Investments in the early years have been proven to be among the most cost-effective ways of improving life outcomes and reducing inequality of opportunity. The recently-published Pakistan Human…

Pakistan's growing working-age population can become healthier, more educated, more skilled, more productive. A recent study by the World Bank shows that Pakistan’s Human Capital Index (HCI)…

. Pandemics, economic slumps and extreme weather events were once tail-end risks, but all three have hit South Asia in rapid succession since 2020. COVID-19 alone put millions of lives and…

Adolescent girls in Nigeria face disproportionate obstacles in their lives and, in many cases, see their access to education interrupted. Attacks on schools, mass abductions of students, and…

The pandemic caused the biggest reversal in poverty reduction since monitoring began in 1990, and governments are now struggling tooth and nail to deal with overlapping food, fuel, climate and…

When education is relevant to real-world situations, it can be a powerful tool for reshaping the continent's climate and economic landscape. Reforming the education systems should begin by…

Testing and population-level surveillance activities are an underappreciated but vital component to prevent and respond to SARS-CoV-2

As we commemorate the International Day of Education this month, the 2023 theme “to invest in people, prioritize education” – it is all the more crucial for the countries of the Middle East and…

As many as 70% of 10 year-olds in low- and middle-income economies can’t read and understand a basic text—what we call “learning poverty.” Learning deficits were already large before the pandemic…

Recently, the World Bank has collaborated with Samoan government ministries, a local non-government organizations and researchers to conduct the Samoa Food and Tobacco Household Survey to…