The informality discourse is large, vibrant and expanding fast. But there is a certain conceptual incoherence to the literature. New definitions of informality compete with old definitions leading to a plethora of alternative conceptualisations. While some individual studies may apply a tight...

In Great Britain the make-up of rural communities is changing. Young individuals are moving to cities and the population of rural communities is ageing. In this context, it is important to sustain and enhance people’s well-being and community cohesion. The purpose of this paper is to show that...

Due to high prime-age mortality in Uganda, a result of the HIV/AIDS scourge, the number of children who have lost at least one parent continues to rise in the country. The increase in numbers of orphans has challenged the overall socio-protection mechanisms and in particular threatens the...

Using the nationally representative Gender Productivity Survey (GPS) of 2007/08 conducted by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBoS), the paper examines gender biases in school attainment, returns to education, expenditure on health and education, access to health services. While Uganda has...

Although Uganda has made significant progress in reducing child deaths in the past five years, the country still faces major challenges in ensuring adequate early childhood development. This briefing highlights some of the major challenges affecting children during the first five years of life...

An emphasis on the public provision of health and education in Thailand assisted both sectors to make a substantial contribution to the consistently high growth rates achieved during the 1980s. However, a review of development goals is opportune. Three types of reform are recommended: (a)...

This paper tests uses nationally representative data from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to test whether a household’s market access, defined in terms of travel costs to the nearest town, facilitates resilience and reduces vulnerability to seasonal influences on child nutrition....

During the last decade, the Zambian government has dramatically increased expenditures on primary and secondary schooling, and enrollment rates have risen dramatically. At the same time, Zambia has faced the challenge of rising HIV prevalence and the possibility that recent gains in long-term...

In many developing countries the composition of rural households is influenced by the migration of adult household members to urban locations in search of employment. Children may be left in the care of their mother alone, or in the care of grandparents when both parents have migrated. Using...