eC2: Greener Transport Connectivity for the Six Eastern Partnership Countries

Deadline: 07-Feb-2018 at 11:59:59 PM (Eastern Time – Washington D.C.) general-transport-mosaic-main

Objective: The overall objective of this project is to promote enhanced transport connectivity in the Eastern Partnership countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine) that delivers improved outcomes on energy efficiency and sustainability. With this overall objective, this assignment will include:

– Identifying relevant green transport policies and projects for the EaP region.

– develop transport connectivity/accessibility indicators for gauging the level of improvement that could be achieved by corridor improvement projects

– developing a user-friendly connectivity assessment tool

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Equality Means Business: Making the Business Case for Women Charity R. Hodzi-Sibanda’s picture

When early December was upon us—heralding the start of the month of annual festivities—a group of women executives met to put forward strategies for equality in business. They met against a background of the harsh reality of women’s exclusion from leadership positions in Zimbabwe, brought to the fore in a recently released Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) Manufacturing Survey for 2017.

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What keeps the President of the World Bank up at night?

This year’s World Economic Forum Annual Meeting comes at a time of good news for the world economy. As we said in this month’s Global Economic Prospects report, for the first time since the financial crisis, the World Bank is forecasting that the global economy will be operating at or near full capacity. We anticipate growth in advanced economies to moderate slightly, but growth in emerging markets and developing countries should strengthen to 4.5% this year.

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Using technology to promote youth employment: How to develop digital solutions

How and when can we use technology to design and implement youth employment programs? We should ask ourselves whether investing in digital solutions is worth the time and money before deciding to include a digital component in our projects, because as much as technology can be transformative and help provide solutions, it is both expensive and time-consuming. Furthermore, we need to make sure we fully understand the problem that we are trying to solve.

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Infrastructure & Africa’s development—the PPP imperative

Africa is a continent rich in natural resources and boasts a large young, ambitious, and entrepreneurial-minded population. Harnessed properly, these endowments and advantages could usher in a period of sustained economic growth and increased well-being for all Africans. However, a lack of modern infrastructure is a major challenge to Africa’s economic development and constitutes a significant impediment to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

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Can Asia-Pacific achieve sustainable energy for all?

The Asia-Pacific region, comprised of 58 economies, is geographically expansive and a picture of diversity. The trends for sustainable energy in Asia-Pacific, which mirror the region’s economic and resource diversity, are underscored by the fact that Asia-Pacific comprises 60 percent of the global population, generates 32 percent of global GDP, consumes more than half of the global energy supply, while generating 55 percent of global emissions from fuel combustion.

The region’s sustainable energy picture is captured in a new report by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), entitled “Asia-Pacific Progress in Sustainable Energy: A Global Tracking Framework 2017 Regional Assessment Report.” The report is based on the World Bank and International Energy Agency’s Global Tracking Framework (GTF), which tracks the progress of countries on energy access, energy efficiency, and renewable energy under Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7).

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Global Economic Prospects Broad-Based Upturn, but for How Long?

The World Bank forecasts global economic growth to edge up to 3.1 percent in 2018 after a much stronger-than-expected 2017, as the recovery in investment, manufacturing, and trade continues. Growth in advanced economies is expected to moderate slightly to 2.2 percent in 2018, as central banks gradually remove their post-crisis accommodation and the upturn in investment growth stabilizes. Growth in emerging market and developing economies as a whole is projected to strengthen to 4.5 percent in 2018, as activity in commodity exporters continues to recover amid firming prices. Find this WB-report here.

doing business

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Africa’s partnership with the G-20: Compact with Africa in 2018

Germany’s presidency of the G-20 in 2017 introduced a new initiative for supporting African countries’ development: the G-20 Compact with Africa. The compact brings together interested African countries with the World Bank Group, the International Monetary Fund, the African Development Bank, and other multilateral and bilateral partners to develop and support policies and actions that are essential for attracting private investment. To date, 10 countries have signed up for the initiative and outlined their aspirations and reform programs under a framework adopted by the G-20 finance ministers in March 2017.

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Ec2: DEVELOPMENT OF COASTAL MULTI-HAZARD MAPPING, VULNERABILITY AND RISK ASSESSMENTS AND INVESTMENT FRAMEWORK FOR COASTAL INTERVENTIONS IN SELECTED COASTAL COMMUNITIES IN VIETNAM

Deadline: 10-Feb-2018 at 11:59:59 PM (Eastern Time – Washington D.C.)

Objective: The World Bank is providing support to the Government of Vietnam (GoV) for the implementation of the second phase of the Technical Assistance (TA) funded by the imagesGlobal Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR), Supporting Resilience of Critical Infrastructure Investments in Vietnam, which was undertaken in 2016-2017 in the coastal regions of Northern and Central Vietnam, and which aimed at obtaining a rapid overview of the greatest coastal risks in these regions. This TA was thought of as a first phase to be followed up by a second phase where a detailed assessment of these risks would be undertaken in selected areas, and the necessary measures and investments that could mitigate the consequences of these hazards would be identified and prioritized.

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Guarantees light the way for clean energy through renewable auctions

What is a common thread between Argentina, Maldives, and Zambia? In each of these countries, the World Bank provided guarantees to support transparent auctions for renewable energy. Through these, I have seen how the Bank’s involvement helped increase private investors’ confidence, attract world-class developers, and ultimately reduce tariffs.

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