New Zealand’s success story is often told in terms of its lamb, wool, kiwifruit and agricultural exports. But our country’s greatest asset has always been our people who have been equipped to do…

Annette Dixon |

The issue Data compiled over the past two decades has found that all four major non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Tonga are on the rise – diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and…

Sutayut Osornprasop |

Among the 29 countries and economies of the East Asia and Pacific region, one finds some of the world’s most successful education systems. Seven out of the top 10 highest average scorers on…

Michael Crawford |

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 |

Early investment in the lives of disadvantaged children will help reduce inequality, in both the short and the long run. —James Heckman Investments in the early years of children’s lives and in…

Harry A. Patrinos |

Also available in: Français | العربية   A boat trip from Port Elizabeth to Kingstown, in the Caribbean country of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, is a one-hour trip that locals take several…

Valerie Lorena |

In PDF: Korean | Khmer Every time I learn of another natural disaster – the people killed and injured, homes destroyed, livelihoods lost – I know we must act to reduce the tragic impact instead of…

Axel van Trotsenburg |

By Francis Ghesquiere and Olivier Mahul This week, the Resilience Dialogue, bringing together representatives from developing countries, donor agencies and multilateral development banks, will…

Francis Ghesquiere, Olivier Mahul |

Those unfamiliar with the fast growing emerging economies of East Asia are likely to think that governments in these countries let market forces and capitalism roam free, red in tooth and claw.…

Truman Packard |