Tag Archives: Foreign aid

Becoming a Better Bank

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The world is facing a set of intertwined challenges: climate crisis, debt, food insecurity, pandemics, and fragility; and a need to accelerate access to clean air, water, and energy. Time is of the essence.

We need a better Bank to address these challenges – but also a better Bank for the challenges of tomorrow.

The G20 Leaders challenged the World Bank Group to change and be a more significant part of the solution – with the ambition for speed, simplicity, better leveraging our balance sheet, and engaging partners and the private sector. We are in the process of implementing their recommendations.  

We are building a faster, quicker Bank. We want to become a better partner to governments, the private sector, and, ultimately, the people we serve. 

 
 
 
 
 
 

 

Recap: 2024 IMF/WBG Spring Meeting

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Tackling the world’s hidden debt problem

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From the COVID-19 pandemic to advanced-economy interest-rate hikes, developments over the last few years have left many developing economies struggling to repay their debts. But the problem might be even bigger than the world realizes, as many sovereign debts are hidden, undisclosed, or opaque. This prevents policy makers and investors from making informed decisions.

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Joint World Bank, UN Report Assesses Damage to Gaza’s Infrastructure

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Damages to Physical Structures Estimated at $18.5 billion as of end January

WASHINGTON, April 2, 2024 – The cost of damage to critical infrastructure in Gaza is estimated at around $18.5 billion according to a new report released today by the World Bank and the United Nations, with financial support of the European Union. That is equivalent to 97% of the combined GDP of the West Bank and Gaza in 2022.

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March 2024 global poverty update from the World Bank: first estimates of global poverty until 2022 from survey data

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Global poverty estimates were updated today on the Poverty and Inequality Platform (PIP).As explained in more detail in the What’s New document, more than 100 new surveys were added to the PIP database, bringing the total number of surveys to more than 2,300. With more recent survey data, this March 2024 PIP update is the first to report a global poverty number for 2020-2022, the period of the COVID-19 pandemic. We estimate that COVID-19 increased extreme poverty in the world, as measured by the international poverty line of $2.15, from 8.9 percent in 2019 to 9.7 percent in 2020 (see Figure 1). This is the first increase in global poverty in decades. It is in line with earlier estimates of the COVID-19 impact which used limited survey data and GDP growth projections. 

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Transforming Challenge into Action: Expanding Health Coverage for All

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World Bank Live registration

Health care is an investment, not an expense.  Affordable accessible health care can unlock human capital and economic dividends for countries. 

Today, over half of the world’s population―around 4.5 billion people―lack access to essential health services. And two billion people face financial hardships due to health-related expenses. This is compounded by a range of growing risks such as climate change, pandemics, fragility, and conflict. 

Watch this event to learn how the World Bank is working closely with countries and partners to address these challenges and help ensure more people across the world have greater access to high quality and affordable health care. 

Better data needed to green the digital transformation

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Artificial intelligence (AI) and other digital technologies have piqued global excitement with their promise to drive economic growth and opportunity, unlock scientific breakthroughs, and build better services. But as we race to close the global digital divide, we must also ask ourselves some tough questions.

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2024 Spring Meetings: Vision to Impact

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Mark your calendars for the 2024 Spring Meetings. We will come together April 15-20 to explore how to tackle global challenges head-on, including solutions to ramp up finance and knowledge, foster private sector investment, and prepare for future crises. Tune in as we livestream high-level events.

Spring Meetings

Energizing Africa: What Will It Take to Achieve Universal Energy Access?

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Over half a billion people in Sub-Saharan Africa are at risk of being left behind without electricity access by 2030, with nearly 400 million of them living in countries subject to fragility, conflict, and violence. Africa is where the energy access battle will be won or lost. Without access to reliable, affordable, and sustainable energy, the region will not reach its development aspirations or achieve an economic transformation that can lift millions out of poverty.

Together with partners, the World Bank Group has already begun efforts to deploy innovative financial and technical solutions that are essential for accelerating electrification rates that outpace population growth. 

The discussion will focus on what it will take to scale up the solutions and investments that will help connect millions more Africans to electricity and transform African economies.

We need to change the way we support refugees – now !

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We are at a pivotal moment in shaping the future of education. The potential for generative AI to improve teaching efficiency and enhance teacher effectiveness is immense.  It’s a potential that is in the process of being realized in small classrooms and large educational systems alike.

Teachers are arguably the most important school-based determinant of whether and how much students learn. Given this complex and important job, how can generative AI-driven technologies help teachers, and what policy measures should be prioritized to harness the potential of the technology?

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