Reducing Vulnerability And Increasing Opportunity

The economies in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region are diverse in many ways, making it difficult to develop a common social protection strategy. Countries differ in size and per capita income. There are differences between urban/rural populations, agricultural/non-farm employment, and the structure of output between oil/non-oil economies. However, the countries of the MENA region share key socioeconomic characteristics and their social protection systems also confront similar design and implementation problems. This report provides a framework for an integrated approach to social protection. It also proposes general recommendations to guide the reform of social protection systems in the MENA region. The report is organized into four chapters which cover highlighting social risks and policy challenges; evaluating formal and informal social protection systems in the MENA region; strategic directions for enhancing these social protection systems; and the World Bank's contribution to social protection in the MENA region. The aim of this report is to contribute to a better-informed and more focused debate on social protection at the national, regional, and international levels.

This report analyses the individual and environmental factors that contribute to child vulnerability. It calls on OECD countries to develop and implement cross-cutting well-being strategies that focus on empowering vulnerable families; strengthening children’s emotional and social skills; strengthening child protection; improving children’s health and educational outcomes; and reducing child poverty and material deprivation.

In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.

From the Asian tsunami of 2004 to hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the Tohoku earthquake of 2011, our century has been fraught with catastrophic natural disasters. Disaster Risk and Vulnerability assesses the human toll and economic losses of natural disasters and reasserts the importance of human collaboration and organization in disaster management. In most cases, policy makers, planners, managers, and regulators who implement disaster risk reduction response planning and management strategies remain detached from local conditions, failing to address them effectively. Presenting case studies from Asia and North America, as well as a broad range of approaches to community mobilization and partnership development, contributors show that local communities, all levels of government, and non-governmental organizations must work collectively in order to reduce the harm caused by disasters. Despite unprecedented progress in science and technology and governments' continued efforts in disaster risk reduction, socioeconomic losses due to environmental disasters continue to rise. Disaster Risk and Vulnerability provides knowledge and information that will benefit anyone working in the fields of environment, disasters, and community mobilization in an effort to reverse this trend.

Social Protection & Labor at the World Bank, 2000-2008 presents a progress review of the sector strategy by the World Bank, published in early 2001. The strategy proposed a new conceptual frameworkOCoSocial Risk ManagementOCoto review and reform existing interventions and propose new ones that better assist vulnerable people in addressing the many risks to which they are exposed."

This research paper describes the main results from the community of Angyalfold, in Budapest, Hungary. The research is concerned with the strategies adopted by the urban poor to reduce vulnerability and prevent impoverishment during periods of economic stress. This type of study assists policymakers in designing effective locally based solutions that ensure the poor are themselves active agents of growth, rather than passive recipients of compensatory measures. Three features distinguish this study from other poverty studies:a micro-level approach combining households and communities as the main units of analysis, an unusually long period of observation for some communities and households, and a comparative framework offering fours cases with very different economic development levels and institutional contexts. The study concludes with some priority recommendations for action:1) support households in their role as safety net; 2) alleviate constraints on women's labor supply; 3) ensure that social capital is not taken for granted; 4) develop social policy that integrates human capital and social capital; 5) pursue further research; and 6) develop tools and indicators to strengthen the assets of the poor.

Infrastructure—electricity, telecommunications, roads, water, and sanitation—are central to people’s lives. Without it, they cannot make a living, stay healthy, and maintain a good quality of life. Access to basic infrastructure is also a key driver of economic development. This report lays out a framework for understanding infrastructure resilience - the ability of infrastructure systems to function and meet users’ needs during and after a natural hazard. It focuses on four infrastructure systems that are essential to economic activity and people’s well-being: power systems, including the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity; water and sanitation—especially water utilities; transport systems—multiple modes such as road, rail, waterway, and airports, and multiple scales, including urban transit and rural access; and telecommunications, including telephone and Internet connections.