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The objective of this policy note is to develop a set of actionable recommendations for tackling poverty and social exclusion in Poland based on evidence. In recent years, the World Bank has deepened its engagement in Poland around issues of social inclusion, through work on effective labor market and activation policies, social assistance benefits, and investment financing for local social inclusion initiatives. This note purports to integrate the outputs of these activities and complement them with insights from the new analytical work to develop recommendations for the government of Poland for program choices to enhance the impact of inclusion programs and employment services. This policy note is structured as follows: (i) introduction; (ii) section two provides a definition of social inclusion and describes the country context by key trends and key groups at risk of social exclusion; (iii) section three provides an overview of the institutional set-up to deliver policies for social inclusion at the national and local level and presents an assessment of the achievements and challenges of key policy instruments (employment services, social benefits, social services, and the work of civil society); (iv) section four focuses on two recent operational experiences of relevance to a future operation: an assessment of the execution of the European Social Fund in Poland against the social and labor agendas and a presentation of the learning generated through the social inclusion component of the World Bank Post Accession Rural Support Project; and (v) section five illustrates areas for potential intervention at the policy and operational level in Poland. Recognizing that social inclusion outcomes are the result of a complex set of factors on the demand and supply side,recommendations include macro-level institutional reforms and changes to local service delivery for inclusion of vulnerable groups, mobilization and capacity support, strategies for local employment generation, and monitoring and accountability support.

The objectives of this study are to describe and analyze the out-of-work and out-of-school youth (ages 15-24) in the Europe and Central Asia2 (ECA) region. People who are out-of-work and out-of-school are referred to as NEET (Not in Employment, Education or Training). This study attempts to characterize the NEETs by age, gender, education and their activity status. The main findings of this study are listed are as follows: first, the authors find that in the post-2009 period the youth NEET rate for the ECA region was 19.60 percent, which is higher than the OECD youth NEET rate of 16 in 2011 (OECD 2013). Second, this study finds that the NEET rate prior to the financial crisis in 2009 was on the decline, and increased in the post-2009 period. Third, this study finds that the NEET rate for ECA is higher for women than for men for all years. However, since the financial crisis in 2009, the gender gap has declined from 4.64 in pre-2009 to 2.75 percentage points in post-2009, suggesting that young men were more adversely affected by the recession than women. Forth, this study finds that in the ECA region youth males are more often classified as NEETs but active in the labor market, and youth females are more often classified as NEETs but inactive in the labor market. Fifth, using a linear probability model, this study finds that individuals, who are 20-24 years of age, have a lower level of educational attainment and married females are more likely to be NEET. Also, individuals living in urban areas and with lower household sizes are less likely to be NEET. Sixth, another linear probability model was constructed using household budget surveys for six countries in ECA from 2009. The main finding from this model was that NEET youths tend to live in households with lower per capita consumption than their non-NEET counterparts. Seventh, there is an increase in the NEET (unemployed) rate after the crisis, while the NEET (inactive) rate stayed roughly constant.

As of June 7, 2015, Sierra Leone had reported more than 12,900 cases of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), and over 3,900 deaths since the outbreak began. In recent months, substantial progress has been made, with a maximum of 15 new cases per week reported following a nationwide lockdown and information campaign at the end of March. The Government of Sierra Leone, with support from the World Bank Group, has been conducting mobile phone surveys with the aim of capturing the key socio-economic effects of the virus. Three rounds of data collection have been conducted, in November 2014, January-February 2015, and May 2015. The survey was given to household heads for whom cell phone numbers were recorded during the nationally-representative Labor Force Survey conducted in July and August 2014. Overall, 66 percent of the 4,199 households sampled in that survey had cell phones, although this coverage was uneven across the country, with higher levels in urban areas (82 percent) than rural areas (43 percent). Of those with cell phones, 51 percent were surveyed in all three rounds, and 79 percent were reached in at least one round. The results for the third round of the survey, which contacted 1,715 households, focus mainly on employment, agriculture, food security and prices, and health service utilization, covering predominantly urban areas where cell phone coverage is highest, but including rural areas as much as possible given the sample available.

The study includes an analysis of inequality patterns in terms of labor force participation as well as a review of policy responses, and areas for possible further policy action. In particular, the report looks at the two main dimensions of inequality that characterize Macedonia’s labor market: gender and ethnicity. Almost half the female working age population is inactive, whereas male inactivity is considerably lower. Labor market outcomes also vary significantly with ethnicity. In particular, a strong interaction exists between gender and ethnicity, with ethnic minority women forming a particularly vulnerable group. Hence, it is worthwhile to investigate in more detail how gender and ethnicity shape the Macedonian labor market, and how public policy could be used to increase labor market participation and job opportunities for women and ethnic minorities. This report is organized as follows. First, the report describes the main characteristics of the Macedonian labor market, emphasizing the most important patterns of inequality in terms of labor market participation (section two). Section three addresses the possible causes of these inequality patterns. Section four discusses potential policy responses and concludes.

Aim: In order to facilitate planning for dental health services and to progress strategies to continue the reduction in tooth loss, it is important to identify the factors that result in such loss. therefore the aim of the study is to investigate the major cause for tooth extraction. Objective: to examine whether the major reason for tooth extraction is dental caries or periodontal disease. Materials and Methods: The study is carried out among the dental practitioners in our district. A questionnaire containing 10 items was distributed to the dental practitioners, which included age, gender, no of teeth indicated for extraction, the reason for extraction, and the periodontal parameters that are involved with the extracted tooth and were requested to complete the form on every extraction they were to undertake. the study form was collected at the end of the study period and data was subjected to statistical analysis. Results: A total of 502 patients were enrolled during the study period, and a total of 1055 teeth were extracted for several reasons. we found that 51.14%extractions are due to dental caries in case of 20-30years age groups, which is more when compared to tooth loss due to periodontal diseases in this age group. whereas in case of >40years of age group periodontal diseases account for 54.11%, and dental caries accounts for only 29.11%. Showing more teeth were lost due to periodontal disease. Conclusion: therefore we concluded that, caries is the dominant reason for extraction in patients with 20–30 years of age while periodontal disease accounts for the majority of tooth extraction in patients older than 40 years.

Jordan faces extremely high levels of youth unemployment: 19 percent of male and 48 percent of female youth between the ages of 19 to 24 years old want to work but can't find jobs. For men, the transition from school to work is slow (on average 15 months), but for women the school to work transition often never takes place. In this context of high female unemployment and low female labor force participation, the Jordanian government, requested the World Bank's support to develop an employment pilot targeting female community college graduates in 2009. This pilot is part of a broader technical assistance program supporting the reform of the public community college system in Jordan. The objective of the Jordan New work Opportunities for Women (NOW) pilot was to increase female labor force participation and help women gain real world job experience. In particular, the hope was to improve information between firms and potential workers, create an opportunity to change negative stereotypes from firms and young women about women's role in the labor market, and improve soft skills and communication. Overall, the objectives of the Jordan NOW pilot were to increase labor force participation and to give young female graduates a chance to accrue some work experience.

The World Bank is launching an initiative aimed at addressing the economic needs of adolescent girls and young women in poor or post-conflict countries. Working together with governments, donors, foundations, and private sector partners, the Bank proposes to develop and test a core set of promising interventions to promote the economic empowerment of adolescent girls and young women. This paper undertakes a review of existing policies and programs designed to promote labor force participation of young women in developing countries. While programs that directly address marriage or fertility can influence young women's labor force participation, the focus of this paper is on programs primarily addressing employment. Some programs for promoting young people's transition into the labor market take a minimalistic approach (for example, concentrating on skills training alone). Other employment programs, particularly those targeted to young women, simultaneously address multiple constraints limiting participation (for example, lack of skills, limited mobility, child care needs, and lack of sexual and reproductive health information). The goal of this paper is to unpack and assess what elements of program design are essential to promoting young women's transition to the labor market. The paper is organized as follows: section one gives introduction. Section two provides an overview of some of the major trends and issues facing young women in the labor market in an international context. Section three describes a selection of best practice programs, some of which are focused exclusively on employment training and others of which take a more integrated approach to providing gender-targeted adolescent services. Section four details the lessons learned from the implementation and evaluation of these programs, and considers the circumstances under which a minimalist versus comprehensive or integrated approach may be most effective. Section five concludes and summarizes the policy and program recommendations.