As we look back at the four years spent in the Maghreb and Malta, as Country Director Marie Francoise-Nelly would like to share some reflections on her work there with the World Bank.

East Asia Pacific’s (EAP) strong economic performance over the past few decades has significantly benefited and empowered women in the region, bringing better health and education and greater…

Mexico created over 60, 000 jobs between 1993 to 2000 upgrading the apparel value chain from assembly to direct distribution to customers.  (Photo: Maria Fleischmann / World Bank) As we discussed…

It was December 8, 2010, when I boarded a plane after a routine trip to Tunisia.  There was nothing out of the ordinary that would have provided a clue as to the dramatic upheaval to come.   The…

In the last three decades, East Asia has reaped the demographic dividend. An abundant and growing labor force powered almost one-third of the region’s per capita income growth from the 1960s to…

The Arab world is in the midst of one of the largest human displacements in modern history, with 14-15 million refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs). This number includes over 10 million…

In many countries in the Middle East and North Africa, and in fact around the world, teachers—who play a pivotal role in any effort to improve education quality—have not been officially…

The political and economic transition of post-communist Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries brought substantial improvements in GDP per capita, productivity, incomes and standard of…

A former hotel owner in one of the region’s major cities, who wants to remain anonymous, tells a story that should have had a happy ending. Her 40-room hotel was doing well. It had built a…

In recent decades, many European countries have tried to instill greater labor market flexibility through increased use of fixed-term, temporary work contracts, as opposed to open-ended or…