The social assessment process is relatively new in the World Bank. Since its use is particularly relevant to countries in transition - politically, socially, economically, and ethnically - where much is still unknown, in 1997 the World Bank published a book of case studies of the use of social assessment in general in the former Soviet Union. This second volume focuses on the social assessment process in the rural sector and includes Central Asian countries and Turkey which were not included in the first volume. This volume has several objectives: first, to disseminate the Bank's experience with social assessment for the use of development practitioners around the world; second, to initiate a dialogue about how the social assessment process can be improved in the future; and third, to demonstrate the usefulness of social assessment in an area of the world where dealing with rapid change and an uncertain knowledge basis is common.

Achieving sustainable agricultural development is at the forefront of the poverty reduction objective of the Central Asian republics - Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Since independence, the countries of the Central Asian region have undergone a series of transition from centrally planned economies to a more market oriented system. Wide-ranging policy reforms have been implemented, although in varying degrees, in the five Central Asian countries. Despite great efforts by the countries and the external advice and efforts of international agencies to help them to follow a dynamic growth path, the progress in policy reforms has been frustratingly slow. Generating momentum to reorient the approach and the sequencing of policy reform packages will require rethinking of the policy reform process. This is particularly so in the food, agriculture, and natural resource sectors. This further requires improved understanding among the policymakers, donors, and international agencies of the impact of policy alternatives so that policy reforms and the speed with which they have been implemented are consistent with the objectives and the social and political realities of individual countries in the region. Involving the local policy research community in identifying critical issues and challenges, setting priorities among them for food and agricultural and natural resource policy research and analysis, and implementing joint research studies is the best way to generate knowledge on the impact of policy reforms and to increase ownership of policy design and implementation.

This report proposes a World Bank strategy for assisting the rural, environmental, and social development of Eastern Europe and Central Asia. It has been produced for a general audience partly for consultation purposes, and is therefore a work in progress. Each of the three areas of development is examined in separate chapters, and each summarises the World Bank assistance strategy in that area. The conclusion is that the challenge posed by the objectives of this report are far beyond the World Bank's abilities to achieve on its own.

Achieving sustainable agricultural development is at the forefront of the poverty reduction objective of the Central Asian republics - Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Since independence, the countries of the Central Asian region have undergone a series of transition from centrally planned economies to a more market oriented system. Wide-ranging policy reforms have been implemented, although in varying degrees, in the five Central Asian countries. Despite great efforts by the countries and the external advice and efforts of international agencies to help them to follow a dynamic growth path, the progress in policy reforms has been frustratingly slow. Generating momentum to reorient the approach and the sequencing of policy reform packages will require rethinking of the policy reform process. This is particularly so in the food, agriculture, and natural resource sectors. This further requires improved understanding among the policymakers, donors, and international agencies of the impact of policy alternatives so that policy reforms and the speed with which they have been implemented are consistent with the objectives and the social and political realities of individual countries in the region. Involving the local policy research community in identifying critical issues and challenges, setting priorities among them for food and agricultural and natural resource policy research and analysis, and implementing joint research studies is the best way to generate knowledge on the impact of policy reforms and to increase ownership of policy design and implementation.

With the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, former Communist Party leaders in Central Asia were faced with the daunting task of building states where they previously had not existed: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Their task was complicated by the institutional and ideological legacy of the Soviet system as well as by a more actively engaged international community. These nascent states inherited a set of institutions that included bloated bureaucracies, centralized economic planning, and patronage networks. Some of these institutions survived, others have mutated, and new institutions have been created. Experts on Central Asia here examine the emerging relationship between state actors and social forces in the region. Through the prism of local institutions, the authors reassess both our understanding of Central Asia and of the state-building process more broadly. They scrutinize a wide array of institutional actors, ranging from regional governments and neighborhood committees to transnational and non-governmental organizations. With original empirical research and theoretical insight, the volume's contributors illuminate an obscure but resource-rich and strategically significant region.

This book summarizes the responses of Bangladeshi class I (highest level) public-sector officials to a survey on a number of civil service issues, from personnel management practices to rewards and disciplinary actions, and from employees' sources of income to the budget environment and procurement processes. It examines the public sector in Bangladesh, highlighting pay and employment in the civil service. The report also reviews the survey instrument, sampling, and the survey implementation methodology and discusses the findings of the survey. It also describes how the institutional environment and corruption are measured.