Category Archives: WBG News & Reports

Atlas of Sustainable Development Goals2020 From World Development Indicators

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The Atlas of Sustainable Development Goals 2020 presents interactive storytelling and data 2020-11-16_10-10-41visualizations about the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. It highlights trends for selected targets within each goal and introduces concepts about how some SDGs are measured. Where data is available, it also highlights the emerging impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the SDGs.

The Atlas draws from the World Bank’s World Development Indicators database, as well as from a wide variety of relevant data sources from scientists and other researchers worldwide.

We hope readers will find this third edition in the Atlas series engaging and informative, and will be inspired to discover, understand and visualize progress towards achieving the SDGs.

Tell us what you think on Twitter or at data@worldbank.org.

1.47 billion people face flood risk worldwide: for over a third, it could be devastating

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Flooding is one of the most common and severe hazards disrupting people’s lives and flood_risks_colombo_sri_lanka_bloglivelihoods around the world. Floods often cause unmitigated damage and suffering, especially in lower income countries where infrastructure systems – including drainage and flood protection – tend to be less developed. While countries at all levels of development face flood risk, the vast majority of the world’s flood exposed people – 89% – live in low- and middle- income countries.  Critically, it is not only major, more infrequent floods, but also smaller, frequent events that can reverse years of progress in poverty reduction and development.

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Firms struggle to stay afloat after losing half of sales, but still keep workers

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Firms and workers in every part of the world have been affected by the COVID-19 shock. The simone_d._mccourtie_world_bank_turkey_2009-1000ILO estimates global labor income has declined nearly 11% or US$3.5 trillion in the first three quarters of 2020. As a result of income losses, our colleagues in the World Bank estimate that as many as 150 million people could be pushed into extreme poverty by 2021. Without timely assistance and swift policy action, otherwise healthy firms will be shuttered permanently, and people will suffer longer.

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November 9, 2020 update: My Op-Ed and engagements from last week

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I would like to briefly highlight some of my writing and engagements from last week:Malpass-IMF

Op-Ed: To Cope With Covid, the World’s Poor Need Debt Relief

In last week’s Wall Street Journal, I published an op-ed urging greater transparency and timely and meaningful debt relief for the people of the world’s poorest countries. These are immediate, critical needs as countries work to recover from the global pandemic, and we can no longer afford to kick the debt can down the road – developing countries need relief now.

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It’s going to be a long painful ride. #InThisTogether

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Instead of a sharp decline in 2020 followed by an increase in 2021 that we predicted in April, migration_development_brief_33_picwe are now looking at a much more gradual fall extending into 2021. By the end of 2021, we expect remittances to fall by about 14% compared to the pre-Covid-19 record levels of 2019.

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Reversing Setbacks to Poverty Reduction Requires Nations to Work Together for a Resilient Recovery

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17-year-old M’Balu Tucker was poor even before the pandemic. She lives in Sierra Leone, a NewPoorInfographic1080post-conflict country, in a village with only one primary school and a single water tap, not enough to serve all the residents. There is no electricity and the roads are unpaved.

She dreams of furthering her education, moving to the city, and someday working in a bank, so that she can help her family, her village, and her country. But her parents, who are farm workers, sometimes don’t have the money to pay her school fees without taking out a loan.

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Tackling poor air quality: Lessons from three cities

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How can countries grow their economies and keep air pollution in check at the same time? A shutterstock_1040255047new World Bank report explores that tricky question, looking at the kinds of policies and actions three leading cities have taken to tackle poor local air quality, providing lessons for other cities. As we mark World Cities Day on October 31, this research seems more timely than ever.

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Six strategies to increase young women’s access to digital jobs

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The digital economy can create new job opportunities for young women and help address theuniversity_students_in_senegal persistent gender disparity in the labor market.

Jobs involving remote, online, flexible work can help young women overcome mobility constraints, challenge restrictive gender norms, and reduce longstanding occupational segregation in traditionally male-dominated industries. However, practitioners would need to be intentional about using better targeted strategies in program design to help young women succeed in high-quality digital jobs , and also move up to higher skilled and higher paying digital jobs over time.

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