessment
by Halil Dundar
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A country's education system plays a pivotal role in promoting economic growth and shared prosperity. Sri Lanka has enjoyed high school-attainment and enrollment rates for several decades. However, it still faces major challenges in the education sector, and these challenges undermine the country's inclusivegrowth goal and its ambition to become a competitive upper-middle-income country. The authors of Sri Lanka Education Sector Assessment: Achievements, Challenges, and Policy Options offer a thorough review of Sri Lanka's education sector-from early childhood education through higher education. With this book, they attempt to answer three questions: • How is Sri Lanka's education system performing, especially with respect to participation rates, learning outcomes, and labor market outcomes? • How can the country address the challenges at each stage of the education process, taking into account both country and international experience and also best practices? • Which policy actions should Sri Lanka make a priority for the short and medium term? The authors identify the most critical constraints on performance and present strategic priorities and policy options to address them. To attain inclusive growth and become globally competitive, Sri Lanka needs to embark on integrated reforms across all levels of education. These reforms must address both short-term skill shortages and long-term productivity. As Sri Lanka moves up the development ladder, the priorities of primary, secondary, and postsecondary education must be aligned to meet the increasingly complex education and skill requirements.
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The Health Workforce in Latin America and the Caribbean
by Carmen Carpio
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The health workforce is the foundation of care and affects quality and outcomes; human resources for health (HRH) constitutes the largest portion of the health care budget of most countries. Latin America and the Caribbean has been challenged by imbalances in workforce composition, distribution, and skill mix, as well as by variations in productivity and quality. The Health Workforce in Latin America and the Caribbean: An Analysis of Colombia, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Panama, Peru, and Uruguay provides an update on HRH in these six countries. The discussion is structured around five key areas of the workforce: financing, organization, management, regulation, and performance. •• Financing: The authors present the variety of contracting mechanisms, salary levels, and financial incentives, and their roles in attracting and retaining health workers. •• Organization: The countries have made progress toward achieving HRH targets and making education more accessible. However, the absorption capacity remains limited for graduates, the primary health care focus of training programs needs to be strengthened, and the strategies to encourage rural service have not effectively addressed the distribution gap of health workers. •• Management: All six countries have adopted the World Health Organization's Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel to recognize foreign-trained professionals to help address shortages and fill gaps in rural and remote areas. However, the countries continue to struggle with implementing self-sufficiency policies to build the capacity to meet needs. Such policies include promotion plans, nonmonetary incentives, and personnel for recruitment and eventual placement. •• Regulation: The countries are working to reduce precarious and unprotected employment, introduce safety policies to decrease occupational diseases and workplace accidents, and enact legislation to resolve disputes. •• Performance: Mixed results have been achieved in health outcomes, access and availability, quality of care and patient satisfaction, professional practice, and productivity and efficiency.
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Migration and Skills
by Jesús Alquézar Sabadie
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The European Union (EU) is one of the most favored destinations for immigrants in the world. The subject of migration has been moving up the policy agenda of the EU for some time now. This increasing emphasis will continue with the EU 2020 (post-Lisbon) Strategy, which refers to the potential contribution of migration to EU growth and promotes the idea of labor mobility. Faced with an aging population, possible labor and skills shortages in the economies, and the need to compete for talent with countries such as Australia, Canada, and the United States, the EU is beginning to see legal migration as an opportunity and is thus taking a more proactive approach toward it. 'Migration and Skills: The Experience of Migrant Workers from Albania, Egypt, Moldova, and Tunisia' aims to unravel the complex relationship between migration and skills development. Based upon extensive field surveys carried out by the European Training Foundation and joint analysis of data with the World Bank, the book paints a precise picture of potential and returning migrants from four very different countries-two "traditional" (Egypt, Tunisia) and two "new" (Albania, Moldova) sending countries. It describes the skills these migrants possess, the extent to which migrants are able to use their skills and training while abroad, and the impact that the experience of migration has on their skills development. The book also offers suggestions on how the governments of countries sending migrants and countries receiving them could move towards more eff ective policies for managing legal migration flows. Policies that address the increasingly circular nature of migration benefit all parties involved. By studying the phenomenon of migration in detail, 'Migration and Skills: The Experience of Migrant Workers from Albania, Egypt, Moldova, and Tunisia' seeks to promote a better understanding of the human faces behind migration: who they are and what they can offer, both to their host countries and their origin countries to which they return.
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Understanding the Poverty Impact of the Global Financial Crisis in Latin America and the Caribbean
by Various Authors
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This study documents the effects of the 2008–09 global financial crisis on poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). In doing so, it describes and decomposes the effects of the crisis on poverty using data from comparable household budget surveys for Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay, and labor force surveys for Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, and Uruguay. The study also provides macro-micro modeling of crisis and no-crisis scenarios for Mexico and Brazil, as well as the big picture and program-specific details of the social protection policy responses for these countries and more. Among the findings are the following. First, the effects of the global financial crisis on those living in poverty were not trivial: more than 3 million people fell into or remained mired in poverty in 2009 as a result of the crisis. Of these, 2.5 million were Mexican. Second, the changes in poverty were driven by changes in labor incomes caused by a variable combination of changes in employment rates and real wages. Third, the macro-micro modeling revealed different adjustment mechanisms but similar final incidence results for Brazil and Mexico. The results were regressive overall, with the middle of the income distribution hit even a bit more than the poor. According to the descriptive results from the larger set of countries, changes in inequality accounted for a tenth to a third of changes in poverty. Fourth, countries were quite active in their social protection policy responses, largely taking advantage of programs built in precrisis years. Social transfers partially offset the lower labor earnings of the poor, although income protection for the unemployed was weak. Finally, overall the policy messages are that good policy helps attenuate the links between a global crisis and poverty in the LAC countries, and many of the important things need to be done ex ante such as dealing with the macro fundamentals and building social protection programs.
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Promoting Healthy Living in Latin America and the Caribbean
by Various Authors
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Tackling Non-Communicable Diseases in Latin America and the CaribbeanThis report provides a comprehensive analysis of policies promoting healthy living in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). It addresses the critical need to prevent premature mortality from non-communicable diseases (NCDs) by examining the health and economic impact of NCDs and effective governance strategies.
Discover how multisectoral interventions can combat NCDs by:
- Improving diet and increasing physical activity
- Reducing tobacco and alcohol abuse
- Overcoming governance challenges in policy implementation
For policymakers, health advocates, and researchers, this insightful resource offers a roadmap for designing and implementing effective strategies to promote healthier lifestyles and build a more resilient future for LAC.
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Taking Stock of Programs to Develop Socioemotional Skills
by Maria Laura Sánchez Puerta
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This book represents a systematic review of the documented impacts of programs aimed at fostering socio-emotional skills in developed and developing countries. It uses a life-cycle approach to organize the findings from rigorous evaluations of more than 80 programs. This includes programs for toddlers and young children before primary school, programs for students enrolled in formal education, and programs targeted at the out-of-school population. The book develops a conceptual framework that helps to identify the program characteristics and participants' profiles associated with a range of program outcomes. These include health-related, behavioral, academic or cognitive, and economic-related outcomes. The review finds that few of the programs studied focus exclusively on the development of socio-emotional skills. In fact, most efforts to develop socio-emotional skills are embedded within innovative education and training curricula, as well as pedagogical and classroom practices. Evidence shows that programs are particularly effective when targeted to highly vulnerable populations and, in particular, to young children. Overall, findings indicate that high-quality programs for young children tend to foster cognitive abilities in the short run and to impact socio-emotional skills over the long run. Programs for students enrolled in formal education (primary and secondary levels) show positive and significant impacts on the outcomes reviewed. The most successful of these programs are implemented school-wide and follow the SAFE approach: that is, they are appropriately sequenced, active, focused, and explicit. Finally, the review finds that programs for out-of-school children and youth are usually designed as a means of achieving immediate labor market outcomes (e.g., job-placement, formal employment, and higher wages). While some of these programs show positive and statistically significant impacts on socio-emotional skills, the impacts tend to be small.
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Thirty Years of the HIV/AIDS Epidemic in Argentina
by Fernando Lavadenz
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The 1992 creation of the National HIV/AIDS Program was a fundamental step for Argentina to reach the second lowest burden of HIV/AIDS in South America. From 2000 to 2010, Argentina further reduced the already low HIV/AIDS incidence of 15.9 per 100,000 by 25 percent and reduced the burden by 21 percent. This study analyzes the national and inter-provincial burden of disease, the demographics of new HIV cases, the demand and supply-sides of service delivery, and conducts a cost-benefit analysis of the National HIV/AIDS Program over the last decade. Though the National HIV/AIDS Program was an instrumental step towards these achievements, this book also examines other key programmatic innovations that have been essential to the country's success in the fight against HIV/AIDS, including the introduction of universal free antiretroviral treatment; a comprehensive legal framework for sexual and reproductive rights; the introduction of incentives and results-based financing in the HIV/AIDS program; electronic monitoring of supplies and medicines; and implementation of an electronic clinical governance system for improving the quality of care and patient follow-up, among others. Despite high costs of the Program, this study found the Argentine National HIV/AIDS Program is cost-beneficial. From 2000 to 2010, 4,379 potential lives were saved. Nonetheless, the fight against this epidemic poses continuous challenges, including a stubbornly high number of new infections among young men who have sex with men, inequalities in HIV/AIDS rates between provinces, insufficient coverage of HIV diagnostic testing, insufficient HIV testing of tuberculosis patients, low expenditure on HIV prevention, high comparative cost of antiretroviral treatment, and questions regarding the long-term financial sustainability of the AIDS program, considering the increasing number of patients in treatment. 'Thirty Years of the HIV/AIDS Epidemic in Argentina: An Assessment of the National Health Response' delves into the combination of factors that make Argentina a success story in combating HIV/AIDS.
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Portraits of Labor Market Exclusion
by Ramya Sundaram
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Portraits of Labor Market Exclusion presents 'profiles' or 'portraits' of individuals who have limited labor-market attachment. It is widely accepted that those with limited attachment to the labor market are a highly heterogeneous group (including, for instance, recent job losers, long-term unemployed, school leavers with no labor-market experience, those close to retirement age, or people with caring responsibilities), and that understanding their circumstances and potential barriers is an essential prerequisite for designing and implementing a tailored and effective mix of policy support and incentives. The report takes a comprehensive view, focusing on both the labor market attachment of a country's out-of-work population and the social assistance package and poverty profile of the same segment of the population. In essence, the report looks at individuals through the lenses of both poverty/welfare status and labor market indicators, and, in doing so, the portraits helps move the dialogue from a purely labor market-centric view to a broader dialogue that includes social policy as a whole. This is an important shift; for instance, social protection programs, such as family benefits and maternity benefits, and broader social policy issues such as retirement ages, often have a great impact on who remains inactive. Specifically, the report presents portraits of the out-of-work population of six countries (Bulgaria, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania and Romania) in terms of distance from the labor market, human capital, and labor supply conditions, as well as demographic conditions. The analysis relies on the European Union Statistics of Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) surveys for the years 2007 to 2011. Latent class analysis methodology allows multidimensional profiling of the out-of-work population, and identifies classes or groups of out-of-work individuals that are as homogeneous as possible within each class according to a set of observable characteristics, and as distant as possible between classes. Consequently, this analysis provides a much richer glimpse of the very different barriers to labor market integration that these various groups experience, considerably augmenting the limited amount of information contained in traditional descriptive statistics.
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Being Fair, Faring Better
by Roberta Gatti
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In Central and Eastern European countries, inequalities for Roma families living in marginalized communities start early and are striking. Some of these inequalities reflect hard-wired family circumstances such as being born in poverty. Others reflect lack of opportunities such as limited access to those basic goods and services that are necessary not only for realizing one's potential in life, but also for living with dignity. Gaps between Roma and non-Roma widen over the lifecycle in a way that reinforces and perpetuates disadvantage and translates into significantly unequal outcomes, despite the fact that Roma report having similar aspirations to those of their non-Roma neighbors. Promoting equal opportunities for disadvantaged Roma is not only an imperative for societies that want to call themselves fair, but it is also a smart economic choice, especially in those countries where populations are aging rapidly. Investing early, with a particular emphasis on supporting healthy and cognitive development for disadvantaged Roma children, is likely to go a long way in promoting fair chances. However, leveling the playing field in childhood is likely not enough: disadvantaged Roma continue being exposed to unequal opportunities at key nodes in their lives, such as when pursuing education or when looking for a job. Therefore, it is as important that a broader set of policies address some of the circumstances in which a large share of Roma children grow up, including access to employment and decent living conditions for their families. Implementing interventions that help overcome these interrelated barriers will require strong ownership at the national level, coordinated policies across different ministries and government levels, and an integrated delivery system that is grounded in approaches that are customized to local conditions and implemented in a participatory manner. Good practices in Europe and elsewhere show that inclusion of the most disadvantaged - including many Roma - is possible and the current programming cycle for European Funds represents a unique opportunity to fund such interventions.
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Toward Universal Health Coverage and Equity in Latin America and the Caribbean
by Various Authors
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Over the past three decades, many countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have recognized health as a human right. Since the early 2000s, 46 million more people in the countries studied are covered by health programs with explicit entitlements to care. Reforms have been accompanied by a rise in public spending for health, financed largely by general revenues that prioritize or explicitly target the population without capacity to pay. Political commitment has generally translated into larger budgets as well as passage of legislation that ring-fenced funding for health. Most countries have prioritized cost-effective primary care and have adopted purchasing methods that incentivize efficiency and accountability for results and that give stewards of the health sector greater leverage to steer providers to deliver on public health priorities. Despite progress, disparities remain in financing and quality of services provision across health subsystems. Delivering on the commitment to universal health coverage will require concerted efforts to improve revenue generation in a fiscally sustainable manner and to increase the productivity of expenditures. In Toward Universal Health Coverage and Equity in Latin America and the Caribbean: Evidence from Select Countries, the authors show that evidence from an analysis of 54 household surveys corroborates that investments in extending coverage are yielding results. Although the poor still have worse health outcomes than do the rich, disparities have narrowed considerably -- particularly in the early stages of life. Countries have reached high levels of coverage and equity in utilization of maternal and child health services. The picture is more nuanced, and not nearly as positive, regarding adult health status and prevalence of chronic conditions and illnesses. Coverage of noncommunicable disease interventions is not as high, and service utilization is still skewed toward those who are better off. Prevalence of noncommunicable diseases has not behaved as expected given the drop in mortality; better access to diagnosis among wealthier individuals may be masking changes in actual prevalence. Catastrophic health expenditures have declined in most countries. The picture regarding equity, however, is mixed, pointing to limitations in the measure. Although the rate of impoverishment owing to health expenditures is low and generally declining, 2–4 million people in the countries studied still fall below the poverty line after health spending. Efforts to systematically monitor quality of care in the region are still in their infancy. Nonetheless, a review of the literature reveals important shortcomings in quality of care, as well as substantial differences across subsystems. Improving quality of care and ensuring sustainability of investments in health remain an unfinished agenda.
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Labor Policy to Promote Good Jobs in Tunisia
by Various Authors
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Unlocking Tunisia's Job Potential: A Call for Labor Market ReformTunisia faces significant labor market challenges, including high unemployment and a lack of quality jobs. Labor Policy to Promote Good Jobs in Tunisia offers a comprehensive analysis of these issues and proposes concrete policy recommendations for fostering inclusive economic growth.
This report, written by leading experts, explores the barriers Tunisians face in finding adequate employment and prosperity. It examines labor regulations, social security systems, and active labor market programs, providing a strong, evidence-based framework for developing a dynamic and competitive labor market. Discover how Tunisia can:
- Foster competition and reduce red tape
- Realign incentives in the public sector
- Promote labor mobility and worker protection
- Enhance skills and productivity
- Reform social insurance for broader coverage
For policy makers, social partners, and anyone concerned with Tunisia's economic future, this insightful resource provides a roadmap for creating a more inclusive and productive job market.
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The Last Mile to Quality Service Delivery in Jordan
by Tamer Samah Rabie
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A growing body of research suggests that the quantity and quality of structural inputs of education and healthcare services such as infrastructure, classroom and medical supplies, and even teacher and medical training are largely irrelevant if teachers and healthcare providers do not exert the requisite effort to translate these inputs into effective teaching and medical service. To exert adquate effort, providers must feel they are accountable for the quality of service they provide. Yet a sense of accountability among providers does not necessarily occur naturally, often requiring mechanisms to monitor and incentivize provider effort. The literature on improving provider accountability has under-emphasized the role of monitoring practices by school principals and chief medical officers. This study begins to fill this gap by investigating the role of within-facility accountability mechanisms in the education and health sectors of Jordan. To do this, an analysis of existing and original data from these sectors was conducted in which the association of within-facility monitoring and provider effort was quantified. The results indicate that within-facility monitoring is underutilized in both sectors and is a consistent predictor of higher provider effort.
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Health and Nutrition in Urban Bangladesh
by Ramesh Govindaraj
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Urbanization is occurring at a rapid pace in Bangladesh, accompanied by the proliferation of slum settlements, whose residents have special health needs given the adverse social, economic, and public environmental conditions they face. Over the past 45 years, the country's health and nutrition policies and programs have focused largely on rural health services. Consequently, equitable access of urban populations-particularly the urban poor-to quality health and nutrition services has emerged as a major development issue. However, the knowledge base on urban health and nutrition in Bangladesh remains weak. To address the knowledge gap, Health and Nutrition in Urban Bangladesh: Social Determinants and Health Sector Governance examines the health and nutrition challenges in urban Bangladesh-looking at socioeconomic determinants in general and at health sector governance in particular. Using a mixed methods approach, the study identifies critical areas such as financing, regulation, service delivery, and public environmental health, among others that require policy attention. The study also proposes specific actions within and outside the health sector to address the issues, providing guidance on their sequencing and the specific responsibilities of government agencies and other actors. This study should be useful to policy makers and practitioners working on urban health and nutrition issues in Bangladesh and in other low- and middle-income countries.
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Expanding Opportunities for the Next Generation
by Safaa El-Kogali
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Unlock the potential of future generations in the Middle East and North Africa. This report assesses early childhood development (ECD) in MENA, highlighting inequalities and shortfalls that hinder human and economic progress. It's for policymakers, development practitioners, and researchers seeking data-driven strategies to build a brighter future for children in the region.
Discover how investing in ECD can reduce social exclusion, improve health and education outcomes, and foster economic growth. Through detailed analysis of twelve MENA countries and territories, this report identifies key risk factors and offers evidence-based policy recommendations to ensure all children have the opportunity to thrive.
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Continuous Improvement
by Tinatin Baum
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Targeted Social Assistance of Georgia is a last-resort social program that is considered a best practice among programs based on proxy means testing (PMT). It achieves high targeting accuracy for a relatively high level of poverty incidence. In 2013, the government of Georgia embarked on the revision of this program to ensure its continued effectiveness and to revise some of the parameters of the eligibility formula that could be subject to manipulation. In particular, the government was concerned about the subjective evaluation of social agents and about concealable goods giving room to abuses in terms of program eligibility. Continuous Improvement: Strengthening Georgia's Targeted Social Assistance Program assesses the technical work and the policy actions taken by the Georgian government during 2014 and 2015. It covers the full cycle of the reform of a social assistance program, from establishing the objectives to the design of compensation measures that minimize the number of newly ineligible beneficiaries. In particular, it describes the revision of the PMT formula, the introduction of a scheme of benefits that decreases with the score and an associated assistance program for children, the pretesting of the new formula, and the design of compensation measures. The report also includes a chapter with specific recommendations for Georgia to consider in its efforts to improve its system of social protection and labor.
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Stepping Up Skills in Urban Ghana
by Peter Darvas
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The Skills Toward Employment and Productivity (STEP) Survey is an initiative of the World Bank in cooperation with other development partners and nongovernmental agencies and carried out in more than 14 countries globally. In Ghana, the first phase of the survey focusing on adults in urban communities was carried out in cooperation with the University of Ghana's Institute of Statistical, Social, and Economic Research (ISSER), the Ministry of Education, the Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (COTVET), and the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS).
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From Mines and Wells to Well-Built Minds
by Bénédicte De La Brière
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Sub-Saharan Africa's natural resource-rich countries have poor human development. Children in these countries are more likely to die before their first birthday, more likely to be stunted, and less likely to attend school than children in other countries with similar income. Despite the current price downturn, extractives will remain an important part of Sub-Saharan Africa's growth story-using resource rents wisely remains a long term challenge. Governments must choose how to allocate resource rents between spending, investing in human or physical capital, or investing in global financial assets. The return to investing in physical and human capital will be high in countries where the capital stock is low. Moreover, higher levels of human capital make investments in physical capital more productive, which suggests that the optimal portfolio will involve investing in both. Human capital should be prioritized in many of Sub-Saharan Africa's resource-rich countries because of the low starting point. Investing effectively in human capital is hard because it involves delivering services, which means coordinating a large number of actors and activities. Three dimensions of governance are key: institutions, incentives and information. Decentralization and leveraging the private sector are entry points to reforming institutional structures. Revenues from natural resources can fund financial incentives to strengthen performance or demand. Producing information, making it available, and increasing social accountability helps citizens understand their rights and hold governments and providers accountable. Improving the quality of education and health services is central to improving human capital. Two additional areas are promising. First, early child development-mother and newborn health, and early child nutrition, care, and education-improves outcomes in childhood and later on. Second, cash transfers-either conditional or unconditional-reduce poverty, increase household investments in child education, nutrition, and health, and increase the investment in productive assets which foster further income generation.
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Reducing Poverty and Investing in People
by Victoria Monchuk
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For the past two decades, Africa has experienced strong economic growth. However, high levels of chronic poverty persist, with poor households exposed to frequent shocks and a widening gap between income groups in terms of human capital outcomes and access to basic services. By providing regular, reliable support to poor and vulnerable households and by helping individuals invest in productive activities, targeted interventions such as safety nets have shown to help reduce poverty, reverse the trend of increasing inequality, and build household resilience. In the wake of the global economic crisis, an increasing number of policy makers in Africa have come to view safety nets as core instruments for reducing poverty and managing risk. Momentum is growing toward rationalizing public spending by better targeting measures to the poorest individuals. Reducing Poverty and Investing in People: The New Role of Safety Nets in Africa assesses the objectives, features, performance, and financing of safety nets in 22 Sub-Saharan African countries and identifies how governments and donors can strengthen safety net systems to better support poor and vulnerable people. Overall, the author finds that safety nets are on the rise in Africa and are beginning to evolve from fragmented stand-alone programs into integrated systems. Social protection has started to change largely from emergency food aid programs to regular, predictable safety nets including targeted cash transfers and cash-for-work programs. Some African countries, including Kenya, Rwanda, and Tanzania, are working toward consolidating their programs into a national system. With the timely analysis of safety nets in Africa, the encouraging results from impact evaluations, and the productive aspects of cash transfer programs in these countries, African decision makers are now prioritizing safety nets on their development agendas as effective instruments to reduce poverty and vulnerability.
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Sustaining Employment and Wage Gains in Brazil
by Joana Silva
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In the past 15 years, employment, labor market participation, and wages have grown significantly in Brazil. Improved labor market outcomes have been the main drivers of reductions in poverty and inequality. Sustaining Employment and Wage Gains in Brazil: A Skills and Jobs Agenda analyzes Brazil's labor markets and identifies the key challenges involved in sustaining job creation, wage growth, and poverty reduction. The work finds that continued progress in employment and labor earnings will depend on the country's ability to achieve a first critical goal: raise labor productivity. Continued improvements in the livelihoods of the poor will depend on achieving a second critical goal: connecting the poor to better, more productive jobs. In light of these goals, the report discusses reforms of program design and implementation in the following policy areas: (a) skills development (including through the flagship training program, PRONATEC); (b) unemployment insurance and other labor market regulations; (c) active labor market programs, including the National Employment System and entrepreneurship support; and (d) productive inclusion programs that, by promoting employability or income-earning opportunities for the poorest segments of the population in new ways, can help connect the poor to better, more productive jobs. The report reviews existing interventions in these four policy areas and proposes an agenda of incremental policy changes that could more effectively support the two critical goals. It also illustrates how other countries have dealt with similar challenges. As the report emphasizes, an essential first step will be to strengthen monitoring and evaluation systems to measure results by tracking programs' effects on labor market outcomes and using that information to inform program expansion. It also describes specific opportunities in each policy area to better coordinate programs with private sector demands and across policies, while also adapting them to improve the results for the urban and rural poor.
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