Equity and Inclusion

Prospects for sustainable and faster economic growth and higher living standards in Montenegro rely on increasing employment opportunities for all. By maintaining the current structure of labor participation, Montenegro is not capitalizing on the educated young population, given that less than half (46.9 percent) of women 15-64 years old are actively contributing to the economy through employment. Closing gender gaps in access to economic opportunities requires removing the barriers and disincentives to employment and entrepreneurship for women.

Fair Progress? Educational Mobility Around the World will look at an issue that has gotten much attention in the developed world, but with, for the first time, new data and analysis covering most of the developing world. The analysis looks at whether those born in poverty or in prosperity are destined to remain in the same economic circumstances into which they were born, and looks back over a half a century at whether children’s lives are better or worse than their parents’ in different parts of the world.

How do labor income shocks affect household investment in upper secondary and tertiary schooling? Using longitudinal data from 2005-15 for Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico, this paper explores the effect of a negative household income shock on the enrollment status of youth ages 15 to 25. The findings suggest that negative income shocks significantly increase the likelihood that students in upper secondary and tertiary school exit school in Argentina and Brazil, but not in Mexico.

This paper revisits traditional human capital models and proposes a new conceptual framework of human capital accumulation, anchored in skills development, to illustrate the phenomenon and implications of youth economic disengagement. In the framework, youth economic disengagement is defined as a state (temporary or permanent) where individuals stop accumulating human capital due to inadequate access and quality of opportunities for skills development through formal education and employment.

Drawing on in-depth interviews with young women and men in rural and urban Brazil, this qualitative research explores gender dimensions in the causes and consequences of being "out of work and out of school." A key conclusion from this research is that this term (or the Portuguese: "nem-nem") does not translate well the complex realities of this highly heterogeneous group.

Mongolian general education system reform started in 2005 to extend it from 10 years to 12 years to align it with international standards. Since the SY 2008-2009, early childhood education (ECE) has been provided for 2-5 years old children, followed by 12 years of primary and secondary education. With this structural reform, the primary school entry age was lowered from 8 years to 6 years of age within a short period of timeframe.

Education is an area in which Haryana has made significant progress. More adults in Haryana have completed secondary school than in many other states. And children’s learning outcomes are among the highest in the country. On health, however, there is mixed progress. On a positive note, Haryana records lower rates of open defecation than many other states. And infant mortality, which is close to the national average, is declining. Nonetheless, malnutrition levels in the state remain high, even among the richer households.

Economic, social, and cultural rights (ESCR), such as the right to education and the right to health, comprise one of the two principal pillars of the United Nation (UN) human rights framework - the other pillar of which is constituted of civil and political rights (CPR); together with the UDHR, these two groups of rights comprise the international bill of rights. ESCR also overlap substantially with development activities, in that they share significant subject matter coverage. Put differently, development activities now occupy many areas governed by ESCR.