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Many policy makers across Sub-Saharan Africa, including in fragile and conflict-affectedsituations (FCS), consider youth employment a central policy issue. As the recent World Development Report (WDR) on jobs has highlighted, jobs are a key driver of development(World Bank 2012). Jobs matter for living standards, productivity, as well as social cohesion. Particularly in FCS, jobs mean more than earnings; feelings of exclusion stem from a lack ofreliable, quality employment, not simply income (Rebosio and Romanova 2013). Volume 1 of this paper presents results from the application of a novel qualitative toolkit in Liberia, with the objective to improve the knowledge of the constraints to entry and productivity among nonagricultural household enterprises. It outlines lessons learned from the application of this research and makes policy-relevant findings on how to improve productivity in the sector in Liberia. In addition, the report contains methodological lessons that can inform the application of the toolkit in other contexts. Volume 2 of this paper presents a global review of the literature on household enterprises in FCS and the detailed methodology and tools for the research.

Conflict and Development --- Fragile States --- Household Enterprises --- Improving Labor Markets --- Informal Sector --- Labor Market --- Labor Markets --- Social Protection and Risk Management --- Social Protections & Assistance --- Social Protections and Labor

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Together with reductions in indirect taxes on food imports, cash for work programs were one of the main responses implemented by African governments following the food, fuel, and financial crisis of recent years. The main objective of those programs was to help the poor cope with the various shocks by increasing their net earnings through community-level work paid for under the programs. Yet it is unclear whether these cash for work programs indeed reached their intended beneficiaries and to what degree they generated other, potentially long-term beneficial impacts. This paper explores these issues in the context of Liberia and the performance of the Cash for Work Temporary Employment Program (CfWTEP) funded by the World Bank through an emergency crisis facility in response to the 2007/2008 food crisis. Both quantitative and qualitative data are presented, focusing on the operational and policy experiences emerging from program implementation. This paper analyzes the context that led to the creation and implementation of the CfWTEP in Liberia, the nature and administrative arrangements for the program, and its operational performance. The objective is to share the lessons learned from evaluation findings so that they can be useful for implementing similar programs in the future in Liberia itself or in other countries. Findings from the analysis highlight the possibilities of implementing public works program in low capacity, post conflict setting and the scope for using the program as a springboard towards a broader and more comprehensive social safety net.

Accounting --- Best Practices --- Child Care --- Cities --- Community Involvement --- Community Service --- Conflict --- Crime --- Debt --- Economic Development --- Employment and Unemployment --- Employment Opportunities --- Employment Services --- Farmland --- Finance and Financial Sector Development --- Financial Crisis --- Financial Literacy --- Food Consumption --- Food Security --- Gender --- Household Surveys --- Income Tax --- Labor Costs --- Labor Market --- Labor Policies --- Literacy --- Living Standards --- Minimum Wage --- Natural Disasters --- Nutrition --- Occupations --- Older Workers --- Political Economy --- Poverty Line --- Poverty Reduction --- Poverty Traps --- Productivity --- Public Buildings --- Rural Poverty Reduction --- Savings --- Severance Pay --- Skilled Workers --- Social Insurance --- Social Protections and Labor --- Unemployment --- Unskilled Workers --- Urban Areas --- Working Hours --- Youth