1. Rural Access Index A Headline Indicator Rural Access Index (RAI) is to show the proportion of the rural population which has adequate access to the transport system RAI is usually defined in terms of road transport Measurement is based on household survey data where it is available

2. Rural Access Index A Headline Indicator CLICK one of the following buttons to watch a slide show 1. Global rural access and its association to maternal mortality 2. Progress on rural access and poverty reduction at the provincial level in Vietnam 3. Variations in rural access by region, by the eligibility status of Bank loans of a country, and by sub-national region

3. Approximately 1011 million, or 31 percent of the world rural population, do not have adequate access to transport

4. There are significant associations between rural access and other important factors such as maternal mortality

5. Countries with high maternal mortality rates tend to have low RAIs… -- 10 Highest MMR #CountryRegionMMR 1 Sierra Leone AFR2000 2MalawiAFR1800 3AngolaAFR1700 4NigerAFR1600 5TanzaniaAFR1500 6RwandaAFR1400 7MaliAFR1200 8ChadAFR1100 8Guinea-BissauAFR1100 8SomaliaAFR1100RAI 65 52 5 14 52 38 37 42 38 40

6. And countries with low maternal mortality rates tend to have high RAIs -- 10 Lowest MMR #CountryRegionMMR 1IcelandECA0 1MaltaMENA0 3SwedenECA2 4AustriaECA4 4SpainECA4 6KuwaitMENA5 6DenmarkECA5 6IrelandECA5 6ItalyECA5 6PortugalECA5RAI 81 98 93 99 82 95 95 86 100 88

7. Rural access improved significantly in Vietnam from an average of 76% to 84 % at the provincial level, 2002 - 2004 2004 2002 Sources: VHLSS, 2002, 2004

8. Incidence of poverty also dropped significantly from an average of 41% to 24% at the provincial level, 1999 - 2004 200219992004 Sources: VHLSS, 1998, 2002, 2003; Population Census, 1999

9. Provinces that improved in rural access tend to have also reduced poverty significantly 2004 No data available 1999 Rural access -> Poverty-> 2002

10. There are large variations in rural access, not only by country but also by region…

11. And also by the eligibility status of Bank loans of a country…

12. But variations are often more pronounced by sub-national region…

13. Moreover, changes in rural access may also vary significantly across sub-national regions