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Women on the move: migration, gender equality and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

This brief presents an overview and analysis of the opportunities, risks and vulnerabilities for women migrants and refugees. It describes the realities of women migrating around the world, specifically the experiences of both high-skilled and low-skilled migrant workers employed in a range of ‘care’ professions, from domestic workers to nurses and doctors.

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Health, migration and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

This briefing presents an overview of how international migration can have an impact on the sustainable development goal for health and well-being. It describes the health needs and health service delivery for migrants and refugees in different settings and highlights the ways they may be excluded in national policies relating to health and from specific policies that work towards achieving the Agenda 2030 on sustainable development.

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Ensuring escapes from poverty are sustained in Uganda

Since the early 1990s, Uganda has experienced substantial reductions in poverty. Using the national poverty line, the poverty headcount has declined from 56 percent in 1992/93 to just over 20 percent in 2012/13’. Economic growth, the end of conflict, and sound macroeconomic management have all contributed strongly to this success. However, as people have moved out of poverty, the number of people living at a level less than twice the poverty line—termed the ‘insecure non-poor’ in the Ugandan context—has risen. In 2012/2013, as many as 14.7 million people were ‘insecure non-poor’ meaning they were extremely vulnerable to falling into poverty in the event of shocks or stressors, such as drought or an episode of ill-health. This report combines analysis of UNPS data with qualitative research approaches; key informant interviews, life histories and participatory wealth ranking to investigate further the drivers of transitory escapes. Specifically, it examines why some households are able to escape poverty and remain out of it—that is, they experience sustained escapes from poverty—while others escape poverty only to return to living in it again in the future. The report investigates the resources (land, livestock, and value of assets), attributes (household composition, and education level) and activities (including jobs, and engagement in non-farm enterprises) of households which enable them to escape poverty sustainably and minimize the likelihood return to poverty.

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Ensuring escapes from poverty are sustained in rural Bangladesh

Bangladesh has experienced substantial reductions in both extreme poverty and poverty. The proportion of the population living below the national extreme poverty line has reduced from 50 percent in 1991 to 18 percent in 2010 while the poverty headcount ratio, using the national poverty line, has reduced from 60 percent to 32 percent over the same period. Economic growth, increased non-farm employment (particularly in the ready-made garment industry), international migration, and investments to improve human development outcomes have all contributed strongly to this success. However, some households escape poverty only to live at a level just above the poverty line: 19 percent of the population lives out of poverty, but has a level of consumption less than 1.25 times the national poverty line. They therefore remain vulnerable to slipping into poverty in the event of a shock or stressor, such as an episode of ill-health or a flood. This report combines analysis from three rounds of the Chronic Poverty and Long-Term Impact Study with qualitative research approaches; in particular: key informant interviews, life histories, and participatory wealth ranking to further investigate the drivers of transitory poverty escapes or of re-impoverishment. Specifically, it examines why some households are able to escape poverty and remain out of it—that is, they experience sustained escapes from poverty—while others escape poverty only to return to living in it again. The report investigates the resources (land, livestock, and value of assets), attributes (household composition and education level), and activities (including jobs and engagement in non-farm activities) of households that enable them to escape poverty sustainably and minimize the likelihood of returning to living in poverty again.

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Africa’s new climate economy: economic transformation and social and environmental change

Africa’s 'growth miracle' in the 21st century has reversed a long-standing narrative of pessimism about the region. GDP growth reached around 5% annually from 2001-2014. Rates of extreme poverty fell substantially. Yet big challenges remain. Growth slumped in 2015 and 2016. The region lags far behind on most measures of human development. Climate change is also taking an increasing toll on many countries: the region is warming faster than the world as a whole, and many areas will experience more frequent and intense droughts and floods. The economic impacts of climate change are expected to be severe, with agriculture and poor people especially at risk. This report lays out five key action areas for economic transformation and social and environmental progress in Africa: 1) getting the fundamentals right; 2) transforming agriculture and land use; 3) diversifying into manufacturing and other high-productivity sectors; 4) unleashing the power of urbanisation; and 5) fostering a modern energy transition.

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Understanding the context of the Youth Forward initiative in Ghana

Youth Forward focuses on economically disadvantaged young people, aged 15-24, living in Ghana and Uganda who are on a low income (living on less than $2 a day), out of school, unemployed or underemployed, and moving through a transition point in their life. Ghana has achieved significant economic growth and development since its transition to multi-party democracy and the political stability that has accompanied this. However, young people have not always benefited from growth as much as other groups. For young people to benefit from economic opportunities, it is necessary to engage a diverse range of actors, including state-run marketing boards and traditional leaders. One of the most important questions is access to land, which will allow both for profitable cocoa farming and spur demand for construction services benefiting young artisans. The context in which a programme operates can influence implementation efforts and outcomes. Using an Overseas Development Institute political economy analysis framework, this paper explores the context of the Youth Forward initiative in Ghana. It first establishes the underlying cultural, political, economic and geographical factors, which influence the country today, and then identifies key stakeholder groups with influence on the initiative’s progress, to locate entry points for Youth Forward to influence and shape local dynamics.

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Women's economic empowerment: navigating enablers and constraints

New analysis of Gallup World Poll data reveals that in 17 countries across sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa surveyed in 2009, on average, about 90% of women and men reported that having a good quality job is ‘essential’ or ‘very important’ to them – yet only one in seven women (14%) in these countries was engaged in formal full-time employment compared with one in three men (33%). This report details how gender equality, poverty eradication and human development require increased investment in women’s economic empowerment. The report also brings together new and existing evidence to propose a set of core building blocks for the complex process of women's economic empowerment. No single intervention or actor can address all of its aspects, but we identify 10 key factors that can enable or constrain women’s economic empowerment, and make recommendations for policy and practice for each:

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Ensuring escapes from poverty are sustained in rural Ethiopia

This report examines why some households in Ethiopia are able to escape poverty and remain out of it—that is, they experience sustained escapes from poverty—while others escape poverty only to return to living in it again – that is, they experience transitory escapes. With this term, the report refers to households that successfully escape from poverty only to return to living in it once again, i.e. they become re-impoverished. The report investigates the resources (land, livestock, and value of assets), attributes (household composition and education level), and activities (including jobs, engagement in non-farm activities and migration) of households that enable them to escape poverty sustainably and minimize the likelihood of returning to living in poverty again.

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Sustainable cities: internal migration, jobs and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

This briefing presents an overview of how rural to urban migration (internal migration) impacts on the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular Goals 8 and 11. Despite the positive impact that internal migration can have on urban migrants, their families, and their 'host' city, urban migrants are often neglected in government policies. This briefing therefore presents a number of policy recommendations which aim to capture this potential and contribute to achieving the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development.

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Water management and stewardship: taking stock of corporate water behaviour

Commercial companies have become increasingly active in debates regarding water management. Company representatives arrive in numbers at the annual World Water Week in Stockholm and are increasingly active in sessions there, as well as appearing on panels at other water-related international conferences and meetings. The World Water Council and the OECD note that ‘companies have been outspoken’ in their ‘warnings of water risks to their operations’, which, if not managed, will ‘pose a threat to economic growth’. The discussion paper considers the opportunities for stewardship to strengthen water management and achieve development benefits, and discusses the issues to which water stewardship gives rise including identifying expectations that are misplaced and cautioning against misleading claims. The drivers of corporate ‘water behaviour(s)’ are discussed and progress towards water ‘stewardship’ against the international guides/standard assessed.

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‘Turning a blind eye’: the policy response to Rohingya refugees in Malaysia

At the end of October 2016, there were 150,669 refugees and asylum-seekers registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Malaysia; 54,856 of whom were Rohingya. Estimates suggest tens of thousands more Rohingya refugees remain unregistered in Malaysia. This working paper considers the institutions, organisations and policies that affect the lives and livelihoods of Rohingya refugees in Malaysia. It begins by describing the stakeholders involved with refugees in Malaysia: their roles, constraints, interactions and key policies (such as registration) as they pertain to Rohingya refugees. Subsequent themes explored in the working paper include refugees and employment – such as potential advantages and concerns regarding the introduction of work permits for refugees – and interactions between refugee community-based organisations, aid actors and Malaysians.

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Child labour and education: a survey of slum settlements in Dhaka

Urbanisation has powered Bangladesh’s development. But it has gone hand-in-hand with the rapid growth of urban slums marked by high levels of poverty and low levels of service provision. In these slums, child labour is rife. This publication presents findings from one of the largest surveys on child work and education conducted in Bangladesh. ODI research found that 15% of 6 to 14-year-old children in Dhaka's slums were out of school and engaged in full-time work. Average working hours for these children were well beyond the 42-hour limit set by national legislation. The garments sector accounted for two thirds of female working children, raising serious concerns over garment exports and child labour. By the age of 14, almost half of children living in the slums of Dhaka were working. The research shows how early exposure to work and withdrawal from education are harmful to children. This report offers recommendations for coordinated, cross-sectoral policies to break the link between child labour, social disadvantage and restricted opportunities for education. Policies must be integrated to span the regulation of labour markets, education, child welfare and wider global strategies for poverty reduction – what we found in Dhaka is a microcosm of a global problem that should be at the centre of the international agenda.

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A good gig? The rise of on-demand domestic work

Women make up 80% of the 67 million domestic workers globally, increasing numbers of whom are now turning to the rapidly-growing on-demand economy for domestic work in developing countries. The potential risks and benefits attached to this burgeoning form of work may therefore affect women disproportionately. On-demand work is not automatically empowering, and can shift risk from employers onto domestic workers themselves. This report proposes that urgent action be taken to ensure that the 'Uberisation' of domestic work evolves to the benefit of all. The infancy of the on-demand domestic work economy in developing countries means it is not too late to raise standards. This will involve proactive efforts by companies to 'design-in' good practice, as well as by government to ensure an integrated future policy, legal, practice and research agenda.

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Leaving no one behind: a critical path for the first 1,000 days of the Sustainable Development Goals

Leaving no one behind is the moral issue of our age, and is at the heart of an ambitious blueprint for action: the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). One specific goal is ‘ending poverty, in all its forms, everywhere’, but the SDGs also aim to tackle marginalisation. The SDG outcome document specifies that the goals should be met for all segments of society, with an aim to reach those furthest behind first. Now the focus is on implementation, particularly at the national level. This report not only makes the case for early action, it also quantifies its benefits. The report outlines the actions that governments can take in the first 1,000 days of the SDGs to respond to what poor people want and to deliver for the most marginalised people and groups. The evidence shows that achieving the SDGs and the ambition to leave no one behind will become far more difficult the longer governments delay.

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Projecting progress: are cities on track to achieve the SDGs by 2030?

This report explores for the first time the scale of the challenge for 20 cities across the world to reach selected targets set out in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). More than half of the targets included will require a profound acceleration of efforts if they are to be achieved by the majority of selected cities. Targets that are not on course to be met by the majority of cities studied include ending child malnutrition, achieving full and productive female employment, access to adequate housing and access to drinking water and sanitation. The report makes a series of recommendations to increase progress towards the SDGs, including: 1) Central governments and donors should work to strengthen local governments’ capacities; 2) Government and city administrations should invest more in ways to monitor progress on the SDGs; 3) Statistical offices’ and cities’ information systems should improve the data available.

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China’s manufacturing and industrialization in Africa

While a succession of Asian countries have exhibited dramatic growth over the last thirty to fifty years, Africa has largely stagnated. This Asian expansion has been driven by manufacturing exports to the US in particular, and enabled through an overall constructive policy package that opened markets, implemented favourable trade and exchange rate policies, and provided a sound and stable government that inspired investment and secured property rights. Conversely, Africa has been unable to put the full package in place, and this has resulted in a manufacturing sector whose contribution to both GDP and export shares is significantly below the continents’ developing country peers. Growth in natural resource-rich developing countries in general has lagged behind those with a manufacturing focus, and this is especially the case in Africa with its poor linkages into unskilled labour and its appetite for rent seeking activities. Africa’s industrial base is not as robust as theory suggests it should be. Using the continent’s export profile to the US 90 percent or more is either a dominant mineral fuel or precious minerals for those African countries with significant exports. Other than South Africa, manufacturing exports are notably absent, with only textiles and clothing featuring in those countries where manufacturing also features. Importantly Africa has difficulty to capitalise on its significant tariff preferences into the US, and we examine the thesis that China is making it harder for Africa to diversify away from its natural resource-based export profile.

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Youth employment in Africa: new evidence and policies from Swaziland

Drawing on the 2007 and 2010 Swaziland Labour Force Surveys, this paper provides first systematic evidence on recent youth employment challenges in Swaziland, a small, land-locked, middle-income country with one of the highest youth unemployment rates in Africa. The paper first documents the various labour market disadvantages faced by the Swazi youth, such as high unemployment and discouragement, and how they changed from 2007 to 2010. A multinomial logit regression analysis is carried out to analyse the socio-economic drivers of the unfavourable youth labour market outcomes on the supply side. Since many of the factors that can unlock the employment potential of the Swazi youth are on the demand side of the labour market, the paper examines the barriers to job creation and youth entrepreneurship. It concludes with experiences of other countries that could inform design of more effective interventions for youth employment in Swaziland.

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Inequality, economic growth, and poverty in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)

In this paper, we have presented the patterns of inequality, growth and income inequality in the MENA region. Using a cross-sectional time series data of MENA countries for the period 1985-2009, we have also investigated the effect of income inequality on key societal development, namely economic growth and poverty, in the region. Our empirical results show that income inequality reduces economic growth and increases poverty in the region. Other factors having significant negative effect on economic growth in the MENA region include previous growth rate, exchange rate, government consumption expenditure or government burden, initial per capita GDP, inflation, and primary education. On the other hand, variables positively and significantly associated with MENA’s economic growth are domestic investment rate, urbanization, infrastructure development, and mineral rent as a percentage of GDP. In addition, apart from income inequality, other factors increasing poverty in the region are foreign direct investment, population growth, inflation rate, and the attainment of only primary education. Poverty-reducing variables in the region include domestic investment, trade openness, exchange rate, income per capita, and oil rents as a percentage of GDP. The policy implications of these results are discussed.

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Immigrants, skills and wages in the Gambian labor market

Using data from the Household Poverty Surveys in 2003 and 2010, this paper analyses characteristics of immigrants in The Gambian labour market. The analysis indicates that immigrants are relatively young, low-skilled (though with skill levels comparable to Gambians) and mainly come from neighbouring West African countries. While immigrants on average earn more than Gambians, this labour market advantage varies significantly depending on workers’ skill level. For instance, unskilled immigrants have a wage advantage but such an advantage does not exist among the skilled immigrants. Given that The Gambia is a country with high skilled emigration rates, these and other findings in this paper have important policy implications.

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Promoting North African women’s employment through SMEs

This analysis points to a host of significant challenges facing women to become SME owners in the region. These include women’s multiple burden, legal and cultural barriers, lack of access to training and business related support, limited access to property and credit, absence of effective social networks, and problems associated to economic infrastructure. There is a need for a supportive ecosystem for female-owned SMEs. Two pillars of such a system are: a) Good governance and infrastructure, which are essential for economic growth, but also have particularly positive effects on women’s entrepreneurship; and b) Energizing and establishing communication and coordination among various governmental, non-governmental and international organizations in order to create a synergy between the three and to ensure coherence in their policies and programs.

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Intra-regional trade in Southern Africa: structure, performance and challenges

Regional integration offers possibilities to leverage and extend comparative advantage in ways not accessible through national programs. It offers particularly significant benefits for the region’s landlocked and small island economies. As landlocked countries depend on coastal neighbours for transit and access to the sea, they cannot integrate into regional markets unless their neighbours implement policies that will facilitate cross-border trade. The paper is organized as follows: Section I reviews the main trends in southern Africa’s intra and extra-regional trade; it also analyses the direction of total trade and changes in composition; Section II summaries trade policy developments in the region; Section III analyses the prospects and challenges for intra-regional trade; Section IV provides conclusions and policy recommendations for enhancing intra-regional trade.

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Shale gas and its implications for Africa and the African Development Bank

To better understand the “shale gas revolution” and its relevance to African countries, this report first describes actual experience with shale gas production in the United States, and then reviews a number of questions concerning shale gas production that are relevant to African countries. The report finishes by suggesting how the African Development Bank might work together with its client countries to assess the potential costs and benefits of developing shale gas where present.

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Analysis of gender and youth employment in Rwanda

During the past decade, Rwanda has been among the fastest-growing economies in the world. Between 2000/01 and 2010/11, the economy grew at nearly 8% per year, while income poverty declined from 59% to 45%. Although employment rates have remained relatively stable, there has been a substantial shift from self-employment to wage and unpaid employment. This study focuses on labour outcomes of women and youth—the former have moved into low-quality employment, while the latter have high rates of underemployment. Labor market outcomes are examined through geographic analysis and a study of factors affecting employment at the individual level. The study concludes by setting out a set of policy implications.

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AfDB Strategy for 2013–2022 - at the center of Africa’s transformation

This ten-year Strategy is designed to place the African Development Bank at the centre of Africa’s transformation and to improve the quality of Africa’s growth. The Strategy will focus on two objectives to improve the quality of Africa’s growth: inclusive growth, and the transition to green growth. It also outlines five main channels for the Bank to deliver its work and improve the quality of growth in Africa: Infrastructural development; Regional economic integration; Private sector development; Governance and accountability; Skills and technology. In implementing its ten-year Strategy, and as an integral part of the two objectives, the Bank will pay particular attention to fragile states, agriculture and food security, and gender.

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Feed Africa: strategy for agricultural transformation in Africa 2016–2025

There is a massive opportunity to reframe the current social and economic costs associated with the low productivity of the agricultural sector in Africa. What has — up till now — been an area of relative weakness for the African continent, can be recast as an area of strength and, more importantly, one of the fastest options for feeding, employing, and lifting millions of people out of poverty. Agricultural transformation has proven to be a complex endeavour, but is becoming increasingly understood as pockets of successful interventions spring up across the continent. New technologies — especially in the ICT realm — are bringing new ways of achieving and scaling success. Critical to realizing this opportunity will be shifting the development of the sector from ‘agriculture as a way of life’ to ‘agriculture as a business’. The public-sector has an essential role to play in fostering a private-sector led transformation of agriculture. Farmers, entrepreneurs, and investors alike will find a way to develop thriving agribusinesses if given the opportunity in the form of access to sufficient and affordable capital, access to markets and the right overall conditions in terms of policy and infrastructure.

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