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 |

Children in Lebanese public schools have experienced four consecutive disrupted academic years (2019-20 to 2022-23), receiving approximately 270 days of in-person teaching compared with the 600…

Adelle Pushparatnam, Igor Kheyfets, Hana El-Ghali, Nadine El Franji |

On May 15 this year, we were in Baghdad on what was a very special day for 350 primary education children. We had traveled north of the city with the World Bank education team for the opening…

Jaime Saavedra, Elisabeth Sedmik |

As we commemorate the International Day of Education this month, the 2023 theme “to invest in people, prioritize education” – it is all the more crucial for the countries of the Middle East and…

Ferid Belhaj |

As climate change diminishes the availability of surface water in Africa, groundwater has emerged as a vital untapped resource. But in the Sahel, a global hotspot for climate change and one of the…

François Bertone, Mariam Sou |

This blog is a biweekly feature highlighting recent working papers from around the World Bank Group. It introduces six papers published from April 16 to April 30 on various topics, including…

Marcelo Buitron, Policy Research Working Paper team |

Low learning levels are putting the future of Iraqi children and, as a result, the future of the whole country at risk. The development of human capital, necessary for sustainable economic growth…

Nathalie Lahire, Xiaonan Cao, Elisabeth Sedmik |

Cash transfers have been extensively used as a tool to soften the negative impacts of the COVID19 pandemic. A recent working paper uses data from a randomized cash transfer experiment in Guinea to…

Damien de Walque, Dimitris Mavridis |

The leaders of Mauritania, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Chad signed a groundbreaking declaration, calling for the creation of a Sahel coalition that would put education at the center of their…

Ousmane Diagana, Mamta Murthi |