People are what inspire my colleagues to do what they do. That may seem obvious, but I’m not sure it is. Many – including members of my own family – think that the World Bank Group is a complex, technical institution focused on balance sheets and exchange rates. And in part it is. But ask us about our mission, about our common goal, and you’ll hear about people.
People like Mao Tep, a 31-year-old Cambodian mother who would get angry when her 4-year-old came home from school with questions she couldn’t answer. Her life was changed by a parenting program that helped her support her daughter’s education, nutrition and hygiene.
And Ebiro Kadokalih, a widow from Togo. A scheme to upgrade the equipment she used to prepare rice for sale transformed her life. Now she can provide for her family and, as she states proudly, “most important, I manage to pay the education expenses of all my children.”
Our work connects us with amazing people like Mao and Ebiro, who have overcome enormous obstacles and are eager to make the most of new opportunities. Our projects are inspiring because they help create opportunities: they deliver results that change lives.
Our projects are inspiring because they help create opportunities: they deliver results that change lives.
All of these journeys to better lives start with ideas, which evolve into development proposals. We make sure to get input from the communities we want to help, and we think through all the ways our efforts could make a difference—empowering ethnic minorities or disadvantaged groups, for example, or benefiting the environment. Above all, we look carefully how each project can reduce poverty before any project is approved and implemented.
As many of my colleagues in country offices all over the world can attest, it often takes patience and persistence to see a project’s results. To see that school built. Or that rural health center upgraded. Or for women entrepreneurs to start seeing their businesses grow.
But for all of us, stories like Mao’s and Ebiro’s are what it’s all about. Seeing projects on the ground transforming lives and communities. That’s what inspires us, drives us and fulfills us.
Seeing projects on the ground transforming lives and communities. That’s what inspires us, drives us and fulfills us.
There are common themes of struggle, survival, endeavor and success. And for every life that has been changed, we see how many more have been affected. Take Aminullah, a 52-year-old Afghan farmer. An agricultural project helped him adopt high-density farming on his small farm. With an orchard of 450 apple trees, his income has doubled. But the change doesn’t stop there. Aminullah now employs three men to work with him. And this new technique has allowed other farmers to diversify their crops, which in turn has helped stabilize food prices for their local communities.
So you’ll see regular posts on our social media channels Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn, as well as our weekly global newsletter. Those stories highlight the work that we’ve been doing around the world, through the eyes of the people our projects have helped.
The stories are rich and varied. In the coming series, which includes videos, blogs and feature stories, we’ll travel to Colombia to hear from a hunter who’s now working as a conservationist, and to India where women’s groups moved quickly to the front lines of response to COVID-19.
And we are collecting all these stories in one place that you can explore these projects for yourself and also dive deeper. On this page, you’ll find links to individual projects and operations, an interactive map that allows you to explore our work by country-by-country and detailed datasets on a variety of topics.
We want these stories to be a great resource for anyone interested in learning more about how development works on the ground, and how projects evolve from an idea to implementation.
We want these stories to be a great resource for anyone interested in learning more about how development works on the ground, and how projects evolve from an idea to implementation. And we hope this series will make it clearer than ever how people are at the heart of everything we do.
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