The following post first appeared in the Guardian's Poverty Matters blog.

Lord Ashdown's review of how the UK responds to humanitarian emergencies points to a major shortcoming in today's humanitarian aid system: the absence of a systematic effort to assess whether beneficiaries are satisfied with the efforts made on their...

I remember a Russian diplomat in Geneva in the 1980s telling me that his country believed strongly in the centrality of human rights. It was just that back in the USSR the hierarchy was different from countries on the other side of the iron curtain: individual rights mattered but less...

This post originally appeared on the World Bank's Conflict blog on January 19, 2011.

The first anniversary of Haiti's earthquake has seen a lot of finger pointing. The country's Prime Minister, Jean-Max Bellerive, faults the donors for failing to open...

This guest post was written by Ian Bannon and originally appeared on the World Bank's Conflict Blog on January 10, 2011.

This weekend we saw people lining up all across southern Sudan to vote in a referendum on whether they should remain part of...

This post originally appeared on the World Bank's Conflict blog on December 30, 2010.

The stand-off between Messrs Laurent Gbagbo and Alassane Ouattara in Côte D'Ivoire highlights the new role of regional organizations in dealing with the challenges of irresponsible leadership in...

This post originally appeared on the World Bank's Conflict blog on December 16, 2010.

The wisdom of elections in fragile places is questioned by those who fear they will exacerbate tensions and provoke the kind of violence we saw in Côte d'Ivoire and Haiti...

Keynes said that "In the long-run we are all dead." But for people living in fragile states affected by violence, the short run can be deadly too.

The challenge is to balance swift action with long-term stability and security. The two must be carefully paced and sequenced if we are...

This post originally appeared on the World Development Report 2011 blog on November 9, 2010.

"Spare the stick, spoil the child." That was the advice from proponents of the tough love approach to parenting that prevailed in Victorian times.

Plus ça change. Looking around the...

This post originally appeared on the World Bank's Conflict and Development blog on November 5, 2010.

If your child is murdered or your friend is tortured or someone tries to kill you, it is tough to forgive and forget. Animosities that spring from these kinds...

This post originally appeared on the World Bank's Conflict & Development Blog on October 28, 2010.

The Democratic Republic of Congo is in the headlines again. This time it's not about rape and escalating violence in the eastern provinces but because donors are threatening to withhold...

This post originally appeared on the World Bank's Conflict & Development Blog on October 14, 2010. Esabel Khoury co-authored this post.

After months of reconstruction, we are pleased this week to unveil our newly revamped WDR 2011 website. Designed to be more user friendly and to...

This post originally appeared on the World Development Report 2011 blog on September 22, 2010.

Violence is the antithesis of development. It tears down what's been built up. It destroys lives, shortens horizons, and inflicts huge psychological and physical pain.

Once violence ends, it takes...

Last Friday, Bob Geldof's face gazed pensively from the front page of the FT's business section over a story that he was seeking to raise a billion dollars for a venture capital fund for Africa.

The front page of the main paper, meanwhile, told of...

This post originally appeared on the Conflict and Development blog on September 1, 2010.

How often it's happened. Standing at the podium, almost finished with the press conference, when the...

This post originally appeared on the World Development Report 2011 blog on August 19, 2010.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called a special session of the UN General Assembly today to...

This post originally appeared on the World Development Report 2011 blog on August 16, 2010.

I was listening to a report on the radio last week about winning hearts and minds in Afghanistan. You know, all the stuff about moving from the number of insurgents killed...

This guest post was written by David Craig and originally appeared on the World Development Report 2011 blog on February 9, 2010.

January's High Level Donor Meeting on Yemen in London reminded the international community once more that we have to support this country...

This post originally appeared on the World Development Report 2011 blog.

Urban violence has reached unprecedented levels in many cities around the world, destabilizing whole societies and making life miserable for its victims. It is a trend we are looking at in detail in the upcoming

This guest post was written by World Bank Chief Economist and Senior Vice President Justin Yifu Lin and originally appeared on the World Development Report 2011 blog.

While much of the world has made rapid progress in building stability and reducing poverty over the...

This post originally appeared on the World Development Report 2011 blog.

Happier Days in Osh Market

Osh was a bustling, dynamic border town when I first visited Kyrgyzstan a decade ago. Today