With the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), world leaders made a bold pledge in 2015 to leave no one behind on the path of development by 2030. Half-way to the target date, some 22 countries…

Samuel Kofi Tetteh Baah, Christoph Lakner, Umar Serajuddin |

Sub-Saharan Africa has experienced low economic growth per capita, a very slow decline in poverty incidence, and the number of people living in extreme poverty has been rising steadily. As a…

Johannes Hoogeveen, Johan A. Mistiaen, Haoyu Wu |

The World Bank-financed Recovery and Advancement of Informal Sector Employment (RAISE) Project has been supporting the Government of Bangladesh provide services that can enhance earning…

Nushin Subhan |

A look back at South Asia’s year in 10 blogs. These blogs spotlight stories of resilience and innovation, and explore issues critical to the region such as air pollution, climate change, women’s…

Adnan Siddiqi, Trishna Thapa |

The scale of the climate challenge facing South Asia is immense. Average temperatures have risen by 1 °C since pre-industrial times, leading to more scorching heatwaves across India and Pakistan.…

Abhas Jha |

In Bangladesh, the Health and Gender Support Project for Cox’s Bazar district (HGSP) has had an immense impact on islands such as Kutubdia, by removing barriers to high-quality and cost-effective…

Md Rafi Hossain, Bushra Binte Alam |

One of the least developed countries in the world, Chad’s GDP per capita has contracted since 2015. Its GDP per capita (in constant 2010 US dollars) was $710 in 2019, down significantly from $961…

Fulbert Tchana Tchana, Claudia Noumedem Temgoua |

The West African Economic and Monetary Union community, which comprises Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Togo, is facing a deficit of decent housing of…

Mazen Bouri |

According to WHO, the rate of road traffic fatalities in Bangladesh is 15.3 per 100,000 people. A number that can be significantly reduced through the appropriate use of trauma registries and…

Suresh Kunhi Mohammed, Md Rafi Hossain, Ramim Ahmed |

Africa is not on track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal of eradicating extreme poverty. While many countries were successful in reducing poverty during the years before the pandemic,…

Camilla Holmemo, Christian Bodewig, Robert S. Chase, Suleiman Namara |