Unprecedented, devastating, pervasive. We are living through a remarkable period of history, one that will affect each of us for decades to come.
The impacts that the World Bank Group expects are staggering. For this year alone:
- The global economy is expected to shrink by 5.2% – the worst recession since 1998
- Extreme poverty will rise for the first time in a generation – by about 100 million people worldwide
- The number of people who face food insecurity is also forecast to double in 2020
Understanding the scale of this crisis and what lies ahead is a challenge for all of us. And Locust swarms have struck Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. Conflict and violence affect many regions, and a changing climate puts millions of livelihoods at risk. Obesity and malnutrition are just two of the ongoing threats to health in developing countries.
The big picture can seem overwhelming, the challenges too immense.
So, at the World Bank Group, we’ve tried to break the issues down, to examine them in detail and discuss possible solutions. Our economists, data experts and specialists are sharing their research and recommendations in a wealth of reports, blogs, interviews and events.
That’s why
We’ve picked just one piece from each of the series we’ve been running this year – there are blogs, videos, interviews and podcasts of different durations. Any way that you like getting information, we’ve got you covered. All these items resonated with the audience provoking lots of reactions and comments.
The COVID-19 pandemic is a major focus, including in an exceptional feature that draws lessons from the 2014 Ebola outbreak. When we posted this story in our #ChangingLives series on Twitter, many of you engaged with it, especially on what a previous pandemic can teach us to handle the current one.
The Development Podcast on this year’s locust swarms is our audio pick of the year. It was a popular episode and we received a lot of positive feedback.
Our interview on obesity with the Bank’s nutrition specialist is the choice from our Expert Answers video series.
A blog on sustainable urban transport, was also widely shared. Many of you were inspired by the potential of greener transport to transform cities.
If you have time for a deeper dive, we recommend watching our video, “Are Robots Coming for Your Job?” This special two-hour event from February looks at how new technologies affect work, especially in developing countries.
With robots and automation appearing in more factories, warehouses, and stores each year, what does this mean for the future of work? Find out on February 10. #RobotsandJobs
— World Bank (@WorldBank) February 5, 2020
– and where countries are making progress on reform. This subject struck a chord with many of our audience - Gloria Luseni responded “what men can do, women can do also.”
World Bank Group staff around the world have shared pictures from their homes and neighborhoods to give some sense of what life has been like during the lockdown. We shared these in our video ‘Coming Together in the Age of Coronavirus’.
We invite you to explore this list, but it’s only a jumping-off point for exploring much more of our excellent content.
Across so many countries and development challenges, there are great ideas, and real actions are making a difference. There’s tremendous momentum for change to improve people’s lives.
We hope you’ll find something that engages you, informs you and ultimately inspires you. Please let us know what you think of our selection. Share your thoughts in the comments section.
The topics/subject area selected are relevant for everyone who desire to be updated on high-impact issues.thank you fir sharing
Thanks for putting this together. Covid 19 pandemic is forcing countries and people to work differently and not all of us are enbrassing the change partly because of capacity gaps especially in using electronic gadgets and affordability of many of the things needed. It's important that governments, civil society, donors and other organizations help people cope otherwise we are slowly getting to a place where people will get desperate and do dangerous things, especially where the disparity between the rich and poor is large and the poor are larger in numbers and struggling to survive.
Thanks for putting this together. Covid 19 pandemic is forcing countries and people to work differently and not all of us are enbrassing the change partly because of capacity gaps especially in using electronic gadgets and affordability of many of the things needed. It's important that governments, civil society, donors and other organizations help people cope otherwise we are slowly getting to a place where people will get desperate and do dangerous things, especially where the disparity between the rich and poor is large and the poor are larger in numbers and struggling to survive.
I want to put emphasis on governance, particularly democratic governance. It is a known factor that autocracy is rising, which means governance indicators are utterly failed. If this continued then vulnerability will rise. The void-19 reveals that neither the state nor the people have any control over the public service system. There is a rise in self centered-egoistic behavior among public officials. This is alarming for developing countries. It will instigate instability within the country. We need to work on this issue as a global community.