The 2022 World Bank Group Spring Meetings: Strengthening the case for globalism

In October, 2021, leaders from governments met at the IMF/World Bank Annual meetings to discuss the uneven recovery the global economy was experiencing, develop solutions to ramping up the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and explore ways to ensure that all countries can participate in a green, resilient, and inclusive return to stability and growth.

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Getting it right on development: We do not have to choose between people and climate

There is no doubt that climate change is profoundly unjust.  The world’s poorest countries did cif_south_africa_50268208563_6a25241b63_o_1the least to contribute to global emissions historically and poorer people within countries emit less than their rich neighbors. Nonetheless, poorer countries and poorer people are more vulnerable to climate impacts. They tend to be more exposed to climate change impacts, for instance living in places exposed to floods, working in occupations like agriculture, or lacking access to improved water and sanitation. And they have fewer resources to adapt and invest in protecting themselves.  

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We are losing a generation: The devastating impacts of COVID-19

Governments across the globe will spend about $5 trillion on K-12 education this year.  Butindermit_leadunless they get all children and young people back to school, keep them in class, and recover the central elements of learning, this generation could lose twice or three times that amount in earning losses.

The first impact was the millions of lives lost due to the disease caused by the COVID 19 virus. The second was the human suffering caused by job instability and poverty. The third is on children and youth who should have been in school but were told to stay at home.

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Reversing the pandemic’s education losses

When schools around the world moved online due to COVID-19, children in developing countries suffered the most. Even though digital learning does not produce the same outcomes as in-person education, technology used effectively can close educational gaps and prevent learning loss.

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How to use technology to help teachers be better and to make life better for teachers

Teachers matter enormously to student learning. Teachers deliver academic knowledge. d_evans_blogTeachers impart model socioemotional skills. Good teachers boost students’ long-term life outcomes. Teachers can inspire (and in another demonstration of their importance, in some cases, sadly, teachers can disappoint or even abuse). 

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India: Rural women go digital to manage the pandemic’s disruptions

 

Muskanben Vohara and her group of women weavers in Gujarat’s Anand district were women-artisans-members-from-barara-village-of-patan-districts-doing-traditional-painting-on-cloth-to-prepare-for-embroidery-for-sewa-hansiba-product._overcome with worry when the lockdown was announced to contain the Covid-19 pandemic.

Matching climate change ambition with collective action

Despite contributing the least to the climate crisis, Sub-Saharan Africa, home to over 1 billion matching-climate-change-ambition-collective-action-1140x500people, continues to suffer some of the worst consequences of a changing climate. In 2019, we saw the catastrophic impacts of Cyclone Idai on millions of people in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Malawi, and in 2020, locusts caused widespread food insecurity in the amidst of a global pandemic.

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COVID-19 spurs big changes in Pakistan’s education

 

worldbank_teleschool_artwork_-_copyPakistan’s schools are reopening again today after a nearly uninterrupted 11-month hiatus.  In March 2020, the Government of Pakistan closed all schools as part of a nationwide lockdown, prompting the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training (MoFE&PT) to seek education alternatives to ensure learning continuity.

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Realizing the returns to schooling: How COVID-19 and school closures are threatening women’s economic future

COVID-19 is threatening the gains being made in girls’ education. Urgent action is needed to sierraleoneensure that girls and women can realize the returns to their schooling. 

Returns to schooling for women are high – so says Bono and the research. A couple of years ago, in an essay in Time magazine Bono wrote: “Give girls just one additional year of schooling and their wages go up almost 12 percent.” He said the same thing a year before that at the Munich Security Conference. The source of that quote was a 2014 World Bank paper and a recent update confirms this is still the case. At the same time, girls are staying in school longer and learning more. However, these gains are at risk as COVID-19 is presenting a crisis within a crisis for girls’ education.

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