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May 3, 2007
HIGHLIGHTS FULL CONTENTS 
 Poverty Drops below One Billion, Says Bank Report
Global poverty rates continued to fall in the first four years of the 21st century, according to estimates published in the "World Development Indicators 2007." The proportion of people living on less than $1 a day fell to 18.4 percent in 2004, leaving an estimated 985 million people living in extreme poverty. By comparison, the total number of extreme poor in1990 was 1.25 billion. Two-dollar-a-day poverty rates are falling too, but almost half the population of the developing world -- an estimated 2.6 billion people -- was still living below that level in 2004. The report finds that poverty reduction was not always or everywhere commensurate with income growth. In some countries and regions, inequality worsened as poor people did not reap the fruits of economic expansion because of a lack of job opportunities, limited education or poor health care.
Press release | WDI website
Bank Team Supports Solomon Islands Tsunami Recovery
A Bank team skilled in infrastructure damage assessment and rural and social development will assist the Solomon Islands with tsunami recovery efforts. The tsunami -- which has claimed 28 lives so far and left thousands of people homeless -- struck April 2 following an earthquake at sea. There have been at least 27 smaller aftershocks, and although no further damage has been reported, there is a high possibility of further large earthquakes coming days.
Thai Youth Leader Urges Peers to Speak Up
If 21-year-old Chalongkwan Tavarayuth had her way, the thick volume of "World Development Report 2007: Development and the Next Generation" would top the reading list of every young person in Thailand. “I think it remarkable that the World Bank dedicated its flagship report to the issue of investing in young people,” says Chalongkwan, who has represented Thai youth on many events inside and outside her country. The report, she adds, touches many issues that will be critical to the development of her generation and "we should also try to make sure that our voices will be heard.”
Also: Youth Engagement Program in Thailand Lao PDR: Livelihood Programs: Key Part of the Nam Theun 2 Project
Construction of the Nam Theun 2 projectcontinues underway in Khammouane province, with about twenty five percent of the dam infrastructure completed and with more than half the villagers being resettled moved into their new locations; the rest of the villages will finish moving during the remainder of this dry season. In total, 1,200 families are being resettled and they are benefiting from new houses, infrastructure, as well as assistance that will help them cope during the transition. More Bank news at www.worldbank.org/news Back to top
Global Monitoring Report 2007
East Asia & Pacific remains one of the world's main drivers of poverty reduction. With spectacular growth in the past decade, EAP is set to reduce the number of people in extreme poverty to 2.4 percent by 2015 (far surpassing the 15 percent target).
Regional perspective | Report website Back to top China's Information Revolution: Managing the Economic and Social Transformation
Since 1997, China has devoted considerable resources to ICT development. China has the world’s largest telecommunications market, and its IT industry has been an engine of economic growth—growing two to three times faster than GDP over the past 10 years.
This book highlights several key issues that need to be addressed decisively in the second half of this decade, through policies entailing institutional reform, to trigger broader changes.
Press release | Report website Back to top For purchase: New Industries from New Places
This volume, subtitled "The Emergence of the Hardware and Software Industries in China and India," asks whether these countries will dominate the world's technology industry in years to come. Asia's giant neighbors -- with more than a third of the planet's population and two of the fastest-growing economies in the world -- are entering a new era of cooperation. The authors compare the countries' growth sectors and their emergence as global leaders, examine their economic context and business environments, and draw conclusions for future policies and strategies.
More Bank publications and reports at www.worldbank.org/reference
Back to top
Approved: INDONESIA - Third Kecamatan Development Project - KDP (Phase 2) –
US$123 million interest-free credit to sustain and expand the activities of the Third Kecamatan Development Program (KDP3) Indonesia’s best known community-driven poverty alleviation program. KDP works nationwide to provide funds to rural communities so they can make poverty-reducing investments based on their own plans and management. From covering 28 villages at its start in 1998, the program now covers 34,000 villages in 30 out of Indonesia’s 33 provinces. In the nine years of its existence the Program has generated 55 and a half million workdays resulting in the creation of over 31,000 roads, over 8,000 bridges, over 9,000 sanitation and irrigation units each, 3000 health posts and 5,000 schools.
Press release| Project details | More on KDP
Back to top PAPUA NEW GUINEA - Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Project (RMRP) -
US$ 37 million to ensure continued maintenance activities and to prevent deterioration in the country’s key national and provincial road networks until its National Transport Development Plan becomes operational shortly. Maintenance works on existing roads in two new provinces -- Gulf and Western -- is also included in the Additional Finance package. This increases the number of project provinces from six to eight.
Press release | Project details
PHILIPPINES - Mindanao Rural Development Project, Phase 2 (MDRP2) -
US$83.752 million as part of a four-phase program loan whose long term objective is to improve incomes and food security in Mindanao.
Phase 2 will improve livelihood opportunities of targeted communities in 225 municipalities in all of the 27 provinces of Mindanao. It will also institutionalize a decentralized system for agriculture and fisheries service delivery that will promote participation, transparency and accountability. This phase will also pilot test a performance-based grant scheme which will provide additional grants to local government units to be used for local/devolved development infrastructure projects.
Press release | Project details Project Profiles
Providing Electricity to Poor Rural Provinces of Lao PDR
The Southern Provinces Rural Electrification Project set out to provide electricity to seven poor rural provinces of Lao PDR and strengthen the capacity of the country's sole electricity provider, Electricité du Laos (EdL), to expand its reach to the rural poor through electrification investments and to operate on a commercial basis. Rebuilding Timor-Leste's Health System
More than 70 percent of Timor-Leste's health facilities were destroyed or badly damaged in the violence and conflict that followed the referendum on independence from Indonesia in 1999. Around 80 percent of the country's health managers left the country as did all but around 20 doctors.
In this context of devastation, the first health sector rehabilitation project aimed to build health institutions and develop a policy framework for a new health system, while providing basic health services. The second project started a hospital restructuring program while continuing the activities begun under the first. School Quality Improves in Cambodia
After the Khmer Rouge period, the late 1990s represented a transition from emergency relief to reconstruction and development in Cambodia. In 1997, Cambodia ranked 137th out of 174 countries on UNDP's Human Development Index and, according to the Cambodia Socioeconomic Survey, net primary enrollment rates were a mere 55 percent.
The Education Quality Improvement project aimed to develop and put into practice a participatory approach to school quality improvement and performance-based resource management. The goal was to have participating schools eventually show improvements in student enrollment, attendance and achievement. Upgrading Lao PDR's Major Artery
Before the project started, Road No. 13, the backbone of the road system in Lao PDR, was in serious need of improvement. Its gravel surface limited travel speeds to around 35 km per hour. Other provincial and district roads were also in a state of disrepair with road maintenance only rarely undertaken across the network.
The Third Highway Improvement Project upgraded a 200-km section of Road 13 and introduced a periodic maintenance program using competitive bidding. It also set out to improve the Government’s capacity to better manage its national road assets. Back to top New and revised project information documents: Cambodia - Greater Mekong Sub-region Power Trade Project
Cambodia - Avian and Human Influenza Control and Preparedness Emergency
Cambodia - Greater Mekong Sub-region Power Trade Project
China - GEF-World Bank Urban Transport Partnership Program
China - Shandong Minhe Poultry Manure Biogas
China - Mainstreaming Adaptation to Climate Change into Water Resources Management and Rural Development
China - Shandong Flue Gas Desulfurization
China - Western Provinces Rural Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene Promotion
Indonesia - Better Education and Reformed Management for Universal Teacher Upgrading
Lao PDR - Financial Management Capacity Building Additional Financing
Lao PDR - Greater Mekong Sub-region Power Trade Project
Lao PDR - Third Lao PDR Poverty Reduction Support Operation Grant
Samoa - Second Infrastructure Asset Management Additional Financing
Timor-Leste - Health Sector
Vietnam - HIFU Development
Vietnam - Mekong Transport/Flood Protection (Additional Financing)
Vietnam - Hydropower Development For more information on projects and programs, visit http://www.worldbank.org/projects Back to top 
Speak Out - Live Discussion on East Asia Update - Ten Years After the Asian Crisis
May 7, 10am EDT (14:00 UTC/GMT).
Milan Brahmbhatt, principal author of the Bank's latest "East Asia & Pacific Update" -- a semiannual report on the region's economic and social health -- will discuss developments following the region's financial crisis of mid-1997 during a one-hour online discussion May 7 beginning at 10am EDT (14:00 UTC/GMT). The report says the region is much wealthier, has fewer poor people and plays a larger global role than ever before. But this success comes with new challenges for countries trying to avoid the "middle-income trap" and projections of staggering urbanization in years to come.
Dan Biller, author of the special focus section on sustainable development in the urban fringe, will address questions on this topic.
Questions may be submitted in advance. Back to top New Seminar Series started: Knowledge Sharing Series on Strengthening Forest Governance with Spatial Information Tools
The World Bank and the USDA Forest Service are offering a series of awareness raising seminars through the Global Distance Learning Network (GDLN). The subject is strengthening forest governance with spatial analysis technology, i.e. the operational use of remote sensing and GIS-based information tools to support government decision-making. These seminars will provide an opportunity for the exchange of knowledge, sharing of experiences, and a discussion of good practices and lessons learned.
The first seminar was held on April 25, and the participants' presentations are available on the site. A video archive of the session will be available soon. Knowledge Sharing Series on the 2007 World Development Report – Supporting Youth Voices
Many young people in the East Asia and Pacific (EAP) region have become interested and actively engaged in the world development process, and some are continuously making efforts to have their voices heard when policies are considered that affect them. The objective of this seminar is to support those efforts.
This series of seminars will bring together youth leaders, Bank staff, and policy-makers from the region, to discuss development programs initiated by youth. The seminar will also explore the potential for increasing youth participation in the decision-making process at national levels.
The first seminar was held on April 19, and the participants' presentatios are available on the site. Upcoming seminars will be announced in the East Asia & Pacific site. Seminar on Success Factors for Road Management Systems and Data Collection Technologies for Road Management
Most road agencies use road management systems to effectively manage their transport infrastructure. The World Bank has recently undertaken two international projects aimed at helping agencies to improve the effectiveness of their road management. The Bank is offering two inter-regional distance learning seminars through the Global Development Learning Network (GDLN) to share the findings from these projects. These seminars will allow governments, consultants, technical agencies, academia and others interested in infrastructure management from around the world to learn the findings and interact with three specialists in the field.
The first seminar was held on April 24, and participants' presentations are available on the site. 
Operations Officer - Water and Sanitation
Hanoi, Vietnam
The World Bank Vietnam requires an Operations Officer with a background in water and sanitation. Previous experience should include the planning, design and supervision of water and sanitation projects and programs and the development of sector policies. The selected candidate will be assigned to work with the Urban, Water and Sanitation Unit of the Sustainable Development in the Hanoi office.
Closing date: May 18, 2007
For a full list of open positions and scholarships http://www.worldbank.org/jobs Back to top
 Reconstruction in Indonesia – new site www.worldbank.org/id/reconstruction
With Disaster Risk Management now acknowledged as the fourth pillar of our Country Assistance Strategy, the large reconstruction programs in Aceh and Yogyakarta are part of the Bank’s long term assistance program, they are being driven by communities for sustainable reconstruction and economic development. New features on our tsunami and reconstruction site include:
Aceh and Nias reconstruction and monitoring Yogyakarta reconstruction and monitoring Economic development in Aceh and Nias Public expenditure and financial management Tunas Aceh research institute (TARI) reconstruction seminar series Back to top
The Bank’s Global Road Safety Facility, which began formal operations in April 2006, is a direct response to the global call for action by UN General Assembly Resolutions to improve global road safety and a World Health Assembly Resolution to address the silent epidemic on the world’s roads. More than a million people are killed in road crashes every year and many millions more are seriously injured. The gap between poor and rich countries is widening, and this trend will continue unless global, regional and country initiatives are taken to close it.
Also, traffic safety is this year's topic in the Vietnam Innovation Day, which awards innovative projects submitted to a nationwide competition. Back to top | 
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