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In many low and middle income countries, dismal failures in the quality of public service delivery such as absenteeism among teachers and doctors and leakages of public funds have driven the agenda for better governance and accountability. This has raised interest in the idea that citizens can contribute to improved quality of service delivery by holding policy-makers and providers of services accountable. This proposition is particularly resonant when it comes to the human development sectors - health, education and social protection - which involve close interactions between providers and ci

Developing countries have responded to the multiple shocks from the food, fuel and finance crises of 2008-2009 with a mix of responses aimed at both mitigating the immediate impacts of the crises on households (and particularly children), and protecting future investments in human capital. While some countries have introduced new safety net programs, others have modified and/or expanded existing ones. Since many countries have introduced conditional cash transfers (CCTs) in recent years, these programs have been used as an important starting point for a response. This paper aims to describe how conditional cash transfers have been used by different countries to respond to the crises (e.g. by expanding coverage and/or increasing benefit amounts), distill lessons about their effectiveness as crisis-response programs, identify design features that can facilitate their ability to respond to transient poverty shocks, and assess how they can complement other safety net programs.

Intro -- Contents -- Foreword -- Acknowledgments -- Abbreviations -- Overview -- Chapter 1 Introduction -- Who are the Roma? -- Poverty in Transition -- History -- Roma Diversity, Culture, and Social Exclusion -- Policy Approaches and Debates -- Conclusions -- Chapter 2 An Overview of Roma Poverty and Welfare -- Measurement Challenges -- How Is Poverty Measured? -- An Analysis of Roma Poverty in Three Countries -- Correlates of Poverty -- Multivariate Analysis of Roma Poverty -- Housing -- Labor Market Status -- Developments in Transition -- Education Status -- Health Status -- Conclusions -- Chapter 3 Poverty and Exclusion: Roma Settlements in the Slovak Republic -- Roma in Slovakia -- Poverty in Roma Settlements -- Economic Activities and Coping Strategies -- Access to Social Services -- Reducing Poverty in Settlements -- Chapter 4 Roma Diversity in Romania -- From Slavery to Ceauşescu -- The Transition Period and Beyond -- The Diversity of Roma Settlements -- Income Sources and Economic Opportunities -- Access to Social Services -- Social and Ethnic Relations -- Current Policy Developments -- Conclusions -- Chapter 5 Project Experience in Hungary -- A Regional Frontrunner -- Government Policies and Approaches -- Project Experience: An Overview -- Project Case Studies -- Project Experience: Lessons Learned -- Conclusions -- Chapter 6 Roma in Spain -- Roma in Spain: A Western European Example -- The National Program for the Development of Roma -- European Union Support for Roma in Spain -- Conclusions -- Chapter 7 The Road Ahead -- The Nature of Roma Poverty and Policy Context -- Policy Implications and Approaches -- Policy Directions -- Conclusions -- Notes -- References -- About the Authors -- Index -- BOXES -- 1 In Their Own Words -- 2.1 Who Are the Roma? -- 2.2 Spatial Segregation within Roma Settlements -- 2.3 Measuring Unemployment.

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.