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 |

Like many parents globally, Djiboutian families are preparing their children for the start of the new school year. An increasing number of five-year-old girls and boys will have the chance to go…

Bridget Crumpton, Nevine Elnahass |

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 |

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 |

As he does every morning, Ragueh welcomes children at Nelson Mandela school in the refugee village of Ali Addeh. Teachers like Ragueh, who himself was a refugee student, are vital to Djibouti’s…

Bridget Crumpton, Nicholas Hans Buhne |

Despite accessibility of remote learning during closures, MENA students this year are academically behind cohorts of the same grades in previous years. To help with recovery, the World Bank and…

Kaliope Azzi-Huck, Andreas Blom, Keiko Miwa, Aarya Shinde |

The GCC countries, coping with the dual shocks of the pandemic and low oil prices, are standing at the crossroad of economic and social transformation. The future of the region depends on how well…

Sameh El-Saharty, Aviva Chengcheng Liu |