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Romania aims to be a country in which all citizens are provided with an equal opportunity toparticipate in society, where their basic needs are met and their differences respected, and whereall people feel valued and can live in dignity.Our society is still far from this ideal. One in every five Romanian people is income poor. Most of the people living in relative poverty in Romania are in persistent poverty, meening that they have been in poverty for at least the last three years. Despite its relatively low unemployment rate, the country has a very high rate of poverty for in-work people, which is double the EU-27 rate (9 percent). As a response to this situation, the Government of Romania (GoR) has committed itself to lifting 580,000 people out of poverty by 20205 as part of the Europe 2020 Strategy.By 2020, Romania is committed to putting in place a set of policies and programs to (i) lift at least 580,000 people out of relative income poverty by 2020, compared to 2008; (ii) break the inter-generational cycle of poverty; (iii) prevent the recurrence of poverty and social exclusion; and (iv) ensure equal access to social assistance, cash transfers and services to strengthen social cohesion.the GoR asked for the World Bank’s support to develop detailed implementation plans for the 2015-2018 period in the form of nine Flagship Innitiatives that are expected to have the greatest impact in terms of reducing poverty and promoting social inclusion. This Atlas of Rural Marginalized Areas and Local Human Development in Romania represents the Flagship Initiative develop an instrument to identify poor villages and marginalized rural communities. Specifically the Bank’s technical assistance provided through this project has helped the GoR to develop: (i) a methodology for defining different types of rural marginalized areas based on a set of key criteria and indicators; (ii) detailed maps that present the spatial distribution of the rural marginalized communities by county; (iii) a methodology for defining degrees of local human development from low to comprehensive development, for rural and small urban settlements; and (iv) detailed county-level maps of local human development. In short, the Atlas helps to define which rural areas are marginalized, who lives in these areas (the profile of various disadvantaged groups), and where they are located in Romania.

Paralleling the increasing disparities in income and wealth worldwide since the 1980s, cities in developing countries have witnessed the emergence of a growing divergence of lifestyles, particularly within the middle classes, reinforced by the widening gap between the quality of public and private educational and health care institutions, spatial segregation, gated communities, and exclusive semiprivate amenities. This erosion of social cohesion and citizenship in urban society has sharpened the growing perception and reality of exclusion. This book is arranged as follows: (i) chapter one discusses on the growing importance of inclusion in urban areas; (ii) chapter two describes trends affecting social inclusion in urban areas; (iii) chapter three focuses on infrastructure and public services: a powerful tool to promote social inclusion; (iv) chapter four explains restoring the social function of public space; (v) chapter five deals with access to land: a critical factor at the core of inclusion and exclusion; (vi) chapter six describes the erosion of inclusive options for affordable housing; (vii) chapter seven talks about generating revenues to finance urban improvements: land-based financing; (viii) chapter eight focuses on the right to the city; (ix) chapter nine describes Nongovernmental Organizations (NGO) and Community-Based Organizations (CBO) as strategic partners in driving the implementation of inclusionary programs; and (x) chapter ten has concluding remarks.

Violent crime has emerged as a growing development challenge, affecting large segments of societies, and taking a severe toll on economic development. In many high crime environments, weak institutions, fiscal constraints, and political resistance have undermined the effectiveness of development programs and threatened their sustainability. The World Bank has begun to confront this challenge. The country of Honduras is the most violent in the world as measured by its homicide rate, which reached 90.4 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2012. This report presents the findings of a study of crime dynamics and prevention practices focused around a comparison of nine neighborhoods in three of the most violent cities in Honduras: La Ceiba, El Progreso, and Choloma. The research revealed that although the transnational drug trade, economic downturn, and political crisis have deepened the country’s vulnerability, some neighborhoods have successfully prevented crime. Drawing from extensive qualitative research in these neighborhoods, the study identified practices that communities pursue to prevent violence through collective responses. It also examined the characteristics of communities, societal factors, and institutional context that have enabled or constrained these responses. The research points to measures that can be built upon, scaled up, and tested through future research and programming to strengthen community-based crime prevention. It illustrates how deep examination of the dynamics of insecurity - and the ways communities manage it - can inform efforts to improve public safety in violence-prone countries.

The current report is part of the work on integrating poor areas and marginalized communities in Romania. Specifically, the Bank's technical assistance provided through this project focuses on three primary components: (1) a methodology for defining different types of urban disadvantaged communities based on a set of key criteria and indicators; (2) detailed maps that present the spatial distribution of these indicators and the corresponding types of marginalized communities; and (3) strategies for integrating these communities in the form of an integrated intervention tool and six conceptual pilots. The atlas presents the methodology used to define different types of urban disadvantaged areas as well as urban pockets of urban marginalization where deprivation is most severe. It identifies criteria and sets of indicators for each type that enable their identification and spatial location using the 2011 population census data. The atlas also produces the results of an analysis to determine the rate of urban marginalization in Romania and the characteristics of urban marginalized communities. Lastly, the atlas presents a series of maps at the city and town, county and regional level that present the spatial distribution of disadvantaged areas and marginalized communities, based on data from the 2011 population and housing census and information collected directly from municipalities.

This report looks at the growth poles policy in Romania to determine ways to increase its effectiveness and efficiency for the next programming cycle (2014-2020). The growth poles policy in Romania has been initiated in 2008, as a means to support a balanced economic development of the country, while still targeting investments to maximize economic impact. A total of seven growth poles have been designated and are currently supported as such, via an integrated development plan designed for each. In an effort respond to all the above the Romanian Ministry of Regional Development and Public Administration (MRDPA) has engaged with the World Bank in a broader advisory services partnership implemented between 2012-2013. The current review is a result of this joint work. The report is grouped into three main parts. The first part sets out the context of analysis, including a brief presentation of growth poles policy objectives as well as the European policy context, and conceptual debates in which it is framed. The second part includes a set of recommendations regarding the growth poles policy for the next programming cycle (2014-2020). The third part includes an analysis of each of the growth poles, presenting specific recommendations for each.

For the 2014-2020 programming period, the Government of Romania (GoR) is considering a new approach presented by the European Commission (EC) - community-led local development (CLLD). Through CLLD, empowered communities have the opportunity to directly shape and own the process of local development, during all stages of EU - funded interventions, from concept design through implementation. If Romania ultimately pursues CLLD, the critical task facing the government is to design an optimal implementation framework for the new approach - this is precisely the focus and scope of the current integrated intervention tool (IIT). The preparation of this IIT entailed a number of steps, including extensive field work to define relevant subtypes of urban marginalized communities and to review past experiences with urban integration in Romania. This summary covers multiple sections, in line with the key chapters of the main IIT report. It first reviews CLLD's main features and best practice principles at the EU level. It focuses on Romania, making some recommendations for where CLLD can apply and what it will require in terms of coordinating different sources of funding. It also covers the main six stages of operationalizing CLLD in Romania, as follows: launch: preparations through capacity building and information campaigns; call for expressions of interest regarding the potential submission of local integration strategies (LISs); mobilization of the community for the establishment of local action groups (LAG) and development of LIS by each LAG; selection of strategies to be financed; implementation of LISs approved for financing, including selection and implementation of individual projects under these strategies; and phase-out activities and evaluation.

Rapid urban growth in developing countries has created an unprecedented demand for energy services. Cities face the enormous challenge of improving energy access to urban communities in order to improve education, health, and basic socioeconomic conditions. South Asia and Sub- Saharan Africa have the fastest growing urban populations in the world projected to grow by 50 percent by 2025. This will put tremendous pressure on cities in these regions as they work to provide basic services, including energy services, to underserved areas. While there is widespread understanding of the critical role energy access plays in sustainable development, there is still a lack of policies targeted at growing urban poor populations. The objective of these case studies is to share lessons learned in successful energy access initiatives and to provide a point of reference for energy practitioners. The case studies identify barriers to energy access that are unique to the urban poor, innovative approaches to finding solutions, and the roles of communities, service providers, and governments in successfully providing access to legal modern energy services. Eight case studies focused on electrification and clean fuels were selected from India, Bangladesh, Colombia, and Brazil all countries that have had varying success in providing access to modern energy services for slum dwellers. The cases selected highlight several common barriers facing the urban poor in achieving access to safer, cleaner, and legal sources of energy. They also outline the innovative approaches adopted by all stakeholders. This study demonstrates several common barriers and highlights diverse ways to overcome them. It shows that success depends on several enabling factors working together, such as stakeholder collaboration and community empowerment. Sustainable initiatives that have the potential to be replicated in other urban poor communities depend on the continued commitment of stakeholders, and the presence of strong financial and institutional mechanisms.