While MENA has made strides in improving women and girls’ health, much more needs to be done. Understanding the impact of conflict on women and girls is critical for designing both preventive…

Fadia Saadah, Sameera Al Tuwaijri |

Most workers in developing countries are in informal employment-- that is, a job that does not come with social security benefits and leaving them with limited means to manage risks to their…

Nadir Mohammed, Roberta Gatti, Marco Ranzani, Gladys Lopez-Acevedo, Nistha Sinha, Adam Elsheikhi |

Over the last few years, the government of the UAE has made gender equality and women’s economic empowerment a top policy priority. To address deeper legal inequalities, the government requested…

Iva Hamel, Gharam Alkastalani Dexter |

Of the region’s 450 million people, nearly two-thirds, almost 300 million people, are under the age of 35. Unfortunately, this vast human resource is highly “untapped,” and nearly 80 percent of…

Anna Bjerde |

Queen Alia International Airport, Jordan. © littlesam/Shutterstock [[tweetable]]In many developing countries, there are glaring gaps in the quantity of infrastructure per capita.[[/tweetable]] For…

Joaquim Levy, Zamir Iqbal |

Myanmar in 2012, when we started our financial sector engagement, and Myanmar today seem like two different worlds. Back then, sim cards cost close to US$500, visitors carried wads of crisp, new…

Nagavalli Annamalai |

Understanding macroeconomic volatility part 3Read parts 1 & 2
There’s good evidence that a country’s level of financial development affects the impact of volatility on economic growth,…

Francisco G. Carneiro, Ha Minh Nguyen, Rei Odawara |

Understanding Macroeconomic Volatility: Part 2 The fact is that a government can soften a recession by increasing spending (the counter-cyclical approach) to raise demand and output. If government…

Francisco G. Carneiro, Ha Minh Nguyen, Rei Odawara |