Netherlands for the World Bank

Your guide to the World Bank Group

Netherlands for the World Bank

What the world thinks, and why it matters

Ah, to be a scientist or a doctor. Then, you could walk the streets with your head held trust-3.jpghigh! Maybe not so much, if you’re an advertising executive. This, according to a new IPSOS global poll that looks at how different professions are trusted in 23 countries.

Overall, the latest news on trust differs profoundly across constituencies, countries, and the globe; hence, it’s almost impossible to conjure up one narrative about trust. For instance – to say with certainty that trust is up, or down, or just remaining fairly consistent over time, does not allow for enough nuance related to gender, country, and socioeconomic variables. There is also evidence of dramatic differences between decision makers and the general public.

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World Bank Group Strategy for Fragility, Conflict and Violence

Update: Phase 2 consultations are open until January 16, 2020. webpage-teaser2

The World Bank Group has released its draft strategy for Fragility, Conflict and Violence (FCV). The objective of the strategy is to address the drivers of FCV in affected countries and their impact on vulnerable populations, with the ultimate goal of contributing to peace and prosperity. To ensure the strategy benefits from a wide range of inputs, the World Bank Group is undertaking global consultations to inform the strategy’s development.

Timeframe: April 2019 – January 2020

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Year in Review: 2019 in 14 Charts

As this decade comes to an end, the world has seen progress on many fronts. The poorest countries have greater access to water, electricity, and sanitation (i.e., a toilet). Poverty and child mortality have fallen. Technology has spread far and wide so that there are now more mobile phones than people. But we’ve also broken some of the wrong kinds of records. In 2019, more people were forcibly displaced than any other time in history. Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere hit an all-time high and biodiversity is declining at an accelerating rate. These charts highlight some remarkable achievements and the serious challenges that remain as we head into 2020.

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2020 and Beyond: Managing the intersection of technology and citizen engagement

The rapid evolution of digital technologies has been changing relationships between citizen_engagement.jpggovernments and citizens around the world.  These shifts make it the right time to pose the key question a new World Bank publication explores:

“Will digital technologies, both those that are already widespread and those that are still emerging, have substantial impacts on the way citizens engage and the ways in which power is sought, used, or contested?”

The report, Emerging Digital Technologies and Citizen Participation, benefits from the insights of 30 leading scholars and practitioners, and explores what technology might mean for citizen engagement and politics in the coming years.

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Building the evidence basis for transport interventions

Over the past three years, the international community has made significant progress to rw-boy-bike-a'melody-lee-wbfill in the knowledge gaps in the transport sector. Most recently, with the release of the Global Roadmap of Action toward Sustainable Mobility (GRA) by Sustainable Mobility for All (SuM4All), the transport sector now has at its disposal a catalogue of more than 180 policy measures that have been used by countries around the world to progress on sustainable mobility. Because this catalogue was developed as a collaborate enterprise involving the most 55 influential international organizations on the field, we feel confident that it represents the best and most-up-to date knowledge on mobility.

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Making markets work for all: Unlocking the private sector’s role in supporting refugees

The world is witnessing the highest levels of displacement on record.  Of the more thanifc_kenya_final_edit_0013.jpg 70.8 million forcibly displaced persons worldwide, around 41 million are people who have been displaced from their homes but remain in their home country and nearly 25.9 million are refugees who have fled their countries.

One surprising fact: Some 85 percent of those who fled are hosted not in rich countries, but in developing countries with limited resources.

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Does paying local leaders lead to better economic development?

Guest post by Gedeon Lim index

This is the thirteenth in this year’s series of posts by PhD students on the job market

Much of modern development efforts are channelled through local government structures. In 2020, for example, 248,160 Gram Panchayats in India will receive transfers of $8.3 billion; 41,913 Barangays in the Philippines will receive $2.5 billion; and in Indonesia, 74,000 rural villages have received annual transfers of $5.1 billion since 2014. Yet, despite the amount of resources devolved to local government, chief executives – Sarpanch (Gram Panchayat heads), Barangay captains, or village chiefs – are rarely paid a living wage for their time as local leaders.

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The learning crisis requires a new approach

For most children, turning 10 is an exciting moment. They’re learning more about the untitled.pngworld and expanding their horizons. But too many children – more than half of all 10-year-olds in low- and middle-income countries – cannot read and understand a simple story. We are in the middle of a global learning crisis that stifles opportunities and aspirations of hundreds of millions of children.   That is unacceptable.

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Something to Complain About: How to make government work for minorities

Guest post by M.R. Sharanindex

This is the thirteenth in this year’s series of posts by students on the job market. 

Earlier this year, we interviewed Mr Manjhi, an elected representative in rural Bihar (India) from an extremely marginalized caste group. He described his struggles with his prejudiced superior – an elected representative from a high caste – who refused to release funds to build public goods in Mr Manjhi’s ward. In his desperation, Mr Manjhi appealed to the higher state via a new mechanism he had only recently heard of – a formal complaints system. Over the next month and more, Mr Manjhi was called for “hearings” featuring his high-caste superior and a dispute-resolution officer of the higher bureaucracy. After scrutinizing the evidence and hearing both sides, the officer awarded the complaint in favour of Mr Manjhi and directed his superior to release funds immediately. Mr Manjhi used the funds to deliver piped water to all his constituents.

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Join the second World Bank and Financial Times’ blog writing competition for high school students

If you can read this, then you are already doing better than 53% of children in low- and ftblog.jpgmiddle-income countries, who can’t read a simple text by age 10. Being able to read is fundamental for children to be able to learn other subjects like science and history. It also creates opportunities and opens more doors for them as they get older.

What can be done to help children learn to read by the time they are 10 years old? We want to hear from you! 

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