The World Development Report 2006: Equity and Opportunity presents a social development strategy organized around the themes of social inclusion, cohesion, and accountability. It examines equality of opportunities--a potentially important factor affecting both the workings of the investment environment and the empowerment of the poor--by building on and extending existing accountability frameworks presented in the 2005 Report.

The Report is divided into three parts. Part I describes patterns of inequality in a range of variables both at the national and global level-incomes, educational achievements, health indicators, power, and influence. Part II highlights reasons why some levels of inequality in the variables presented in Part I may be too high-whether for intrinsic reasons or because they harm the attainment of competing values, such as the level of goods and services in the economy. Part III discusses policies that affect the relationship between equity and the development process at a national and global level. This section includes policies that could help reduce the levels of some intermediate inequalities and focuses on circumstances in which these polices form the basis for more rapid overall development and faster poverty reduction.

Now in its twenty-eighth edition, the World Development Report offers practical insights for policymakers, business developers, economic advisers, researchers, and professionals in the media and in non-governmental organizations. It is also an essential supplement to economic and development courses in both academic and professional settings.