Lynne Sherburne-Benz, World Bank Senior Regional Advisor for Africa, exchanges with young beneficiaries of the Madagascar Social Safety Net Project. I first visited Madagascar in 1985 as a student…

Lynne Sherburne-Benz |

Kazakhstan. Photo: Kubat Sydykov / World Bank How large is the share of public procurement to GDP in middle-income and low-income countries and how it is evolving? If sizable, can public…

Simeon Djankov, Federica Saliola, Asif Islam |

Beneficiaries from a safety net program in Madagascar, most of them women, receive regular cash grants and training on nutrition, early childhood development and leadership skills. Photo by:…

Michal Rutkowski |

Local leaders have turned to OpenStreetMaps (OSM), and use targeted drone tracking to document road needs and investment progress.  Photo: Kai Kaiser Amazon is promising to deliver goods with…

Kai Kaiser |

Women with their children share a common meal at the community nutrition center in Soanierana (north east Madagascar) after a cooking demonstration focused on preparing nutrient rich food. Photo:…

Jumana Qamruddin, Charlotte Kennedy, William W. Schmitt |

Access to paradise? Photo by authors. GoPro videos have become ubiquitous among mountain bikers. The more adventurous the journey the better. Go viral on social media, and you have a winner. You…

Kai Kaiser, Hanif Rahemtulla, Rogier van den Brink |

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…

Axel van Trotsenburg |

As a nurse manager assigned to the Taguig City Social Hygiene Clinic and Drop-In Center for more than a year now, I have gone through unpredictable, funny, scary, sad, happy, thrilling and…

Rennan Ocheda |

Photo: Kenneth Pornillos / World Bank Vote buying has shaped much of Philippine politics throughout history. For many politicians, distributing private goods and cultivating patronage to…

Motoky Hayakawa, Rogier van den Brink, Aleksandra Posarac |