Netherlands for the World Bank

Your guide to the World Bank Group

Netherlands for the World Bank

Category Archives: Uncategorized

Betting on Bankability: Picking up the pace of Manila’s Light Rail Transit system

Posted on by

When the Manila Light Rail Transit (LRT) extension project reached financial close in March 2016 it was a landmark event for the Philippines and for Southeast Asia. It is an achievement for an enormous project worth some US$1.1 billion to go ahead in a region with not much of a track record of large-scale transport Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs). The project’s winning formula is a combination of at-times difficult ingredients: government responsiveness, a balanced risk profile, and project bankability. Continue reading →

In Senegal, a New Approach to Nutrition Drops Childhood Stunting

Posted on by

Ndeye Ngom is a first-time mother in Senegal’s Fatick region, 150 kilometers southeast of Dakar, the capital city of Senegal. And like any parent, upon hearing the news that her daughter, 9-month-old Khady Faye, was underweight, Ndeye grew immediately worried. “I panicked when they told me the baby is malnourished,” Ndeye remembers. “This is not a disease we know.”

Ndeye’s concern for her daughter was not unfounded. Childhood stunting, an overarching measure of long-term malnutrition, has life-long consequences: It can reduce cognitive abilities, limit school attainment, decrease adult wages, and make children less likely to escape poverty as adults.

Continue reading →

Women in the changing world of work: Not just more jobs but better jobs for women

Posted on by

This year’s International Women’s Day “Women in the Changing World of Work: Planet fig1-wages-iwd_blog50-50 by 2030” places great emphasis on equality and economic empowerment. When countries give women greater opportunities to particip

ate in the economy, the benefits extend far beyond individual girls and women but also to societies and economies as a whole. Addressing gender gaps in accessing good quality jobs is not just the right thing to do from a human rights perspective; it is also smart economics. A recent study shows that raising labor participation of women at par with men can increase GDP in the United States by 5 percent, in the UAE by 12 percent and in Egypt by 34 percent.

Continue reading →

eC2:Endline data collection for estimating the efficiency gains made through the integration of HIV and Reproductive Services in Zimbabwe

Posted on by

Deadline: 20-Mar-2017 at 11:59:59 PM (Eastern Time – Washington D.C.)

The impact evaluation aims to answer the evaluation question: Does integrating HIV and SRH services reduce costs of service provision without compromising quality of patient care? The evaluation focuses on integration of HIV and SRH services at the primary health care level, district/mission, provincial and central hospital level within three different packages of service provision: integrating HIV services into 1) family planning and 2) antenatal care clinics, and 3) integrating SRH services into ART clinics.

Continue reading →

Deltares and the World Bank: examples of close collaboration in the Philippines

Posted on by

Deltares is a leading independent institute for applied research and high-end consultancy, operating worldwide in the field of water and subsurface. More than 800 specialists develop innovative insights to make living safe, sustainable and economically successful. Through many collaborative missions, seminars and projects Deltares shares its breakthroughs on Flood Risk Management, Environment, Water and Subsoil Resources, Delta Infrastructure, Adaptive Delta Planning and advanced Software Products with the World Bank.

Through the Water Partnership Program (WPP, a joint partnership between the World Bank and the Governments of the Netherlands) Deltares has supported the World Bank in the Philippines by providing technical assistance on dredging operations in river basins, developing advanced flood inundation models (using Lidar datasets) meanwhile capacitating local engineers in advanced modeling techniques. Another project included a coastal engineering study to prevent flooding in Manila and carrying out detailed assessments on upgrading of pumping stations in Manila.

Continue reading →

Pulling the chain: business solutions for managing human fecal waste

Posted on by
­

The Water Blog

Private sector investment principles could make the fecal sludge management chain sustainable, says a new report released in time for FSM4

To understand why innovation in fecal sludge management matters, ask yourself this: In 15 years, when almost 5 billion people are using on-site sanitation, solutions like pit latrines and septic tanks, what will the world do with all the fecal waste? About half that many people use onsite sanitation today, and we already have a hard time keeping up.

Continue reading →

NEW! World Development Report 2017

Posted on by

Main Messages World Development Report 2017

Ineffective policies can persist, while potentially effective policies are often not adopted. WDR 2017 coverThe World Development Report 2017: Governance and the Law explores why some policies fail to achieve desired outcomes and what makes other policies work. The main messages of the WDR 2017 are:

  • Successful reforms are not just about “best practice.” To be effective, policies must guarantee credible commitment, support coordination, and promote cooperation.
  • Power asymmetries can undermine policy effectiveness. The unequal distribution of power in the policy arena can lead to exclusion, capture, and clientelism.
  • Change is possible. Elites, citizens, and international actors can promote change by shifting incentives, reshaping preferences and beliefs, and enhancing the contestability of the decision making process.
  • Three guiding principles for rethinking governance for development are:
    1. Think not only about the form of institutions, but also about their functions.
    2. Think not only about capacity building, but also about power asymmetries.
    3. Think not only about the rule of law, but also about the role of law.

Download full report here.

 

Charting a path to valuing the world’s most precious resource

Posted on by

Article published on http://www.worldbank.org.

Most people agree that water is an extremely valuable resource—for farmers who depend on it to grow crops, for factories that need it to cool machines and spin turbines and, of course for life itself. But unlike most other valuable resources, it’s hard to put a price on water. The very fact that water is so important to people, economies, and the environment means that it is tough to even agree on a common way of valuing it.

No less an economic mind than Adam Smith was stumped by this challenge. As he famously observed, “Nothing is more useful than water: but it will purchase scarcely anything. A diamond, on the contrary, has scarcely any use-value; but a very great quantity of other goods may frequently be had in exchange for it.”

Continue reading →

New Report: RISE – Regulatory Indicators for Sustainable Energy

Posted on by

Article published on http://www.worldbank.org

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • RISE is the first global policy scorecard of its kind, grading 111 countries in three areas: energy access, energy efficiency and renewable energy.
  • The report is aimed at helping governments assess if they have a policy and regulatory framework in place to drive progress on sustainable energy and pinpoints where more can be done to attract private investments.

Continue reading →

IFC: Rwanda to export fortified foods

Posted on by

Rwanda will start exporting fortified foods, next month, thanks to a new modern factory1486073163prosper-ndayiragije-the-country-director-of-aif-rwanda-speaks-to-a-journalist launched yesterday. The Africa Improved Foods – Rwanda, based at Kigali Special Economic Zone Nyandungu, started production of fortified porridge flour yesterday. Workers at Africa Improved Foods factory in Kigali assemble packages for fortified foods. Faustin Niyigena. The $45-million (about Rwf36 billion) factory is expected to produce 45,000 tonnes of fortified food annually, enough to help boost exports and prevent child malnutrition across country. Up to 60 per cent of its output is expected to be exported to regional and global markets.

Continue reading →