BRD issued first bond for sustainable projects. It rewards borrowers for reaching goals like ESG compliance, funding women-led projects, and affordable housing. The Government of Rwanda used IDA…

Alwaleed Alatabani, Niraj Verma, Miguel Navarro |

This past week took me to Marrakech, Morocco for the World Bank-IMF Annual Meetings. The trip was a personal journey of sorts, following in the footsteps of my great-grandfather, a scholar of the…

Gabriel Demombynes |

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 |

Gender equality and fair treatment of women and girls is a moral imperative, but global data analytics, evidence and experience clearly demonstrate that including women also fosters economic…

Christopher Stephens |

The recent United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27) held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, has raised the prominence of climate action in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)…

Asif Islam, Dalal Moosa, Federica Saliola |

The Cooperation in International Waters in Africa (CIWA)’s origin story has its roots in the Nile Basin. On February 22nd (Nile Day), to celebrate the Nile, the world’s longest river which…

Ai-Ju Huang, Shyam KC |

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 |

One striking statistic puts in context the state of education in Africa today. According to the latest State of Global Education Update, nearly 9 in 10 children in Sub-Saharan Africa are unable to…

Victoria Kwakwa |

The 2022 World Cup in Qatar is the first to be held in the Arab world and for the first time in World Cup history, an African team (Morocco) advanced to the semifinals. Regardless of the outcomes…

Abdoulaye Sy, Gael Raballand, Nadir Mohammed |

The energy sector remains a male-dominated field across the world, and this is no different in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Women in MENA already have a generally low participation…

Husam Beides, Elisabeth Maier |