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Sustainable Communities

Inclusiveness in the new Malaysia

Kenneth Simler's picture
Also available in: Bahasa Melayu
Malaysia’s journey towards becoming a high-income nation will become more meaningful if all Malaysians are given the opportunity to share the benefits of prosperity. Photo: World Bank/Samuel Goh
Since 1992, October 17 has been recognized as the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, or more simply, End Poverty Day by the World Bank. It is a day for the world to engage on the progress made and actions needed to end poverty.

To mark this year’s End Poverty Day, the World Bank has released its biennial Poverty and Shared Prosperity Report “Piecing Together the Poverty Puzzle”, which documents the dramatic reduction in extreme poverty achieved from 1990 to 2015. In the span of 25 years, the share of people around the world living in extreme poverty line fell from 36% to 10% (from 1.9 billion to 736 million), despite the global population growing from 5 to 7 billion.

Improving urban transportation for upward social mobility in Malaysia

Wei San Loh's picture
Also available in: Bahasa Melayu
Access to transportation is essential for improving the upward social mobility of low-income communities in Kuala Lumpur, especially residents of low-cost public housing units. (Photo: Samuel Goh/World Bank)

Over the years, Malaysia has demonstrated great improvements in enhancing upward social mobility as the country continues to advance toward becoming a developed nation. However, this success has not been evenly distributed among the population. A 2016 Khazanah Research Institute study found that 24% of children born to low-skilled parents in Malaysia remained low-skilled as adults. Likewise, 46% of children born to parents in the bottom 40% of the national income distribution remained in the bottom 40%.

Safeguarding Indonesia’s development from increasing disaster risks

Jian Vun's picture
Also available in: Bahasa Indonesia
 
New settlements in Sleman district post-eruption of Mt. Merapi.


Imagine that you live near one of 127 active volcanoes in Indonesia, threatened by the next eruption that could endanger your family. Imagine that your house stands in one of the most seismically-active zones in the world, or that your family lives in one of the 317 districts with high risks of flooding. This is a reality that at least 110 million Indonesians already face, and more could be affected due to the impacts of urbanization, climate change and land subsidence.

The country is known as having a ‘supermarket’ of disaster hazards. Over the past twenty years alone, the Indonesian government recorded over 24,000 disaster events that caused 190,500 fatalities, displaced almost 37 million people, and damaged over 4.3 million houses. The combined losses of these disasters totaled almost $28 billion, or around 0.3% of national GDP annually.

A Catalyst for Green Financing in Indonesia

Philippe H. Le Houérou's picture



It is an unfortunate but fact of life that Indonesia often deals with the impacts of natural disasters. It was sadly evident again this week when I arrived in Jakarta to the unfolding disaster caused by the earthquake in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara. My condolences go out to the families and friends of those who lost their lives.

While scientists are reluctant to say a specific natural disaster is caused by climate change, they say a changing climate is resulting in more extreme events around the world. That’s why at International Finance Corporation (IFC), the largest global organization working with the private sector in emerging markets, finding new avenues for climate financing is a key priority.

Green bonds offer a pathway. The world is witnessing a rapid growth in green bonds, dramatically increasing the flow of capital to green projects and bringing new financiers into the climate smart investment space.

应用颠覆性技术，重塑城市未来

Wanli Fang's picture
Also available in: English



生活在北京这样一座飞速现代化的城市，我的日常生活在几十年前的人看来就像是一部科幻电影。我用智能手机购买日用品、付餐费、拍照、搭乘地铁以及在陌生的地方导航。

数字技术颠覆了城市发展模式，也改变了人们的日常生活。我常常会想：颠覆性技术将如何重塑城市特别是新兴经济体城市的未来？

Deploying disruptive technologies to reshape the future of cities

Wanli Fang's picture
Also available in: 中文


As an urban dweller in Beijing, a rapidly modernizing city, my daily life would look like a science-fiction movie for people from just a few decades ago. I use my mobile phone to buy groceries, pay for meals, take photos, access the subway, and find my way to unknown places.

Completing the storytelling ‘circle’: a VR project goes home

Tom Perry's picture
Development organizations & NGOs need powerful stories to help people connect with their work. Yet how do communities feel after their stories have been shared?

After leading the production of a climate change Virtual Reality production in Fiji and returning it to communities, Tom Perry, the World Bank's Team Leader for Pacific Communications, shares his thoughts.

5 điều cần làm để chấm dứt ô nhiễm nhựa

Anjali Acharya's picture
Also available in English



Que hút bằng nhựa là một trong những chất thải bằng nhựa hàng đầu trong các đại dương, và chúng không thể tái chế được. © Kanittha Boon/Shutterstock
 
Các báo đưa nhiều tin buồn. Một con cá voi hoa tiêu đực bị chết và dạt vào bãi biển ở Thái Lan vì đã nuốt 80 túi nilon; hình ảnh về những con rùa mắc trong 6 cái vòng nhựa, một con cá ngựa nhỏ xíu cuộn đuôi vào một cái tăm bông bằng nhựa. Các sản phẩm nhựa trôi dạt hàng ngày trên các bãi biển toàn thế giới – từ Indonesia đến bờ biển tây Phi, và các con kênh trong các thành phố ngày càng tràn ngập chất thải nhựa.

Nhưng cả thế giới bắt đầu chú ý đến điều đó và các nước, các doanh nghiệp, người dân, cộng đồng đã bắt đầu hành động. Từ cấm, đánh thuế các sản phẩm nhựa dùng một lần đến đầu tư vào thu gom rác thải và các chính sách làm giảm số bao bì bằng nhựa và dọn vệ sinh bãi biển. Chúng ta đang cố gắng cai nghiện thói quen dùng nhựa, làm cho cuộc sống và hành tinh lành mạnh hơn.

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