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World Bank Solar Home Systems Projects: Experiences and...
World Renewable Energy Congress VI

World Bank Solar Home Systems Projects: Experiences and Lessons Learned 1993–2000
World Renewable Energy Congress VI, 2000, Pages 749-754
Eric Martinot, Anil Cabraal

Abstract

Summary

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Asian development and poverty reduction strategies: Int...
Food Policy

Asian development and poverty reduction strategies: Integrating fisheries into the development discourse Original Research Article
Food Policy, Volume 31, Issue 5, October 2006, Pages 385-400
Andy Thorpe, Chris Reid, Raymon van Anrooy, Cecile Brugere, Denis Becker

Abstract

Asia is the world’s foremost capture fishery and aquaculture producer. It is also home to the majority of the world’s fishers and marine fleet (decked and undecked). Consequently, there is every reason to expect that this importance is reflected in national development discourses. This article identifies the socio-economic importance of fisheries in the region in terms of its contribution to primary exports, domestic protein consumption, employment and poverty alleviation. We then analyse national development and poverty reduction strategy documents using a content analysis methodology previously applied to measure the extent to which environmental or forestry issues had been mainstreamed into national policy documents. This enables us to identify those countries that have currently integrated fisheries into the national development discourse – and those that have not. We conclude by proposing two strategies to enable the more effective integration of fisheries into the development agenda.

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Measuring environmental performance in Asia
Ecological Indicators

Measuring environmental performance in Asia Original Research Article
Ecological Indicators, Volume 2, Issues 1-2, November 2002, Pages 39-59
Kazi F. Jalal, Peter P. Rogers

Abstract

This paper synthesizes the results of a collaborative study conducted by ADB and Harvard University under ADB’s Regional Technical Assistance 5542 (RETA 5542)—Environmental Indicators and Indices. The three methodological tools (cost of remediation (COR), environmental elasticity (EE) and environmental diamonds (ED)) used in the study are described and tested using new data from 16 countries. The study formulates the three methods that can be used to arrive at approximate costs to remediate environmental damage to the air, water, land and the ecosystems; makes an assessment of the state of environment vis-a-vis economic change; and provides a graphical representation of the state of the environment. It also gives an initial validation of the utility of environmental indices for assessing/reassessing on a micro-level the eco-environmental impacts of ADB’s past investments.

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Effect of payments for health care on poverty estimates...
The Lancet

Effect of payments for health care on poverty estimates in 11 countries in Asia: an analysis of household survey data Original Research Article
The Lancet, Volume 368, Issue 9544, 14 October 2006-20 October 2006, Pages 1357-1364
Eddy van Doorslaer, Owen O'Donnell, Ravi P Rannan-Eliya, Aparnaa Somanathan, Shiva Raj Adhikari, Charu C Garg, Deni Harbianto, Alejandro N Herrin, Mohammed Nazmul Huq, Shamsia Ibragimova, Anup Karan, Chiu Wan Ng, Badri Raj Pande, Rachel Racelis, Sihai Tao, Keith Tin, Kanjana Tisayaticom, Laksono Trisnantoro, Chitpranee Vasavid, Yuxin Zhao

Abstract

Summary

Background

Conventional estimates of poverty do not take account of out-of-pocket payments to finance health care. We aimed to reassess measures of poverty in 11 low-to-middle income countries in Asia by calculating total household resources both with and without out-of-pocket payments for health care.

Methods

We obtained data on payments for health care from nationally representative surveys, and subtracted these payments from total household resources. We then calculated the number of individuals with less than the internationally accepted threshold of absolute poverty (US$1 per head per day) after making health payments. We also assessed the effect of health-care payments on the poverty gap—the amount by which household resources fell short of the $1 poverty line in these countries.

Findings

Our estimate of the overall prevalence of absolute poverty in these countries was 14% higher than conventional estimates that do not take account of out-of-pocket payments for health care. We calculated that an additional 2·7% of the population under study (78 million people) ended up with less than $1 per day after they had paid for health care. In Bangladesh, China, India, Nepal, and Vietnam, where more than 60% of health-care costs are paid out-of-pocket by households, our estimates of poverty were much higher than conventional figures, ranging from an additional 1·2% of the population in Vietnam to 3·8% in Bangladesh.

Interpretation

Out-of-pocket health payments exacerbate poverty. Policies to reduce the number of Asians living on less than $1 per day need to include measures to reduce such payments.

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Multigrade teaching in Peru, Sri Lanka and Vietnam: an ...
International Journal of Educational Development

Multigrade teaching in Peru, Sri Lanka and Vietnam: an overview Original Research Article
International Journal of Educational Development, Volume 21, Issue 6, November 2001, Pages 499-520
E. Hargreaves, C. Montero, N. Chau, M. Sibli, T. Thanh

Abstract

This paper comprises reviews of multigrade teaching in three countries: Peru, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. For each country, we describe the context for multigrade teaching, the country's education system, the place of multigrade teaching within the system, problems associated with multigrade teaching and current strategies for multigrade teaching. We conclude by noting some common experiences for multigrade schools across the countries, including those of isolation and dispersion, lack of physical facilities, poor teacher backgrounds and conditions, limited classroom teaching and learning strategies and pupils' deprived backgrounds. Also common across the three countries is a national commitment to improving the situation for multigrade classrooms.

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Transforming Higher Education in Developing Countries: ...
International Encyclopedia of Education

Transforming Higher Education in Developing Countries: The Role of the World Bank
International Encyclopedia of Education, 2010, Pages 590-596
J. Salmi, R.M. Bassett

Abstract

The time when higher education was almost a proscribed subject at the World Bank is long past. Higher education is not only seen today as a crucial element in the Bank's development strategy, but the Bank's thinking and actions in this area have begun to influence a number of bilateral donors into reconsidering their own focus on basic education as the only priority for financial and technical assistance in the education sector. This article presents the progression of the World Bank's position with respect to higher education and its contribution to development. It then reviews the different ways in which the Bank works with developing and transition countries in support of their higher education reform efforts, before concluding with a few observations about higher education's prospects within the World Bank's agenda.

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TEA | Types, Production, and Trade
Encyclopedia of Food Sciences and Nutrition

TEA | Types, Production, and Trade
Encyclopedia of Food Sciences and Nutrition, 2003, Pages 5737-5743
S Taylor

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Buddhism
International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral S...

Buddhism
International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences, 2004, Pages 1378-1386
D. N. Gellner

Abstract

Buddhism is one of the world's three great missionary religions (the others being Christianity and Islam). It has assumed a great variety of social and ritual forms as it has spread throughout Asia and (in recent decades) the world. It began as a humanist and individualistic soteriology which preached the abandonment of ordinary householder life and its associated rituals. Monks and nuns renounce work and worldly activity; lay people support them in return for spiritual and ritual services. Whether the forms of ritual and religious life that developed for lay people should be seen as fully Buddhist or as some kind of ‘second best’ is an important part of debate over the interpretation of Buddhism between textual and more fieldwork-oriented scholars. In both the modern and premodern eras Buddhism has played an important but changing role in defining national identity in Tibet, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Burma. In Japan after 1868 the state attacked Buddhism as foreign and anti-national, without being able to destroy it entirely. Everywhere revitalization movements in the modern period have tended to stress the rationalist and egalitarian parts of the Buddhist message; meditation has, for the first time, become a mass phenomenon practised as much by lay people as by monastics.

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Southeast Asian Studies: Economics
International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral S...

Southeast Asian Studies: Economics
International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences, 2004, Pages 14670-14676
H. Hill

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This article surveys the ten economies of Southeast Asia. It provides an overview of their recent economic history and key features. It highlights their diversity, in economic performance, levels of development, and resource endowments, and emphasizes the strong economic performance of four of the countries in the 30 years up to the Asian economic crisis of 1997–8. A final section dwells on some of the major development debates and puzzles, including the causes and consequences of the recent crisis, the factors explaining the Philippines' ‘outlier’ status, policy issues associated with the ‘state vs. market’ issue, the management of regional and ethnic disparities, and the relationship between economic growth and institutional development.

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Abstract

Twelve projects provide energy services to off-grid rural households in developing countries by enhancing markets for solar home systems and by removing barriers to their dissemination. Project approaches are reviewed, along with early implementation experience and lessons suggested by experience. Most projects incorporate the following features: pilot private-sector and NGO delivery models; pilot consumer credit delivery mechanisms; pay first-cost subsidies and offer affordable system sizes; support policy development and capacity; develop codes and standards and establish certification, testing, and enforcement institutions; and conduct consumer awareness and marketing programs. Most projects are just beginning implementation; a few are almost completed. Lessons from early experience suggest that: solar home system delivery firms face a myriad of difficulties operating in rural areas; credit risk is a serious concern of both financiers and dealers and makes credit sales particularly challenging; technical performance of systems is becoming well-proven; customers desire a range of component options and service levels and can benefit from even small systems; projects must recognize the link between rural electric-grid extension and solar home system demand; and marketing campaigns can be extremely costly and time consuming in rural areas. Challenges are to demonstrate sustainable and replicable business models, develop regulatory models for energy-service concessions, and integrate rural electrification policy with solar home system delivery.

Article Outline

1. Introduction

2. Pilot private-sector and NGO delivery models

3. Pilot consumer credit delivery mechanisms

4. Pay first-cost subsidies and offer affordable system sizes

5. Support policy development and capacity

6. Enact codes and standards and establish certification, testing and enforcement institutions

7. Conduct consumer awareness and marketing programs

8. Conclusion

Acknowledgements

References

¹ Eric Martinot conducted the work herein as an Associate of the Stockholm Environment Institute, Boston. He currently works for the Global Environment Facility. Anil Cabraal is a Senior Renewable Energy Specialist in the World Bank's Asia Alternative Energy Program. Subodh Mathur is a consultant to the World Bank and its Africa Rural and Renewable Energy Initiative. Views expressed are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect official views of the World Bank or its client countries.

Corresponding author. Tel.: +1-202-473-0169; fax: +1-202-522-3240; email: emartinot@worldbank.org

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews
Volume 5, Issue 1, March 2001, Pages 39-57

doi:10.1016/S1364-0321(00)00007-1 \| How to Cite or Link Using DOI Copyright © 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.	Cited By in Scopus (29)
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