Site search

Standards and regulations are an integral, if easily overlooked, part of our daily life. They determine whether a plug fits into a socket, whether food is safe for human consumption or whether a bank...

This report looks at the missing link to inclusive growth for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), which are less productive relative to large firms in the developing world than in the developed world...

This year’s report focuses on regional trade, the most common form of trade for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It contains 50 country profiles, featuring detailed SME competitiveness...

This SME Competitiveness Outlook assesses the impact of conflict and fragility on business performance. It unveils a Fragility Exposure Index, and shows that fragility, as experienced by firms, can be...

Our services sectors are key to an economic transformation. This report calls them ‘connected services. Transport and logistics, financial services, information and communication technologies, and...

The SME Competitiveness Outlook 2021 analyses how small businesses can rebuild from the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic so they are better prepared to face the looming crisis of climate change. It...

Increasing annual investments in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries by $1 trilling would yield disproportionate dividends in terms of progress towards the Sustainable...

New technologies like advanced robotics, 3-D printing, big data and the internet of things are rapidly changing the way in which firms do business. A strong business ecosystem is necessary to manage...

This publication is released at a time where the world is carefully moving out of the 'great lockdown' stemming from the coronavirus pandemic, a partial or complete lockdown of the majority of...

The purpose of this special report is both to inform and advise. It assesses the current and likely future groundwater quality problems, both natural and anthropogenic, in the region and identifies...

Urban air quality is increasingly being recognized as a major public health and environmental issue in both developed and developing nations. This review provides policy-relevant information and...

The challenge of working in situations of actual or unresolved conflict is not new, but it has a greater impetus and commands more attention today than in the past. This publication aptly addresses...

The success of disaster mitigation as well as disaster relief operations depends on teamwork and teamwork depends on communication. The areas of coverage in this publication include: the unrestricted...

The world community has come to realise that the clearance of land mines is essential. This publication addresses such areas as: education as an important link in clearance continuum, new technologies...

The number of humanitarian disasters vying for the world's attention has increased steadily in the last decade. The Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986 shared many elements with more recent emergencies...

In the past decades, natural and human systems have grown greatly intertwined and the distinction between 'acts of Man' and 'acts of Nature' has become increasingly blurred. This publication discusses...

The linkage between disasters and development is well recognized, as is our growing ability to counter the threat. This publication offers an understanding of the devastating impacts of disasters and...

Using country studies, this publication gives clear insight into the issues of humanitarian assistance and the transition issue. The expert papers presented include discussions in such areas as...