This blog highlights two studies from past World Bank's Knowledge for Change Program (KCP)-supported research that demonstrate the importance of a data-driven and evidence-based approach to…

Kerina Wang, Lauren Nicole Core, KCP Program Management Unit (KCP PMU) |

The Russian invasion of Ukraine threatens the uneven recovery of East Asia and Pacific. The invasion comes on top of the economic distress caused by the lingering COVID-19 pandemic, the financial…

Aaditya Mattoo, Ekaterine T. Vashakmadze, Ergys Islamaj |

Telemedicine may offer some insights to help governments to set up an inexpensive, sustainable monitoring system that will improve the monitoring of construction projects in remote locations.

Zubair Bhatti |

The COVID-19 pandemic is devastating lives and livelihoods globally. Before the pandemic, the World Bank projected that 35 million people in East Asia and the Pacific would escape poverty in 2020…

Victoria Kwakwa |

Caribbean nations offer valuable lessons on how to mitigate the effects of shocks, like natural disasters and the COVID-19 pandemic, through more resilient public financial management (PFM)…

Tracey Marie Lane, Ruxandra Burdescu, Leah April |

Effective management of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) can offer countries a layer of defense for fiscal resilience and sustainability when resources become scarce due to natural disasters.

Ruxandra Burdescu, Jana Kunicova, Joy ten Berge |

East Asia Pacific’s (EAP) strong economic performance over the past few decades has significantly benefited and empowered women in the region, bringing better health and education and greater…

Victoria Kwakwa |

Building seawalls. Photo: Lauren Day/World Bank The first ever meeting of the Heads of Procurement of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) took place on June 20-21 in Barbados with…

Shaun Moss |

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 |

Students at Beijing Bayi High School in China. Photo: World Bank In 1950, the average working-age person in the world had  almost three years of education, but in East Asia and Pacific (EAP), the…

Michael Crawford |