Africa is not on track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal of eradicating extreme poverty. While many countries were successful in reducing poverty during the years before the pandemic,…

Camilla Holmemo, Christian Bodewig, Robert S. Chase, Suleiman Namara |

There is something upliftingly glorious about homegrown solutions. They fill us with a sense of pride, a can-do spirit that makes us feel invincible. They give us hope for the future, knowing that…

Samuel Kwadwo Owusu Baafi |

Imagine a world where every girl and woman and can manage her periods with dignity and without hindering her education, health, sense of self-esteem, social mobility, and economic opportunities.…

Saroj Kumar Jha, Hana Brixi, Jaime Saavedra, Thorsten Kiefer |

This blog is a biweekly feature highlighting recent working papers from around the World Bank Group. It introduces six papers published in January of 2023 on various topics, including gender,…

Marcelo Buitron, Policy Research Working Paper team |

Central Asian countries are joining forces across the environment, agriculture, and health sectors to protect food systems and prevent future pandemics.

Tatiana Proskuryakova, Martien van Nieuwkoop |

The COVID-19 pandemic was one of the largest global shocks in recent history, but it did not increase extreme poverty in Africa as it was feared it would. The reason may be a combination of things…

Kibrom A. Abay, Nishant Yonzan, Sikandra Kurdi, Kibrom Tafere |

In a changing climate—with more frequent, longer lasting, or extreme wind, rain, snow, cold, and heat—how can urban planning and design influence our mobility choices? And how can city governments…

Sandrine Boukerche |

COVID-19 is revealing inequities between and within countries. As it is likely to become endemic, we have to learn to do better and to invest in the evidence needed for learning.

Johannes Hoogeveen, Bilal Malaeb, Lokendra Phadera |

According to two rounds of a pulse survey, 74% of countries reported disruptions to communicable disease treatment, 73% reported disruptions to immunization, and 38% reported disruptions to non-…

Denizhan Duran, Rekha Menon |

Any weakness in a country's ability to procure, store, deliver or equitably prioritize the vaccines will have a dramatic impact on the success of the COVID-19 vaccines rollout. Mobilizing all…

David Clarke, Anna Cocozza, Sneha Kanneganti, Andreas Seiter |