ec2: Study on rural women farmers and agri-WSMEs insurance needs in Nigeria, Zambia and Sri Lanka

Posted on May 12, 2021 by NL4WorldBank

Deadline: 24-May-2021 at 11:59:59 PM (Eastern Time – Washington D.C.)

IFC has been actively partnering with insurers in the emerging markets to increase womens access to insurance and boost their employment opportunities in the insurance sector. In order to develop and roll out suitable solutions in partnership with the local insurance industry and strengthen market capacity for sustainability in these three target markets, the Global Index Insurance Program (GIIF) and the IFC Womens Insurance Program, are jointly conducting a diagnostic study to identify the insurance needs of rural women, the existing barriers preventing access to insurance, and potential solutions that can be designed through an IFC advisory project. The study will be conducted in Nigeria, Zambia and Sri Lanka. The diagnostic will be done through surveys and in-depth interviews with i) Rural women farmers, ii) rural agribusiness WSMEs, iii)insurance companies (review and analysis of existing gender approaches and current agricultural/ health/ life schemes).

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Food Relief for Poor Afghans Amid COVID-19

Posted on May 11, 2021 by NL4WorldBank

Story Highlights:

750,000 Afghan households facing food insecurity and hunger have received food and basic necessities packages. Over 5 million households are expected to benefit.

Two World Bank projects support this relief effort through the Afghan government’s Dastarkhwan-e-Meli program, which aims to alleviate hunger and unemployment for the most vulnerable.

Local Community Development Councils buy the relief packages from local providers, thus helping create jobs and stimulate local economies.

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Global Gas Flaring Tracker Report

Posted on May 7, 2021 by NL4WorldBank

Highlights

Gas flaring, the burning of natural gas associated with oil extraction, takes place due to a range of issues, from market and economic constraints, to a lack of appropriate regulation and political will. The practice results in a range of pollutants released into the atmosphere, including carbon dioxide, methane and black carbon (soot).

The Global Gas Flaring Tracker finds that oil production declined by 8% (from 82 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2019 to 76 million b/d in 2020), while global gas flaring reduced by 5% (from 150 billion cubic meters (bcm) in 2019 to 142 bcm in 2020).

Russia, Iraq, Iran, the United States, Algeria, Venezuela and Nigeria remain the top seven gas flaring countries for nine years running. These seven countries produce 40% of the world’s oil each year, but account for roughly two-thirds (65%) of global gas flaring.

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eC2: An assessment on preventing leakage of single-use and other forms of plastics into the marine environment in Pacific Island Countries.

Posted on May 6, 2021 by NL4WorldBank

Deadline: 31-May-2021 at 11:59:59 PM (Eastern Time – Washington D.C.) eu-plastic-regels-2019

The objective is to generate knowledge to support PICs to better implement policies for reduction of single-use plastics and strategies for adoption of less environmentally damaging alternatives. To achieve this objective, the consultants will assess the economic, policy, and institutional needs for supporting reduction of plastics pollution through potential policies to limit the import, production, sale and use of single-use plastics and identification and assessment of environmentally sustainable and economically feasible alternatives. This will involve assessing the scale of single-use plastics waste; an analysis of economic, social, and environmental costs of single-use plastics and potential alternatives; and identification of policies, incentives and market-based instruments that can effectively incentivize greener choices and steer economic activity towards less environmentally damaging practices and products; and/or to provide disincentives to discourage the demand for plastics products that have adverse environmental impacts.

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India’s Youth Rise Up to Fix Country’s Toxic Air Problem

Posted on May 5, 2021 by NL4WorldBank

Seeing bluer skies in India—a nation known for its alarming air pollution levels—remains a major

governmental priority. In recent times, the country launched its flagship National Clean Air Program (NCAP) to provide a roadmap to prevent, control, and reduce unhealthy air and mitigate its effects on development. Yet, much remains to be done, and one can still cough up troubling statistics on the lack of clean air in India: On an average, 248 million Indians lose 8 years of their lives due to exposure to poor air quality. And 1.67 million deaths were attributable to air pollution in India in 2019.

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Turning the Tide on Marine Plastics in South Asia

Posted on May 4, 2021 by NL4WorldBank

South Asia is the third largest contributor to global plastic waste. It generates 334 million metric tons of solid waste every year. Nearly 70-80% of this waste ends up in the ocean 12% is plastic. On current trends, if no action is taken, the amount of mismanaged waste (including plastic) across South Asia is projected to double to 661 million tons by 2050, adversely affecting the region’s ocean ecosystems, livelihoods, human health, and sustainable development more broadly. COVID-19 has further exacerbated plastic pollution, with increased demand for single-use plastic and pressure on solid waste management systems.

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Financing SDG2: Hunger and malnutrition- what will it take?

Posted on May 3, 2021 by NL4WorldBank

One year into the COVID-19 pandemic, the health crisis has triggered an economic crisis and a protracted rise in food insecurity. Basic sustenance has become unaffordable for the world’s poorest, and disruptions of health and nutrition services will have long term consequences. Even before the pandemic, the world was not on track to meet the Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG2) goal of Zero Hunger.

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Time to decarbonize transport for a green, resilient and inclusive recovery

Posted on April 30, 2021 by NL4WorldBank

At a time when we face enormous challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, it is heartening to see the world mobilizing as never before to tackle the looming crisis of global warming. From renewable energy to carbon markets to sustainable agriculture, countries are taking steps to address emissions and enhance resilience. The international development community is also stepping up. In 2020, the World Bank Group reached its highest ever level of climate financing, at $21.4 billion, and we recently announced our plan to align all-new World Bank operations with the Paris Agreement by July 2023.