Author Archives: NL4WorldBank

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About NL4WorldBank

The World Bank Team at the Royal Netherlands Embassy tweets about news related to Dutch organizations interested in working with the #WorldBank. #NL4WorldBank

World Bank Group Announces Up to $12 Billion Immediate Support for COVID-19 Country Response

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As COVID-19 reaches more than 60 countries, the World Bank Group is making available IDAan initial package of up to $12 billion in immediate support to assist countries coping with the health and economic impacts of the global outbreak. This financing is designed to help member countries take effective action to respond to and, where possible, lessen the tragic impacts posed by the COVID-19 (coronavirus).

Through this new fast track package, the World Bank Group will help developing countries strengthen health systems, including better access to health services to safeguard people from the epidemic, strengthen disease surveillance, bolster public health interventions, and work with the private sector to reduce the impact on economies. The financial package, with financing drawn from across IDA, IBRD and IFC, will be globally coordinated to support country-based responses.

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Fragility and Conflict: On the Front Lines of the Fight against Poverty

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STORY HIGHLIGHTS

  • A new report estimates that by 2030 up to two-thirds of the global extreme poor will Imagebe living in FCS, making it evident that without intensified action, the global poverty goals will not be met.
  • The new report, “Fragility and Conflict: On the Front Lines of the Fight against Poverty” notes that the 43 countries in the world with the highest poverty rates are in FCS and/or Sub-Saharan Africa.
  • The number of people living in proximity to conflict — defined as within 60 kilometers of at least 25 conflict-related deaths — has nearly doubled since 2007.

Globally, the prevalence of fragile and conflict-affected situations (FCS) continues to rise. The number of forcibly displaced people worldwide has more than doubled since 2012, exceeding 74 million in 2018. A new report estimates that by 2030 up to two-thirds of the global extreme poor may be living in FCS, making it evident that without intensified action, the global poverty goals will not be met.

The new report, “Fragility and Conflict: On the Front Lines of the Fight against Poverty,” notes that the 43 countries in the world with the highest poverty rates are in FCS and/or Sub-Saharan Africa.  Economies facing chronic fragility and conflict have had poverty rates stuck at over 40 percent in the past decade, while countries that have escaped FCS have cut their poverty rates by more than half. Today, a person living in an economy facing chronic fragility and conflict is 10 times more likely to be poor than a person living in a country that hasn’t been in conflict or fragility in the past 20 years.

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eC2: Key Factors for Successful Development of Offshore Wind in Emerging Markets

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Deadline: 19-Mar-2020 at 11:59:59 PM (Eastern Time – Washington D.C.)

The scope of the assignment shall cover the major topics that need to be considered by energypolicymakers and regulators when establishing a new market for offshore wind development. These shall include, but not be limited to, the following points:

1. Policy discussion on successful policy measures including drivers, targets;
2. Pre-development geospatial planning and technical studies, including zoning;
3. Stakeholder identification and consultation;
4. Legal key legislation to facilitate project development and delivery;
5. Environmental and social policies to ensure sustainable offshore wind development
6. Health & safety referencing best practice from Europe and related sectors (e.g. oil and gas);
7. Consenting roles and responsibilities between agencies and building public sector capacity;
8. Transmission models for development, financing and ownership of transmission;
9. Grid integration best practice in integration of offshore wind into grids
10. Tariff and bankability offtake mechanisms to ensure bankable revenue;
11. Project solicitation identification of sites, competitive methodologies for awarding rights;
12. Supply chain approaches to support and encourage local supply chain and infrastructure development (e.g. ports);
13. Financing project structures to minimize risk (both on public and private elements)

Full Terms of Reference (TOR) will be included in a future Request for Proposals (RFP) which will be issued to Consultants that are shortlisted from this REOI.

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eC2: Oromia National Regional State: Regional Investment Climate Competitiveness Analysis

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Deadline: 24-Mar-2020 at 11:59:59 PM (Eastern Time – Washington D.C.)

As a part of the Ethiopian Investment Climate Program of IFC/WBG, The Ethiopia Sub-Data-collection-fragile-settings1National Investment Climate Project is a pilot initiative implemented in two national regional states with the aim to a) strengthen regional investment promotion, retention and expansion capacity in selected/target sectors b) enhance regional business climate through streamlined regulatory and administration procedures; and c) strengthen inter-agency coordination and public-private dialogue for improved regional investment climate.

As part of its ongoing engagement, The Project seeks to recruit an experienced firm to undertake the following assignments;
– Analysis of the Regions competitive advantages and prioritization of strategic sectors
– Deep dive analysis of the sectors
– Institutional capacity diagnosis and capacity for Oromia Investment Commission
– Regional Investment Climate/doing business analysis with deep dive on priority issues to be selected in consultation with relevant stakeholders
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Legislating gender equality in the workplace through pay transparency

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Author: Kathleen Beegle ;Lead Economist with the World Bank Gender Groupfinancial-inclusion-gender

A number of recent posts on Development Impact have focused on gaps in labor market outcomes for men and women. This includes some posts in the job market series in late 2019 and, in 2020, a look at the ‘dismal statistic’ on female-to-male labor force participation rates in India and Pakistan, changing the way women think about themselves and what they can do as a means to closing gaps, and a summary of the World Bank’s Research Group recruitment. The latter was underpinned by goal setting in the shortlisting process with respect to between men and women applicants. Fun fact: such quota setting with respect to the composition of candidates to interview is known in the U.S. as the Rooney Rule — established by the U.S. National Football League in 2003 and named after the former owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers (and intended not in regards to women hires but with regards to ethnic-minority candidates in coaching and senior league jobs, though it is now used more generally in the private sector).

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eC2: Cost/Benefit Analysis of Aquatic Animal Health Management

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Deadline: 23-Mar-2020 at 11:59:59 PM (Eastern Time – Washington D.C.) index

This activity aims to lower the risk profile of aquaculture investments, thus attract private equity in a MFD (maximize finance for development) model, and will thus directly address the global knowledge objective of Developing sustainable aquaculture through improved Biosecurity. The activity will provide country-level technical assistance & capacity-building to the development and implementation of best aquatic animal (fish and shellfish) and plant (seaweeds) health management practices in the field. To achieve this reduction of risk, the activity will work directly with Banks operations -in preparation or in their early phase of implementation- to adopt, pilot and refine the Progressive Management Pathway (PMP) to improved health and performance of farmed aquatic species.

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Procurement Training Webinars

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The Private Sector Liaisons are proud to present the first of four World Bank procurement i-love-procurement2training webinars.

World Bank contract bidding process webinar provides information about the bidding process for projects tendered by the client countries of the World Bank Group. The presenter is Nancy Bikondo-Omosa Senior Procurement Specialist.

We encourage you to view the recording of the webinar here: https://1930181.mediaspace.kaltura.com/media/1_bbk9429j

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Handbook for Gender-Inclusive Urban Planning and Design

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STORY HIGHLIGHTS handbook

  • Urban planning and design shape the environment around us – and that environment, in turn, shapes how we live, work, play, move, and rest.
  • Cities have historically been planned and designed for men and by men. They tend to reflect traditional gender roles and gendered division of labor. In general, cities work better for heterosexual, able-bodied, cisgender men than they do for women, girls, sexual and gender minorities, and people with disabilities.
  • The Handbook for Gender-Inclusive Urban Planning and Design seeks to respond to these urgent questions: how might we design and plan cities that work well for everyone? What would such a city look like, and how would we go about creating it?

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Off-Grid Solar Market Trends Report 2020

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STORY HIGHLIGHTSscaling+solar+main+banner

  • The off-grid solar sector has expanded into a $1.75 billion annual market serving 420 million users over the past decade and continues to grow.
  • As the sector matures and productive use of off-grid solar solutions such as solar water pumps, cold storage and other products servicing public institutions become natural expansion areas, companies are increasingly focused on its financial sustainability.
  • To achieve universal access to electricity by 2030, the off-grid solar sector would need to serve as many as 132 million households, which in turn would require between $6.6 billion to $11 billion in additional financing.

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The Hidden Wealth of Cities: Creating, Financing, and Managing Public Spaces

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STORY HIGHLIGHTS Hidden-wealth-of-cities

  • Many cities around the world are missing out on significant development opportunities by ignoring, under leveraging or mismanaging public-space assets.
  • There is enormous opportunity for smarter use of public spaces, and to unlock the “hidden” value they create for communities, neighborhoods, and cities.
  • “The Hidden Wealth of Cities: Creating, Financing, and Managing Public Spaces” identifies a rich palette of creative and innovative strategies that every city can undertake to plan, finance, and manage both government-owned and privately-owned public spaces.

[Click here to download a PDF version of the publication]

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