Improving Lives: Health & Education Strengthening Human Capital

Article originally published in the IFC’s Annual Report 2015.

Across the world, more than a billion Health-Edu-Story-Bannerpeople lack access to quality health services. Nearly three-fourths of the 38 million worldwide deaths from chronic illnesses — such as cancer — occur in developing countries. Globally, more than 57 million children do not attend school, with 30 million of them in Africa alone.

These statistics highlight a major obstacle to ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity: high-quality education and health-care services still aren’t as widely available and affordable as they need to be. This is a challenge that’s best addressed when the public and private sectors act in concert to advance the interests of society.

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DR Congo – Quality and Relevance of Secondary and Tertiary Education Project

The World Bank Board of Directors has recently approved the Quality and Relevance of Secondary and Tertiary Education Project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The project, worth a total of $200 million, is partly financed by an IDA grant ($70m) and partly by an IDA loan ($130m).

The focus is on Secondary education (40%), Tertiary education (25%) and Vocational training (35%).

The project’s objectives are to: (i) improve the teaching and learning of mathematics
and science in general secondary education, and (ii) enhance the relevance of TVET in priority sectors at secondary and tertiary education levels.

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Online Course on Public- Private-Partnerships

This course provides an understanding of the key principles of PPPs and the role of PPPs in the delivery of infrastructure services, particularly in emerging markets. Participants will learn from practitioners, government officials, and academics with field experience, hearing firsthand about the opportunities and challenges of procuring and maintaining infrastructure services through effective PPPs.

Cost: Free

Start/End date: June 1 – June 27

Instructors: Fernanda Ruiz Nuñez ; Jane Jamieson ; Dianne Rudo

Language: English

Time: 2-4 hours/week

More information and sign up can be found here

Sahel Women’s Empowerment and Demographics Project

The development objective of the Sahel Women’s Empowerment and Demographic Dividend Project for Africa is to increase women and adolescent girls’ empowerment and their access to quality reproductive, child, and maternal health services in selected areas of the participating countries, including the recipients’ territory, and to improve regional knowledge generation and sharing as well as regional capacity and coordination. Continue reading →