Engaging vulnerable voices can improve access to information and reduce barriers to receiving assistance.

Two recently released World Bank reports — one on commodities and the other on remittances — lend insight into an unfolding dynamic in the world today. As oil prices dropped from more than $100…

My father is a long-distance trucker based in Belarus. As a young girl, I spent long hours on the road with him. I loved traveling to neighboring and faraway cities and—even though I could barely…

If you think about it, snow is a pretty amazing thing. It is nature’s way of storing water in the winter, and then using it in the summer when it is needed, namely during the growing season. If it…

It’s hard to get a break in the Europe and Central Asia region, it seems – even a short one. Hit hard by the troubles in the Eurozone at the beginning of the decade, emerging and developing…

During my visits to the Kyrgyz Republic I am always surprised to talk with people who fondly reminisce about the economy during Soviet times.  Taxi drivers nostalgically describe traffic coming to…

Citizen participation in any issue is most often thought of in the context of formal procedures. Sometimes, civil society representatives, like me, are invited to events, commissions or programs…

Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic – Laura Tuck, the vice president for the World Bank’s Europe and Central Asia unit, talks about her trip to Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan and…

There is nothing worse than having to wonder if you will be able to afford tomorrow's meal. Or the day after's. But for millions of poor in the Kyrgyz Republic, it is routine - and their…

The problem with the World Bank’s 20th anniversary in Kyrgyzstan last November was that everybody else’s party had happened already. There has been a blur of speeches, gala concerts, jazz bands,…