The East Asia and Pacific region is vital to global pandemic preparedness. The region has been the epicenter of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases. China and Southeast Asia alone accounted for approximately 90 percent of SARS cases and two-thirds of the human cases of avian influenza in the world. These outbreaks are driven by several socio-economic, demographic, environmental, and ecological factors, including close contact between humans and animals, encroachment with wildlife, high population density, rapid urbanization, high growth rates, and climate change.
Author Archives: NL4WorldBank
eC2: Zambia Water Supply and Sanitation (WSS) Sector Diagnostic
Deadline: 28-May-2018 at 11:59:59 PM (Eastern Time – Washington D.C.) 
The assignment involves carrying out a technical and institutional analysis of Zambia’s flagship WSS sector programs i.e. the National Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Program (NRWSSP) and National Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Program (NUWSSP). The objective is to identify opportunities for enhancing the effectiveness and outcomes of both programs, and to inform government strategies in the WSS sub-sector. The analysis will focus on five key areas: (i) strategic relevance and technical soundness of both programs, including issues such as rural-urban linkages, inclusion, health and nutrition; (ii) institutional arrangements and sustainability; (iii) expenditure framework for both programs, including sources of financing and opportunities for cost efficiency; (iv) program results framework and M&E capacity; and (v) economic and fiscal analysis of the programs, including an assessment of the hidden fiscal burden Zambia’s underperforming commercial utilities.
eC2: Mapping and prioritization of hydropower resources in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Deadline: 10-Jun-2018 at 11:59:59 PM (Eastern Time – Washington D.C.)
The objective of this activity is to inform the Government of DRC (GoDRC)s plan to develop its vast and untapped hydropower resources. The activity will (i) assess and map geospatially DRCs hydropower resources; (ii) rank small, medium, and large green field hydropower sites based on technical and economic considerations; (iii) provide narrowed/priority lists of sites by category, with a focus on mid-size sites (10 100 MW), and based on multi-criteria analysis jointly identified with the Government and the World Bank; (iv) provide in-country advice and training to enable stakeholders to participate in the production, maintenance and future enrichment of the database and related information created and (v) offer practical advice for implementation of priority site development. The priority lists and implementation advice will form practical guidance based on which the GoDRC will launch prefeasibility or feasibility studies of selected medium size hydropower sites funded separately under IDA resources.
Continue reading
Aftershocks: Remodeling the Past for a Resilient Future
Aftershocks: Remodeling the Past for a Resilient Future aims to provide readers with an accessible look at what would happen today if we were to experience some of the iconic disasters of the past. The report explores how risk modeling can be used to analyze natural events that led to the major disasters of the past, and to understand how these events might impact today’s more populous and connected world.
Infrastructure sharing in energy and digital development: takeaways from cross-sectoral cooperation
In many parts of the world, the sharing economy is ever-present for individuals, allowing them to use personal assets—for example, houses and cars—to their fullest potential. If you plan to be away for a period of time, why not rent your space for a few extra bucks?
Such a phenomenon exists in infrastructure economics, where the level of asset utilization matters for end-cost. As more consumers use the same infrastructure more frequently, the unit cost for all consumers goes down. Recent projects combining expertise from the World Bank’s digital development and energy teams demonstrate this.
eC2:Research: Business Case for Gender Lens-Investing in Private Equity in Emerging Markets
Deadline: 30-May-2018 at 11:59:59 PM (Eastern Time – Washington D.C.) 
IFC seeks to procure a firm to research the business case for gender-lens investing for private equity (PE)and venture capital (VC)funds in emerging markets. Gender-lens investing, the use of gender as a category of analysis in investment decision making, is relatively small, but the market for integrating gender into the investment selection process is growing in both size and sophistication. Women are heavily under-represented when it comes to PE fund managers, angel and VC investors, and as fund investees. Yet, we also know that financial performance of companies is correlated to gender diversity. Limited representation of women may be hurting fund performance portfolios. PE/VC funds play a critical role in enterprise growth, job creation, innovation, and financial security and can play a catalytic role in closing economic participation gaps between men and women. The research will support IFC efforts to close gender gaps in access to jobs and assets.
Three criteria to better classify PPPs in Africa
It is broadly understood that public-private partnerships (PPP) are a procurement tool that encompass design, financing, construction and long-term operation of a public infrastructure by the private sector. They can be cost-effective thanks to adequate risk transfer and performance criteria, and help bridge Africa’s large infrastructure gap in many sectors.
eC2: Zambia Off-grid Information Portal
Deadline: 29-May-2018 at 11:59:59 PM (Eastern Time – Washington D.C.) 
IFC seeks to hire the services of consulting firm to design an online, publicly available, one-stop information hub for the off-grid energy space in Zambia, of relevance to a range of off-grid technologies and business models. The portal will provide information on Zambia’s off-grid opportunity (including GIS and other data); policy and regulatory environment, including permitting and licensing processes, the tariff framework, applicable standards and specifications; financing and support options; and procurement of off-grid solutions. IFC does not intend to host the information hub over the long-term, but will develop and transfer the hub to the appropriate governmental agency in Zambia to manage and update the information hub on a regular basis to ensure that it remains relevant and accurate.
eC2: Mekong Delta Pillar: Firm climate-resilient livelihood models and transition strategies
Deadline: 24-May-2018 at 11:59:59 PM (Eastern Time – Washington D.C.)
The Consultant will provide technical expertise across a range of fields including agro-ecology, livelihood adaptation, agricultural economics and value chain, and community and gender, to review, identify and provide analysis of sustainable climate-resilient transition models in agriculture, aquaculture, and horticulture livelihoods in the Mekong Delta.
Fair Progress? Economic Mobility across Generations Around the World
If you are born into a low-income family, what are the chances that you will rise higher 
regardless of your background? The ability to move up the income ladder, both in one’s lifetime and with respect to one’s parents, matters for fighting poverty, reducing inequality, and even for boosting growth. Yet, mobility has stalled in recent years in large parts of the world, with the prospects of too many people across the world still too closely tied to their parents’ social status rather than their own potential, according to the findings of a new World Bank report launched today. Mobility is also much lower, on the average, in developing economies than in high-income economies. The developing world accounts for 46 of the bottom 50 economies in terms of mobility in education from the bottom to the top.
Netherlands for the World Bank 
You must be logged in to post a comment.