Other ESW Reports
254 items available
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This includes miscellaneous ESW types and pre-2003 ESW type reports that are subsequently completed and released.
Items in this collection
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Publication
Diagnostic Analysis for Circular Economy Interventions in Bulgaria
(Washington, DC, 2023-11-13)Over the past decade, material efficiency and resource productivity have surfaced on the global policy agenda. The rise of the circular economy (CE) agenda reflects the objective of moving away from the current systems of production and consumption based on the ‘take-make-use-waste’ linear economic model toward economies centered on minimizing the use of virgin materials without adversely affecting welfare. The focus is on a life-cycle approach to resource management, which starts with reducing raw material demand by looping resources back into consumption and production systems through innovations in material design, production, and reutilization processes. In addition to reducing pollution and other harmful emissions, the CE can be a driver of private sector growth and jobs and can increase the strategic autonomy of countries by reducing dependence on raw material imports. The objective of this rapid analysis is to identify the CE-related priority areas, sectors in Bulgaria and potential areas of focus for follow-up interventions. The study also aims to highlight concrete barriers that prevent the national and local governments from undertaking these interventions, as well as enabling factors and approaches to overcome them. -
Publication
Data Diagnostic for Kerala - Spotlight on Resilience: Action plan based on a rapid diagnostic of data governance in the State of Kerala
(Washington, D.C., 2023-10-17)The Government of Kerala (GoK) is committed to using data-driven tools and services for resilience and has embarked upon several innovative data programs that address known gaps in the resilience related service delivery architecture and the data ecosystem. The World Bank, through the ongoing Additional Financing for Resilient Kerala Program (P177980) is supporting the GoK in its efforts to use data effectively for resilience towards future disasters. At the invitation of the GoK, a World Bank team conducted a rapid diagnostic of the state of data governance in Kerala. The diagnostic aims to support the GoK in combining data initiatives related to climate change and disaster risk management into an integrated ecosystem of technology products and processes, as well as strengthen institutional mandates by enhancing data governance policies and creating incentives for data sharing. The findings of the rapid diagnostic suggest that a vibrant, innovative, and entrepreneurial data ecosystem for resilience exists within the GoK. The government and its partner agencies have developed and deployed several sophisticated resilience-related, data-driven tools, applications, and platforms. GoK however is unable to derive the full extent of benefits from these applications as most of these initiatives are not underpinned by a common set of standards, methods, and policies, leading to suboptimal citizen user experience and effectiveness. The data diagnostic of the data ecosystem of the State provides global and national benchmarking, identifies gaps and opportunity areas, and recommends five strategic action steps and a number of tactical action steps that GoK can take to strengthen data governance and demonstrate the value of data-driven initiatives. The diagnostic was carried out through secondary research and semi-structured interviews. The diagnostic team thanks the wide range of GoK stakeholders who readily agreed to be interviewed for the study, in particular the Kerala State IT Mission (KSITM) who was the main counterpart in developing the diagnostic. -
Publication
Unlocking the Potential of Women and Adolescent Girls - Challenges and Opportunities for Greater Empowerment of Women and Adolescent Girls in Madagascar
(Washington, DC, 2023-10-04)This Overview presents the findings from the mixed-method study on gender inequalities in Madagascar, illustrating the key gender gaps in the country and shedding light on the unique challenges that young Malagasy women face in their educational, professional, and family trajectories. Due to the persistence of financial, social, and institutional barriers, Malagasy women and girls encounter significant disadvantages across all dimensions of well-being and are unable to access opportunities in an equal manner with men and boys in the country. They are largely constrained in their ability to accumulate human capital in education and health, and to participate in economic opportunities; and they face severe limitations in agency and decision-making, particularly with respect to family formation. Women and girls also appear to be disproportionally affected by the impacts of climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic, which further widen preexisting gender gaps and amplify vulnerability to poverty, violence, and discrimination. On the basis of the research findings, the Overview presents key gender gaps in Madagascar and proposes four strategic lines of policy recommendations to (i) assist girls and young women in completing school education, (ii) improve women’s and girls’ access to professional health care and prevent teenage pregnancy, (iii) enhance women’s economic opportunities, and (iv) improve women’s and girls’ voice and agency through the elimination of all forms of gender-based violence. Four thematic notes accompany this Overview and present detailed findings in the four key dimensions: education, health, economic opportunities, and agency. -
Publication
Unlocking the Potential of Women and Adolescent Girls in Madagascar - Challenges and Opportunities in Increasing Women’s and Girls’ Economic Empowerment: Cahier 3
(Washington, DC, 2023-10-04)This thematic note is part of a broader mixed-method study on gender inequalities in Madagascar, which intends to illustrate the key gender gaps in the country and shed light on the unique challenges that young Malagasy women face in their educational, professional, and family trajectories. Due to the persistence of financial, social, and institutional barriers, Malagasy women and girls encounter significant disadvantages across all dimensions of well-being and are unable to access opportunities in an equal manner with men and boys in the country. They are largely constrained in their ability to accumulate human capital in education and health, and to participate in economic opportunities; and they face severe limitations in agency and decision-making, particularly with respect to family formation. Women and girls also appear to be disproportionally affected by the impacts of climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic, which further widen preexisting gender gaps and amplify vulnerability to poverty, violence, and discrimination. This thematic note provides in-depth insights into the status of women and girls’ economic opportunities in Madagascar and proposes several strategic lines of action to enhance women’s economic empowerment. This note is accompanied by the overview of all study findings and three thematic notes that present in-depth insights in the following key dimensions: education, health, and agency. -
Publication
Unlocking the Potential of Women and Adolescent Girls in Madagascar - Challenges and Opportunities in Education: Cahier 1
(Washington, DC, 2023-10-04)This thematic note is part of a broader mixed-method study on gender inequalities in Madagascar, which intends to illustrate the key gender gaps in the country and shed light on the unique challenges that young Malagasy women face in their educational, professional, and family trajectories. Due to the persistence of financial, social, and institutional barriers, Malagasy women and girls encounter significant disadvantages across all dimensions of well-being and are unable to access opportunities in an equal manner with men and boys in the country. They are largely constrained in their ability to accumulate human capital in education and health, and to participate in economic opportunities; and they face severe limitations in agency and decision-making, particularly with respect to family formation. Women and girls also appear to be disproportionally affected by the impacts of climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic, which further widen preexisting gender gaps and amplify vulnerability to poverty, violence, and discrimination. This thematic note discusses in detail the status of girls’ and women’s education in Madagascar and proposes several strategic lines of action to assist girls and young women in completing schooling. This note is accompanied by the overview of all study findings and three thematic notes that present in-depth insights in the following key dimensions: health, economic opportunities, and agency. -
Publication
Unlocking the Potential of Women and Adolescent Girls in Madagascar - Challenges and Opportunities in Health: Cahier 2
(Washington, DC, 2023-10-04)This thematic note is part of a broader mixed-method study on gender inequalities in Madagascar, which intends to illustrate the key gender gaps in the country and shed light on the unique challenges that young Malagasy women face in their educational, professional, and family trajectories. Due to the persistence of financial, social, and institutional barriers, Malagasy women and girls encounter significant disadvantages across all dimensions of well-being and are unable to access opportunities in an equal manner with men and boys in the country. They are largely constrained in their ability to accumulate human capital in education and health, and to participate in economic opportunities; and they face severe limitations in agency and decision-making, particularly with respect to family formation. Women and girls also appear to be disproportionally affected by the impacts of climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic, which further widen preexisting gender gaps and amplify vulnerability to poverty, violence, and discrimination. This thematic note provides in-depth insights into the status of women’s and girls’ maternal, sexual and reproductive health in Madagascar and proposes several strategic lines of action to improve access to professional health care by Malagasy women and girls and prevent teenage pregnancy. This note is accompanied by the overview of all study findings and three thematic notes that present in-depth insights in the following key dimensions: education, economic opportunities, and agency. -
Publication
Unlocking the Potential of Women and Adolescent Girls in Madagascar - Challenges and Opportunities in Enhancing Girls’ and Women’s Agency: Cahier 4
(Washington, DC, 2023-10-04)This thematic note is part of a broader mixed-method study on gender inequalities in Madagascar, which intends to illustrate the key gender gaps in the country and shed light on the unique challenges that young Malagasy women face in their educational, professional, and family trajectories. Due to the persistence of financial, social, and institutional barriers, Malagasy women and girls encounter significant disadvantages across all dimensions of well-being and are unable to access opportunities in an equal manner with men and boys in the country. They are largely constrained in their ability to accumulate human capital in education and health, and to participate in economic opportunities; and they face severe limitations in agency and decision-making, particularly with respect to family formation. Women and girls also appear to be disproportionally affected by the impacts of climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic, which further widen preexisting gender gaps and amplify vulnerability to poverty, violence, and discrimination. This thematic note provides in-depth analysis of the limitations that Malagasy women and girls encounter in respect to their agency and proposes several strategic lines of action to improve women’s and girls’ voice and decision-making and to eliminate all forms of GBV. This note is accompanied by the overview of all study findings and three thematic notes that present in-depth insights in the following key dimensions: education, health, and economic opportunities. -
Publication
A Water-Resilient Economy: A Hydro-economic and Climate Change Analysis for Rwanda - Final Report
(Washington, DC, 2022-08-31)This document begins with a description of HECCA. This is followed by an overview of the private sector enabling environment in Rwanda and a review of the private sector’s, current and potential roles in the country’s water sector. Next, the report describes in detail the development and calibration of Rwanda’s national WEAP model. This is followed by a discussion of the economic analysis methods used and the scenarios explored. The results of the baseline, or business-as-usual, scenario are examined via 121 unique climate projections, revealing the vulnerability of Rwanda’s current infrastructure and policies. Two additional scenarios are explored, Vision 2050 and Water Resilient Vision 2050 (WRes2050), to identify investment and policy pathways that are likely to lead to a more water-secure Rwanda in 2030 to 2050. Conclusions and recommendations are presented in the final section. -
Publication
Testing the Resilience of the Turkish Cypriot Economy: A Macroeconomic Monitoring Note - Special Issue : Enhancing Competitiveness and Promoting Economic Integration
(World Bank, Washington DC, 2022-03)The Turkish Cypriot economy (TCe) has struggled to recover since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. With a contraction of 16.2 percent in GDP in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic first took hold, the TCe experienced the most severe recession in its history, and the most severe recession among the economies of Europe. Moreover, just as other economies were beginning to recover, in 2021 the TCe underwent a phase of exceptional political uncertainty and numerous exogenous shocks, testing its resilience. With the emergence of new variants of the virus, the COVID-19 pandemic continued to adversely impact the TCe throughout 2021, with cases reaching a new peak at the end of 2021 despite the Turkish Cypriot (TC) administration’s efforts to prevent the spread of the virus, together with its support for the health system, households, and companies. Furthermore, a new record low in average precipitation in 2021, a series of earthquakes at the beginning of 2022, and weak energy security, with a recent series of power outages experienced across the island, have all revealed the intrinsic vulnerabilities of the island to climate change and natural disasters. Building a competitive private sector would require reforming business regulations and procedures that are under the mandate of the TC administration, and that should be aligned with international best practices and the EU Acquis, irrespective of the broader context of the political economy. Special attention should be devoted to the regulation concerning imports and GL trade. Pre-permits and licenses imposed by the TC administration on imports, on top of regulatory uncertainty and other cumbersome procedures, contribute to increasing prices, penalizing consumers, and eroding domestic competitiveness. A dialogue framework between GC and TC private sectors could be established to support solutions to the long-standing constraints that have been impeding business cooperation across the GL, for the benefit of all Cypriots. -
Publication
Inclusive Approaches to Disaster Risk Management: A Qualitative Review
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-02)This report presents a qualitative review of inclusive approaches to disaster risk management (DRM)—a part of the first stocktaking exercise that the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) conducts to assess lessons learned and generate knowledge to help mainstream inclusive approaches and strategies across GFDRR activities. The findings are based on a literature review, analysis of portfolio data, and internal consultations with World Bank task team leaders of GFDRR-funded activities. The reviewed literature includes GFDRR project documentation and knowledge products, World Bank operational documents and research findings, and relevant publications from other scholars and organizations. The stocktaking exercise emphasizes gender, disability-inclusive DRM, citizen engagement, and community participation. It will help create a framework for GFDRR engagement on inclusive DRM and inform development of an inclusive DRM work plan for implementation beginning in fiscal year 2022. As such, GFDRR’s work in these areas reflects its commitment to the World Bank Group’s Gender Strategy 2016–2023 (World Bank Group 2015), the Disability Inclusion and Accountability Framework (World Bank 2018), and the Strategic Framework for Mainstreaming Citizen Engagement in World Bank Group Operations.