E-commerce can become a driver of growth across South Asia and boost trade between the region’s countries, but its potential remains largely untapped.

Viviana Perego, Sanjay Kathuria, Arti Grover, Aaditya Mattoo, Pritam Banerjee |

Intraregional trade in South Asia could be worth $67 billion rather than $23 billion. This gap between potential and actual trade leads to a signficiant loss to consumers, firms and exporters, in…

Sanjay Kathuria, Nadeem Rizwan |

The outsized risk of harassment that women face daily, in turn, affects their decisions whether to take a bus or even whether to get a job.

Andy Kotikula, Diana J. Arango |

Donors are currently considering future aid commitments as pledges made at the Brussels Conference on Afghanistan in 2016 due to expire at the end of 2020.

Henry G. Kerali |

The World Bank’s fund for the poorest countries, IDA has been a reliable partner in South Asia for more than six decades and contributed to a sharp decline in poverty in the region. Yet, for…

Hartwig Schafer |

The World Bank, together with DFID Nepal, has launched a Train the Trainers (T-O-T) program. Last summer, 82 participants took a 40-hour face-to-face training—the first phase of the program—to…

Nkechi Coker, Liza Maharjan |

WEE-RDP will build on AREDP's work and reach the most vulnerable women as we believe that building a strong Afghanistan requires empowering women and providing them with equal opportunities…

World Bank South Asia Region team provides a platform for conversations about regional connectivity and helps find common ground between country priorities and regional integration.

Mandakini Kaul |

Building up a common regional brand identity is paramount to the success of Himalayan large cardamom, and it can also help secure the livelihoods of the women home-based workers who nurture and…

Navya D’Souza |

The country’s ongoing conflict continues to foster uncertainty among youth, leaving no clear pathway for personal and professional development.

World Bank Afghanistan |