WBG: Weekly Recap

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The World Bank Group is now supporting 100 countries in their fight against coronavirus, helping strengthen health systems, protect the poorest and support jobs. This is the largest and fastest crisis response in our history, and is critical in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and accelerating a recovery.

Quotable: “The pandemic and shutdown of advanced economies could push as many as 60 million people into extreme poverty – erasing much of the recent progress made in poverty alleviation,” said World Bank Group President David Malpass.

Insolvency frameworks: Social distancing measures to contain COVID-19 have disrupted the activity of businesses. There’s an urgent need to strengthen insolvency frameworks to avoid zombie enterprises limping along and to support healthy ones.

3D protective gear? This young genetics engineer from Bangladesh turned to his 3D printer to develop face shields that protect doctors and nurses as they work with patients infected with the pandemic.

Helping teachers: A new World Bank note outlines three key principles to strengthen teacher effectiveness during and in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic, as well as opportunities for long-run improvement.

Building safe cities: Now more than ever, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the urgency of integrating various considerations in urban planning, including infrastructure, environment, economic activities, and spaces to bring communities together in our cities.

A community response: Community-driven development (CDD) programs, which put people at the center of designing their own solutions, are a critical part of the World Bank’s response to the global COVID-19 crisis. This is how countries in the Horn of Africa and Solomon Islands are being supported.

Also read: The World Bank is helping Ukraine increase disease surveillance, improve public health interventions, and help the private sector continue to operate and sustain jobs.

Meanwhile: With over 200,000 confirmed cases and almost 10,000 deaths reported in the Middle East and North Africa, World Bank financing has already been mobilized throughout the region to help prevent, detect and respond to the direct impacts of COVID-19.

Go deeper: Learn how the World Bank Group is responding to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. Bookmark and come back for updates!