On a global scale, the COVID-19 pandemic has dealt the greatest blow to families and children
in living memory. Progress in human capital – the knowledge, skills, and health that people need to achieve their potential – is being reversed.
The performance of the global food system over the last century has been extraordinary. 
, while at the same time bringing down real food prices. Over that period, all four dimensions of food security improved – availability, access, reliability and nutrient adequacy.
Climate discussions often focus on trade as a contributor to global warming. But with the right
Kitabi Tea Processing Facility in Kitabi, Rwanda
policies to encourage cleaner production and trade in climate-friendly goods and services, it can be part of the solution. Join us for a discussion on expanding this positive role in facilitating climate change mitigation and adaptation. Panelists will discuss how policymakers from low- and middle-income countries can help shape trade to address climate change policy, including potential areas for collaboration and partnerships, as well as ideas for capacity-building and technical assistance.
Widespread access to COVID-19 vaccines is critical for development. The world is currently 
faced with heavy COVID-19 caseloads, high death rates, and related reversals in development. Vaccinations appear to be the best single development investment available. Access is achievable, but urgent action is needed.
migration for three new regions: East Asia and the Pacific, North Africa, and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Qualitative analyses of climate-related mobility in countries of the Mashreq and in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are also provided. This new report builds on the scenario-based modeling approach of the previous Groundswell report from 2018, which covered Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Latin America. The two reports’ combined findings provide, for the first time, a global picture of the potential scale of internal climate migration across the six regions, allowing for a better understanding of how slow-onset climate change impacts, population dynamics, and development contexts shape mobility trends. They also highlight the far-sighted planning needed to meet this challenge and ensure positive and sustainable development outcomes. The combined results across the six regions show that without early and concerted climate and development action, as many as 216 million people could move within their own countries due to slow-onset climate change impacts by 2050. They will migrate from areas with lower water availability and crop productivity and from areas affected by sea-level rise and storm surges. Hotspots of internal climate migration could emerge as early as 2030 and continue to spread and intensify by 2050. The reports also finds that rapid and concerted action to reduce global emissions, and support green, inclusive, and resilient development, could significantly reduce the scale of internal climate migration.This is one of 38 winning blogs from the 2021 Blog4Dev competition, the World Bank Africa 
annual writing contest, inviting young people to weigh in on a topic critical to their country’s economic development. Blog4Dev winners responded to the question: How can young people work with their governments and civil society organizations to respond to the impact of COVID-19 and build a stronger post-pandemic economic and social system?
Mari Pangestu represented the World Bank at the International Union for Conservation of 
Nature (IUCN) World Conservation Congress in September 2021, speaking at a high-level dialogue on Unlocking a Nature-Smart Recovery from the pandemic and also an event recognizing the progress made on climate and nature through the One Planet Summit. This blog was originally published as an open letter to the IUCN Congress on September 4.
The pandemic has been anything but business as usual for women entrepreneurs. Women 
entrepreneurs have sacrificed more time than men to undertake unpaid care during COVID-19, and their businesses have received less public support than those run by men. Unsurprisingly, this uneven support and uneven share of care have gone hand in hand with a greater risk of women-led businesses closing down, a review of new data by World Bank economists shows. This has raised concerns that COVID-19 could undo years of progress for women entrepreneurs. Setbacks from COVID-19 for women entrepreneurs in low- and middle-income countries have been severe.
Netherlands for the World Bank 