The European Union (EU) has settled into a “new normal” of mediocre growth, with real GDP set to expand by about 2 percent in 2015 and in 2016. With sizeable unemployment and still not full…

Ivailo Izvorski |

PISA measures the skills and knowledge of 15-year-old students in reading, mathematics and science. Photo: Simone D. McCourtie / World Bank  Investing in people starts by ensuring that graduates…

Christian Bodewig, Lucas Gortazar |

Syrian refugee students listen to their school teacher during math classes.  Photo © Dominic Chavez/World Bank ​In Europe, the year 2015 will be remembered as the year of the “refugee crisis.”…

Christian Bodewig |

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 |

View of Baku, Azerbaijan. Photo: David Davidson/flickr Geographically and historically, Azerbaijan has often been at the crossroads: of trade routes, cultures, and influences. From a telecom…

Natalija Gelvanovska-Garcia, Zhenia Viatchaninova Dalphond |

The SAFE Trust Fund application (Word document) is now open until 27 February 2015.  What is SAFE?   SAFE means Strengthening Accountability and the Fiduciary Environment. It is a Trust Fund group…

Soukeyna Kane |

It’s hard to get a break in the Europe and Central Asia region, it seems – even a short one. Hit hard by the troubles in the Eurozone at the beginning of the decade, emerging and developing…

Aurora Ferrari, Ilias Skamnelos |