Spring Meetings 2018: World Bank Group Events Schedule

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Cant be at the meetings this year, follow at World Bank Live! SM18Logo

Each Spring, the Boards of Governors of the World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund (IMF) hold Spring Meetings to discuss a range of issues related to poverty reduction, international economic development and finance.

World Bank Live brings these meetings straight to you wherever you are in the world! We will be live-streaming several events in English, Spanish, French and Arabic, so don’t forget to add them to your calendar and join the conversation!

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IMF/WBG SPRING MEETINGS

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The Spring Meetings of the Boards of Governors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group (WBG) bring together central bankers, ministers of finance and development, parliamentarians, private sector executives, representatives from civil society organizations and academics to discuss issues of global concern, including the world economic outlook, poverty eradication, economic development, and aid effectiveness. Also featured are seminars, regional briefings, press conferences, and many other events focused on the global economy, international development, and the world’s financial system. This year’s events will take place in Washington, DC, April 16-22, 2018.

 

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Top 7 disruptive technologies for cities

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7_disruptive_techImagine you were working in development and poverty reduction in the early 1990s (I was!). Only one website existed in all the world in August 1991 (today there are over 1.5 billion). Mobile phones were expensive, rare, and clunky. Very few would anticipate a situation in which India would have more mobile phones than toilets.

To paraphrase Bill Gates: we tend to overestimate the changes that will happen in the short term and underestimate those in the long term. Technology is quietly but radically disrupting and transforming how cities deliver services to their citizens. It does that in a way that fundamentally alters not just the mode of delivery but its underlying economics and financing.

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eC2:Lighting Tanzania: Business Skills Training for Solar Entrepreneurs in Tanzania

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Deadline:  23-Apr-2018 at 11:59:59 PM (Eastern Time – Washington D.C.) Solar-street-lights-in-Guinea1

Objective: Lighting Africa, a World Bank Group program, seeks to accelerate the development of commercial off-grid lighting markets in Sub-sahara Africa as part of the wider efforts to improve access to energy. Lighting Africa is helping mobilize the private sector to build sustainable markets to provide the rural and urban poor in Sub-Saharan Africa with safe, affordable, and modern off-grid lighting. In Tanzania, given the large geographical size of the country and the dispersed population, off-grid energy is well positioned to play an important role in reaching the rural population. Lighting Tanzania program would like to scale up the adoption of solar technology through building the technical and business skills of SMEs engaged in the activities of installation, spare part sales, maintenance service and retail of quality-verified solar lanterns and solar home systems to enable them reach the rural population.The overall objective of the assignment is to train approximately 25 distributors/importers in Dar es Salaam and Arusha and 300 retailers/ sales agents in 6 zones (Arusha, Dodoma, Dar es salaam, Mwanza, Mbeya and Mtwara) to enhance their knowledge of off-grid solar products, business management and technical capacity. This will be achieved by providing training of business management courses and Lighting Global quality framework.

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eC2: Consultancy Services for Capacity Building for GIS-based Revenue Collection System and Geospatial Data Infrastructure in Zanzibar

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Deadline: 26-Apr-2018 at 11:59:59 PM (Eastern Time – Washington D.C.) Connectworld-810x321

Objective: The objective of this consultancy is to support Zanzibar Government in strengthening the planning and design of ICT-based urban governance activities and systems, namely, GIS-based revenue collection system and ZAN-SDI, and enhance the capacity of the Zanzibar stakeholders and the Property Tax Implementation Unit to operate and manage these developed systems. This will assist to improve e-Governance system in related areas such as land and property management and valuation, revenue collection, land use planning, and urban resilience/disaster risk management. The activities will include assessment of the current systems and gaps of the ICT and geo-spatial capacity, provision of technical assistance and complementary initiatives, and recommendations to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of the ICT-based governance tools supported by ZUSP or other donor-funded projects. It will also include capacity building and knowledge dissemination activities.

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Breaking the vicious cycle of high inequality and slow job creation

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nasikiliza-breaking-the-vicious-cycle-of-high-inequality-and-slow-job-creation-780x439Growth is picking up in South Africa, and this is good news after two years of declining incomes per capita. Observers are revising their forecasts, and optimists foresee economic growth to exceed 2% in next years. In recent months, several events have indeed improved South Africa’s economic outlook: the smooth transition in power, the authorities’ reaffirmed adherence to principles of good governance and debt stability, and the upward revision in national accounts, revealing higher economic activity in 2017 than previously measured.

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eC2: Business Plan Development for the Bangladesh Wastewater Treatment Sector treating Textile Manufacturing Effluent

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Waste water plantDeadline: 17-Apr-2018 at 11:59:59 PM (Eastern Time – Washington D.C.)

Objective: IFC is keen to initiate the textile wastewater treatment market in Bangladesh, by creating a holding company (the Platform) that will invest in wastewater treatment plants and provide treatment services to textile companies in Bangladesh. The Platform will also serve as a basis for developing and demonstrating successful business models and technologies for treating wastewater for the textile sector in Bangladesh. To initiate this plan, IFC is seeking a consultant (the Consultant) to help develop a business plan to address the wastewater treatment requirement of these WDF units. The Consultant will define the strategy and profitability of this business and its development prospects. The Consultant will work closely with the IFC to determine the best strategy to approach the market and also help develop a strong pipeline of potential immediate opportunities the Platform can pursue.

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Keep up with the latest trends on PPPs

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It seems like every week there are new reports being published about public-private modern city with highway interchange partnerships (PPPs) by different organizations around the world. How can you keep track of what’s new and what’s relevant for your work?

With over 4,000 documents on PPPs in seven different languages (English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Arabic, Russian, and Chinese) in its searchable document library, the PPP Knowledge Lab has become a key resource for the PPP community to keep up to date with the latest on PPPs.

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The State of Social Safety Nets 2018

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safety-nets-2018-report-cover-1Safety nets protect vulnerable households from impacts of economic shocks, natural disasters, and other crises

  • An estimated 36 percent of the very poor escaped extreme poverty because of social safety nets, providing clear evidence that social safety net programs are making a substantial impact in the global fight against poverty.
  • In developing and transition countries, 2.5 billion people are covered by safety net programs. Of these, 650 million people are from the poorest quintile.
  • Yet, in low-income countries, only 1 in 5 of the poorest are covered by safety net programs.

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eC2: ENERGY AUDIT AND PRE-FEASIBILITY STUDY FOR NAMANGAN CITY SUVOKOVA

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energyDeadline: 19-Apr-2018 at 11:59:59 PM (Eastern Time – Washington D.C.)

Objective:  The specific objective of this assignment is to explore options to unlock energy efficiency and demand management potential of Namangan city water supply and sewerage utility, by analyzing its energy performance indicators and identifying energy savings and load shifting options. This Consultancy assignment consists of three primary and interrelated tasks: (1) Energy Efficiency Audit; (2) Analysis of Time-of-Use of pumping operations to identify options to reduce electricity costs; and (3) Pre-feasibility studies for energy efficiency and load management investments. Commencement of the services is approximately scheduled for May 2018, to be implemented over a 9-month period. Further details are provided in the attached Terms of Reference.

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