Tag Archives: Foreign aid

World Bank Group Supports Delivery of Essential Education Services

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Unprecedented Shocks Hit the Palestinian Economy

WASHINGTON, February 21, 2024 – The World Bank Group announced a $30 million grant to help ensure the continuity of crucial education for children. A sharp decline in economic activity, including trade, coupled with a lack of clearance revenues since October 2023, has worsened an already acute fiscal crisis, thus severely impacting the delivery of public services. This grant will contribute to the education sector to help ensure that learners don’t miss out on essential education.

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New malaria vaccines will save lives. How can we ensure a sustainable rollout? We need to change the way we support refugees – now !

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Last month, Cameroon became the first country to start rolling out malaria vaccination as20007346656_7436a61a7f_k_1140x500.jpg part of its routine immunization program, with Burkina Faso joining just yesterday. This follows successful malaria vaccine trials in Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi where over 2 million children participated in evaluating RTS, S – one of two WHO-recommended vaccines to fight malaria.

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Global trade has nearly flatlined. Populism is taking a toll on growth

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The World Trade Organization’s (WTO) top decision-making body will have every reason to fret when it meets on February 26. International trade—a key engine of global prosperity since the fall of the Berlin Wall— has ground nearly to a halt and is set to remain anemic in the coming years.  In 2023, trade in goods and services expanded by the slenderest of argins, an estimated 0.2 percent, the slowest pace in 50 years outside of global recessions. It would have declined outright but for the growth of trade in services. Trade in goods shrank roughly 2 percent, the sharpest contraction during this century outside of a global recession. Trade growth will improve this year but it will still be half the average rate in the decade before the pandemic. In fact, by the end of 2024, global trade will register the slowest half-decade of growth since the 1990s. 

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Updated Ukraine Recovery and Reconstruction Needs Assessment Released

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KYIV, February 15, 2024—After almost two years of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, an updated joint Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment (RDNA3) released today by the Government of Ukraine, the World Bank Group, the European Commission, and the United Nations currently estimates that as of 31 December 2023 the total cost of reconstruction and recovery in Ukraine is $486 billion over the next decade, up from $411 billion estimated one year ago.

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

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This page is also available in French, Spanish, and Swahili (PDF) Hidden-Dimensions-Poverty-780x439-logos-v2

Video recordings of the two Plenaries and the Concluding Roundtable will be available soon.

Progress in poverty reduction has been measured primarily in terms of consumption or income. However, other aspects of life are also critical for wellbeing, and a number of initiatives have been underway to develop multidimensional measures of poverty. This conference brought together academics, practitioners, and people who have direct experience of poverty as co-researchers to better understand the key dimensions of poverty and their relationships. It also looked into the Inclusive and Deliberative Elaboration and Evaluation of Policies (IDEEP) tool that has been developed to better design, implement and assess policies, trainings or projects, that aim to address poverty with the active participation and inclusion of people who are experiencing poverty.

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A silent debt crisis is engulfing developing economies with weak credit ratings

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Some developing economies are finally seeing light at the end of the tunnel. Global inflation is receding and global interest rates appear to have peaked, prompting a bond-issuance rush by these economies to refinance their debt before the opportunity vanishes. In early January, Mexico, Indonesia, and several other developing economies easily raised more than $50 billion from bond investors. 

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World Bank’s 10-Year EUR Sustainable Development Bond Attracts Strong Demand from Diverse Investors

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WASHINGTON, D.C., February 6, 2024 – The World Bank (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, IBRD, Aaa/AAA) today priced a 10-year euro-denominated benchmark bond maturing in February 2034, raising EUR 3 billion.

The transaction attracted over 100 orders totaling EUR 4.7 billion, appealing to European and global investors seeking high credit quality and an investment that supports sustainable development at the longer end of the EUR curve. 

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Trading in a new climate: How mitigation policies are reshaping global trade dynamics

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Faced with the urgency of climate change, many countries are embracing policies to tacklegreen_vs_polluted_area_hero_image.jpg it. However, these policies are not only reshaping the landscape of global trade flows but also risking further fragmentation and inequality.  One challenge concerns the consequences for low-income countries that rely on export-led growth and especially their Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) part of global supply chains. To successfully navigate this challenge and promote a just and inclusive transition to a greener world, bold policies are needed that foster coordination and incentivize firms to decarbonize. 

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