From urbanization to agriculture, land systems touch nearly every aspect of development. That’s why the World Bank Group has launched the Land Data Map, a new interactive platform designed to make land data more accessible, interactive, and practical.
Built for policymakers, practitioners, researchers, and communities alike, this new tool offers a fresh way to engage with land data — and demonstrates how data-driven insights can help improve development outcomes across sectors.
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Throughout history, water has been the quiet engine behind progress: farmers irrigate fields to grow crops; industry needs it to produce goods and generate energy; and people, communities and cities draw on it for drinking, sanitation, and public health. Technology also made it possible to reach deeper aquifers and more distant rivers, expanding water use and exposing fundamental tensions in how water is valued and distributed, and who bears the costs.
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Jobs are the surest way to end poverty and give people hope for a better future. That’s why countries need to build economies that unlock opportunities for people and convert growth into local jobs.
Yet household survey data across dozens of countries reveal a stubborn obstacle: the world’s poorest people remain disconnected from the digital tools that now underpin labor markets, agricultural productivity, and economic mobility. Digital technologies cannot reduce poverty if they bypass the people who need them the most.
Continue readingWASHINGTON, Jan. 13, 2026 —The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors today approved three projects to help the Indian state of Assam increase resilience to extreme weather events, improve governance and service delivery, and provide more than 4 million students with the skills they need to succeed in the workforce.
Assam, located in India’s northeast, is uniquely positioned as the gateway to Southeast Asia, offering strategic connectivity for regional trade and integration. At the same time, Assam faces challenges such as climate vulnerability, inadequate infrastructure, and multidimensional poverty, which hinder inclusive growth.
Continue readingWASHINGTON, January 8, 2026 – The World Bank today approved a $13.30 million concessional financing through the International Development Association (IDA) for Cabo Verde’s renewable Energy and Improved Utility Performance Project (REIUP). The operation is co-financed by a $1.2 million concessional loan and $0.41 million grant from the Canada Clean Energy and Forest Climate Facility (CCEFCF), as well as a $0.4 million reimbursable grant from the Global Infrastructure Facility (GIF).
The financing will support Cabo Verde to accelerate its clean energy transition and achieve universal access to electricity.
Cabo Verde has made significant progress in energy access, achieving 98% coverage and bringing reliable electricity to nearly the entire population. The country has also advanced its energy transition efforts, aiming for 100% renewable electricity by 2040, supported by ongoing sector reforms. Meeting the country’s targets will require further investment in clean power, improved grid stability, and continued reforms following the demerger of the vertically integrated utility ELECTRA. The approved financing supports these national priorities and is expected to leverage substantial private capital for large-scale renewable energy deployment.
“The scaling up of REIUP reinforces Cabo Verde’s ambition to become a leader in achieving universal access to electricity in Africa. By mobilizing private capital to accelerate the energy transition and strengthening the sector’s institutional foundations, the project will help ensure a sustainable, financially viable, and climate-resilient energy sector”, said Kwawu Mensan Gaba, World Bank Energy Global Practice Manager for Western and Central Africa.
The operation will:
“With this new operation, we are investing in a cleaner, more affordable energy future for Cabo Verde—one that reduces dependence on imported fossil fuels, shields the economy from the volatility of global price shocks, and strengthens competitiveness. At the same time, it will drive job creation in the energy transition, with a strong focus on closing the gender gap in the sector.” saidIndira Campos, World Bank Group Resident Representative for Cabo Verde.
REIUP aligns with Cabo Verde’s Master Plan for the Power Sector and complements all other development partners’ efforts in the sector.
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In Cabo Verde:Marco António Medina Silva,
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Jobs are the best way to end poverty and give people hope, dignity, and a better future. That’s why the World Bank Group is changing the way we do things—ensuring that all our operations have a clear line of sight to employment. With more than a billion young people entering the labor market in the next decade, the world needs more jobs than ever before. But we can’t do it alone.
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For decades, policymakers assumed that prosperity is driven by building infrastructure, mobilizing labor, and creating financial systems to spur investment – while nature has been treated as abundant and free. Yet economic progress always relied on Earth’s natural assets: fertile soils that feed civilizations, clean water that sustains health and productivity, and forests that supply materials. But what happens when natural resources and the services they provide are no longer abundant?
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A real understanding of the impact of economic inclusion programs comes from seeing lives change—standing beside women building small businesses, young people stepping into formal jobs, and families beginning to plan for the future. These moments become possible and inevitable when governments and their partners invest the time and resources to design and deliver economic inclusion for the poor.
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By 2050, one in three of the world’s children will live in Africa. Yet this demographic shift coincides with a profound learning crisis: over 70 percent of children in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) cannot read and understand a simple text by age 10—and in Sub-Saharan Africa, the figure reached 86 percent before the pandemic. Without rapid acceleration in foundational learning outcomes, this demographic advantage risks becoming a source of deeper inequality and lost opportunity, talent, and productivity in the labor market.
Continue readingFor 35 years, the World Bank Group has measured global poverty to track progress toward eradicating what is considered the most severe deprivation of basic human needs—extreme poverty. This goal is at the very heart of our organization’s mission.
The introduction of the international poverty line in 1990 gave us a global benchmark that captured the daily cost for a person to meet their basic needs in a low-income country, which at that time was $1. The line has been updated several times since then to reflect changing prices and the costs of meeting basic needs. The most recent update, which happened this month, sets it at $3 per person per day.
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Netherlands for the World Bank 