At the time of independence in 2002, Timor-Leste had a seriously weak health system with only a handful of doctors in the country. In this context, the governments of Timor-Leste signed an agreement and the Cuban Medical Brigade started to train medical students and deploy them in the country, particularly in rural areas. While the initial massive shortage has now been minimized, there are concerns over more complex issues including facility functionality, rural retention, motivation, preferences and competence of health workers. The objectives of this survey were to understand the labor market dynamics among health workers, to learn more about the preferences and concerns of health workers, and to assess the skills, competence and motivation of doctors.
How many and which firms issue equity and bonds in domestic and international markets, how do these firms grow relative to non-issuing firms, and how does firm performance vary along the firm size distribution? To evaluate these questions, a new data set is constructed by matching data on firm-level capital raising activity with balance sheet data for 45,527 listed firms in 51 countries. Three main patterns emerge from the analysis. (1) Only a few large firms issue equity or bonds, and among them a small subset has raised a large proportion of the funds raised during the 1990s and 2000s. (2) Issuers grow faster than non-issuers in assets, sales, and employment, that is, firms do not simply use securities markets to adjust their financial accounts. (3) The firm size distribution of issuers evolves differently from that of non-issuers, tightening among issuers and widening among non-issuers.
The year 2015 is pivotal in international development. In the lead-up to 2000, the global community came together at various conferences to agree on, for the first time in known history, shared development goals. The eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) set 18 targets that were aimed at significantly reducing disease, illiteracy, gender inequality, hunger, and poverty, and improving access to water and sanitation by 2015. Leading up to this point where the era of the MDGs concludes, progress has been monitored and discussions started well ahead of this momentous year to define and meet the more ambitious Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), building on and bringing to fruition what has been started under the MDG agenda. Much progress has been made toward achieving the MDGs. The world reached the poverty reduction target five years ahead of schedule, and progress has been reported in a number of other areas. However, considerable challenges remain: even while declaring success on MDG1, roughly a billion people remained in poverty. A large number of MDG targets will not be met by the end of 2015, and progress remains uneven among the different countries. Moreover, new challenges to progress are emerging deriving from natural and manmade calamities. To deliver on the twin goals and the post-2015 agenda, the Bank Group would benefit from a clearly articulated role, approach, and expected contribution to the SDGs, both externally for enhancing partnerships and internally to facilitate prioritization and synergies. As this paper has shown, the World Bank Group works actively in many areas relevant to the SDGs, actually many more than covered here, but various evaluations have pointed to the importance of multi-sector integrated approaches that challenge countries and their partners to find new ways of working. The challenges that the SDGs aim to address, and the SDGs themselves, are complex, and solutions will have to be tailored to context, bring together multiple actors, and benefit from dynamic, constantly adjusted planning and execution that is informed by ongoing monitoring and evaluation.
This document presents the Systematic Country Diagnosis (SCD) for Mali. The SCD was prepared following a consultative process within and outside the World Bank. It identifies constraints and opportunities for achieving the twin goals of ending poverty and improving shared prosperity by 2030 while acknowledging (i) the need for selectivity in pro-poor interventions, and (ii) the many competing 'binding' reasons for poverty in Mali. The objectives of the twin goals are similar for Mali as the incidence of dollar-a-day poverty exceeds 40 percent of the population. Selectivity means the identification of principal opportunities for poverty reduction in the next 15 years, as well as the identification of binding constraints to reaping such opportunities. In the search for selectivity, there is the risk of not identifying the correct set of opportunities and constraints. However, the risk of not being selective would probably have more serious implications as it could lead the government and its development partners to disperse their resources and attention too thinly over too many competing priorities. Selectivity also implies making trade-offs between immediate and longer term objectives. In this document priority is given to the identification of poverty reduction opportunities which could deliver results before 2030, while acknowledging that efforts should not undermine the prospects for poverty reduction and shared prosperity beyond 2030. In this regard, particular attention is paid to environmental and fiscal sustainability.
Worldwide, deaths from cancer exceed those caused by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), tuberculosis, and malaria combined. Seventy percent of deaths due to cancer occur in low-and middle-income countries, which are often poorly prepared to deal with the growing burden of chronic disease. Over a period of 18 months, the cancer care and control South-South knowledge exchange brought together a group of stakeholders from five countries in Africa - Botswana, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, and Zambia to share experiences, lessons, and good practices through a set of video conferences and a site visit to Zambia. All five countries have demonstrated commitment, initiated various cancer control and cancer screening programs, and expressed interest in sharing their experiences. The knowledge exchange on cancer care and control aimed to raise awareness, increase knowledge of effective strategies, and strengthen regional collaboration in cancer control planning and expanding equitable access to cancer treatment. This paper presents highlights of the country experiences shared, common challenges discussed, and innovative solutions explored during the knowledge exchange. Topics addressed include population-based surveillance and data collection to better document the burden of cancer; strategies for designing and implementing successful national cancer care and control programs; innovative approaches for strengthening cancer prevention efforts such as human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination programs; task sharing and other strategies to build capacity and increase access to services; analytical tools for understanding the costs of programs; financing models, including public private partnerships, to increase cancer prevention and care; policy reforms needed to improve access to palliative care; and opportunities for regional collaboration.
The Jordan economic monitor provides an update on key economic developments and policies over the past six months. It also presents findings from recent World Bank work on Jordan. It places them in a longer-term and global context, and assesses the implications of these developments and other changes in policy for the outlook for the country. Its coverage ranges from the macro-economy to financial markets to indicators of human welfare and development. It is intended for a wide audience, including policy makers, business leaders, financial market participants, and the community of analysts and professionals engaged in Jordan.
Affordable housing will be instrumental to helping Vietnam achieve its goals for increasing productivity and inclusive urban growth. Since Doi Moi, the country has experienced impressive economic growth, averaged at 7.4 percent per annum from 1990 to 2008, lowering to an average of 6 percent per annum from 2007 to 2013. Strong economic growth has supported a substantial reduction in poverty, from 58 percent in 1993 to 17 percent in 20121. Yet, the country has remained largely rural, with more than half of its population working in the agricultural sector, which only contributed 17 percent of GDP in 20142. In some countries, urbanization has been used as a tool to accelerate economic growth and poverty reduction. As Vietnam aims to maintain a high growth rate, supporting urbanization, where cities contribute a growing share of jobs and GDP, will be an important measure. This structural shift will drive population growth and new demand for housing in cities, for which quality and affordable housing options in well-serviced and connected settlements will be needed. Areas of particular importance in the Law is support toward self-built housing, the active participation of the private sector, addressing the shortage of affordable rental housing as well as high demand for housing from low income groups, especially workers in industrial zones of large cities. This report, which includes a comprehensive assessment and roadmap for affordable housing in Vietnam, recommends the following key messages moving forward: increase investment, Prepare Three Flagship Initiatives under an umbrella National Affordable Housing Program, Institutional Strengthening, Land Tax Reform, and Create an Enabling Environment for Affordable Housing. Moving forward, design of the market-oriented measures described above will require intensive and careful consultation and engagement with all housing sector actors, particularly the private sector. Private sector will need to play an active role in the early preparation to ensure their participation and commitment that carries through to implementation of policy measures on the financing and supply side.
Access to finance, particularly credit, is widely recognized as problematic for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), hampering their growth and development. To address this challenge, many governments around the world intervene in SME credit markets through credit guarantee schemes (CGSs). A CGS offers risk mitigation to lenders by taking a share of the lenders' losses on SME loans in case of default. CGSs can contribute to expand access to finance for SMEs. Yet they may bring limited value added and prove costly if they are not designed and implemented well. There have been efforts in recent years to identify good practices for CGSs, but the international community still lacks a common set of principles or standards that can help governments establish, operate, and evaluate CGSs for SMEs. The Principles for Public Credit Guarantees for SMEs are filling this gap. The Principles provide a generally accepted set of good practices, which can serve as a global reference for the design, execution, and evaluation of public CGSs around the world. The Principles propose appropriate governance and risk management arrangements, as well as operational conduct rules for CGSs, which can lead to improved outreach and additionality along with financial sustainability. Developed through extensive consultations with stakeholders, the Principles draw from both the literature on good practices for CGSs and sound practices implemented by a number of successful CGSs around the world.
Agricultural risk management is a central issue that Mozambique faces in development, and multiple stakeholders have analyzed this challenge, sometimes with different terminology and focusing on varying aspects. The government of Mozambique has adopted the strategic plan for agricultural development (PEDSA 2010-19) that focuses on: (i) increasing the availability of food in order to reduce hunger through growth in small producer productivity and emergency response capacity; (ii) enlarging the land area under sustainable management and the number of reliable water management systems; (iii) increasing access to the market through improved infrastructures and interventions in marketing; and (iv) improving research and extension for increased adoption of appropriate technologies by producers and agro-processors. The World Bank's agriculture sector risk assessment takes a holistic approach and relies on long time-series historical data to arrive at an empirical and objective assessment of agricultural risks and their impacts on Mozambique. This assessment will form the basis of the second step, solution assessment, whose final findings will inform National Investment Plan for the Agrarian Sector in Mozambique (PNISA). This document considers the many aspects of assessing risk in the Mozambican agriculture sector. Chapter one gives introduction and context. Chapter two introduces the major characteristics of the agricultural system leading into chapter three, which presents a comprehensive picture of the risks that exist in the sector. Chapter four, in quantifying the risks that have been observed, comments on the losses that have been incurred by the sector because of production risks, whereas chapter five provides a qualitative discussion of how risk has an effect on the different stakeholders present in the sector. Chapter six delves into the risk prioritization carried out by the team and then comments on various management measures. The report concludes with chapter six, in which recommendations are provided for improving risk management in Mozambique.
The banking sector in Moldova is in the midst of structural changes with worrisome corporate governance issues at the core. Corporate governance is at the center of a stable and profitable banking sector which is essential to support economic growth and productivity. However, the banking system in Moldova suffers from critical governance weaknesses which the National Bank of Moldova (NBM) has been unable to effectively address. The illicit schemes used to gain control of the majority of the banking sector's assets have involved raider attacks by unidentified individuals whose subsequent, de facto, related party transactions have caused the deterioration of bank balance sheets. The recent changes in controlling ownership have resulted in nontransparent appointments of board members and Chief Executive Officers (CEOs). This has led to substantial blurring of the roles and responsibilities of ownership, oversight (board), and management, resulting in no clear accountability. The legal and institutional corporate governance framework in Moldova is weak. Sound corporate governance is first and foremost dependent upon the motivations of owners and the resultant business culture they instill through their selection and appointment of board members. In Moldova, a few actors control the majority of the banking system. They demonstrate dubious motives by acting obscurely through others and through companies to own and control important banks. These actions create a system that is held captive to serve the needs and pleasures of a few at the expense of many: the depositors, general public, and ultimately, the taxpayer.
This document provides an overview and summary assessment of lessons and insights learned from various existing and presented domestic cap and trade schemes. For each scheme, a set of general characteristics (or issues) is considered. The characteristics (or issues) covered include the following: (i) coverage and scope; (ii) setting a cap; (iii) setting the points of obligation; (iv) allocation of allowances; (v) systems for domestic monitoring, reporting and verification, (MRV) and compliance; (vi) enabling trading and fostering stability; (vii) institutional arrangements, including technical and legal infrastructures; and (viii) use of offsets and linking. The domestic emissions trading schemes (ETS) included in this assessment are the following: (i) European Union (EU) ETS; (ii) New Zealand (NZ) ETS; (iii) United States (U.S.) northeast states regional greenhouse gas initiative (RGGI); (iv) California (Cal) ETS; (v) Australia clean energy future carbon pricing mechanism (Aus CPM); and (vi) Tokyo cap and trade program (C and T).
Doing Business sheds light on how easy or difficult it is for a local entrepreneur to open and run a small to medium-size business when complying with relevant regulations. It measures and tracks changes in regulations affecting 10 areas in the life cycle of a business: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency. In a series of annual reports Doing Business presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 183 economies, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, over time. This economy profile presents the Doing Business indicators for Estonia. To allow useful comparison, it also provides data for other selected economies (comparator economies) for each indicator. The data in this report are current as of June 1, 2011 (except for the paying taxes indicators, which cover the period January- December 2010). The data not only highlight the extent of obstacles to doing business; they also help identify the source of those obstacles, supporting policy makers in designing regulatory reform.
Doing business sheds light on how easy or difficult it is for a local entrepreneur to open and run a small to medium-size business when complying with relevant regulations. It measures and tracks changes in regulations affecting 10 areas in the life cycle of a business: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency. In a series of annual reports doing business presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 183 economies, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, over time. This economy profile presents the doing business indicators for Korea, Republic of. To allow useful comparison, it also provides data for other selected economies (comparator economies) for each indicator. The data in this report are current as of June 1, 2011 (except for the paying taxes indicators, which cover the period January December 2010).
Doing business sheds light on how easy or difficult it is for a local entrepreneur to open and run a small to medium-size business when complying with relevant regulations. It measures and tracks changes in regulations affecting 10 areas in the life cycle of a business: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency. In a series of annual reports doing business presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 183 economies, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, over time. This economy profile presents the doing business indicators for Indonesia. To allow useful comparison, it also provides data for other selected economies (comparator economies) for each indicator. The data in this report are current as of June 1, 2011 (except for the paying taxes indicators, which cover the period January December 2010).
Doing business sheds light on how easy or difficult it is for a local entrepreneur to open and run a small to medium-size business when complying with relevant regulations. It measures and tracks changes in regulations affecting 10 areas in the life cycle of a business: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency. In a series of annual reports doing business presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 183 economies, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, over time. This economy profile presents the doing business indicators for Marshall Islands. To allow useful comparison, it also provides data for other selected economies (comparator economies) for each indicator. The data in this report are current as of June 1, 2011 (except for the paying taxes indicators, which cover the period January-December 2010).
