NEWS
* Pakistan Flood Damage Assessed at $9.7 Billion
* Uniting Against Hunger on World Food Day
* Bank Reactivates Food Fund Amid Concern Over Food Volatility
* Video: World Bank IDA Testimonials
* Shareholders Call for Support of Bank Fund for Poorest
* Bank Spurs 'Open Development' With Launch of New Tools, Apps Competition
* Financial Crisis Discouraged Entrepreneurship in Richer Countries
PUBLICATIONS
* South-South Opportunity
EVENTS AND DISCUSSIONS
* Did You Miss the Open Forum?
REGIONAL NEWS AND PROJECTS
Africa
East Asia and the Pacific
Europe and Central Asia
Latin America and the Caribbean
Middle East and North Africa
South Asia
RESULTS
* Harnessing Urbanization for Growth and Poverty Alleviation
* IDA at Work: Transportation
BUSINESS AND CAREER OPPORTUNITIES
* Economist, Development Impact Evaluation Initiative
ON THE BLOGS
* Are Tanzania's Children Learning?
IN DEPTH
* New World, New World Bank
DID YOU KNOW?
* World Development Indicators Database Has Been Updated
Pakistan Flood Damage Assessed at $9.7 Billion
The floods that swept across Pakistan since July have caused an estimated $9.7 billion in damage, almost double that caused by the 2005 earthquake, according to a joint assessment by the Asian Development Bank and World Bank. The nationwide damage needs assessment survey found that agriculture and livestock sectors have been hit the worst. Read More
Uniting Against Hunger on World Food Day
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, the rural poor make up the majority of people who don’t have enough to eat. On the occasion of World Food Day, experts predicted that food production needs to increase by 70% to feed a population of 9 billion people by 2050. United Against Hunger | Slideshow | Quiz
Bank Reactivates Food Fund Amid Concern Over Food Volatility
Amid concern over heightened food price volatility and its impact on poor countries, the Bank will extend the life of its food crisis response program to June 2011. The move allows the Bank to respond more swiftly to calls for assistance by countries hit hard by food price spikes. Read More
Video: World Bank IDA Testimonials
IDA, the World Bank's fund for the poorest, has saved 13 million lives over the last ten years. Ministers and civil society representatives from states benefiting from the interest-free IDA loans and grants explain what difference the fund has made in their country. Read More
Shareholders Call for Support of Bank Fund for Poorest
At the conclusion of the Bank-IMF Annual Meetings in Washington, shareholders endorsed the Bank Group’s efforts toward sustainable recovery, with a results-focused approach. Members of the Development Committee also called for a strong replenishment of IDA—the Bank’s fund for the world’s 79 poorest countries—which they said was one of the most important instruments for achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Video | Communique(pdf) | Zoellick Remarks | Zoellick Powerpoint | Read More
Bank Spurs 'Open Development' With Launch of New Tools, Apps Competition
A range of new products from the Bank allows the public to access unfiltered development data and information for development results. The Bank has doubled the number of datasets available to the public for free, and has kicked off an Apps for Development competition to challenge software developers and international experts to use Bank tools and datasets to come up with new development solutions. Learn more, and participate in the competition.
Financial Crisis Discouraged Entrepreneurship in Richer Countries
New business creation dropped sharply in richer countries amid the global financial crisis, but didn’t change much in many lower-income countries, according to a new World Bank survey. The 2010 World Bank Group Entrepreneurship Snapshots, the most extensive global survey of new business registration, also found that new business registrations were higher in countries with a stable legal and regulatory regime, an easy registration process and low corporate taxes. Read More
South-South Opportunity
The road to development is no longer a one-way street; and top-down development assistance isn’t the "only game in town." Ideas as well as financial flows are traveling across borders from South to South, and even South to North. The October issue of Development Outreach takes stock of some new and existing models of southern-led and cooperation and knowledge exchange. Read More
Did You Miss the Open Forum?
The World Bank's first-ever Open Forum—an interactive, online conversation about pressing development issues—threw open to public discussions normally held behind closed doors at the Bank’s Annual Meetings. Three sessions, held Oct. 7 and 8, brought together all-star thinkers and actors in three key areas: the open development movement, jumpstarting jobs, and today’s development challenges. Catch the discussion.
Monthly Operational Summary of proposed projects in all regions.
Access to Information Find newly disclosed and declassified documents.
Africa
African Ministers Call for Robust Replenishment of Bank Fund for the Poorest Countries
IDA, the Bank’s fund for the poorest, is the leading source of development funding for Africa. The fund is up for replenishment by donor countries this year; African ministers called for robust support for IDA to strengthen Africa’s development. Read More
Zambia - Road Rehabilitation and Maintenance Project [Additional Financing]
$15 million to stimulate economic growth and contribute to poverty reduction through appropriate investment in road infrastructure, adequate policy and institutional reforms, and enhanced road sector management. Read More
Revitalizing Cash-strapped Rural Communities in Eastern DRC
A Bank-funded project in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is helping isolated populations earn steady income by providing seed money for small scale, community-driven investments. These targeted investments have touched the lives of close to 1.4 million people across 1,977 villages. Read More
Empowering the Rural Poor in the Gambia
A project in the Gambia is enabling rural communities to design and implement micro-projects that meet their immediate development needs, through a participatory model, that empowers the beneficiaries. To date, 737 projects have been operational in 391 villages and 42 rural communities, and an additional 361 projects are planned. Read More
For more information on the Africa region...
East Asia and the Pacific
Prospects for Environmental Assessments in China
In the past 30 years, environmental impact assessment law in China has played a key role in the country’s efforts to improve and protect the environment. Academics, government officials, practitioners and key stakeholders discussed the progress, and future prospects, making a series of policy recommendations. Read More
For more information on the East Asia and Pacific region...
Europe and Central Asia
Turkey: Achieving Sustainable and Equitable Growth
Today, Turkey is the world’s 16th largest economy, with 74 million inhabitants and per capita annual income above $9,000. Through a long and close relationship with IBRD, Turkey has been able to achieve notable results in fiscal, energy, and health sectors. Today, more than 96% of the population has health insurance coverage and 80% are satisfied with public health services. Read More
For more information on the Europe and Central Asia region...
Middle East and North Africa
An Urgent Agenda for the Post-Crisis
The Middle East and North Africa region weathered the global financial and economic crisis relatively well. But its recovery is not as speedy as elsewhere, and the post-crisis agenda contains a significant list of challenges including job creation, labor force participation for women, water management, food security, economic diversification, public sector management and regional integration. Read More
For more information on the Middle East and North Africa region...
Latin America and the Caribbean
Improving Teacher Education in Guyana
$4.2 million credit to advance the quality of teacher education in Guyana. The Improving Teacher Education Project will work in partnership with the Ministry of Education to improve the delivery of quality teacher education. Read More
For more information on the Latin America and the Caribbean region...
Harnessing Urbanization for Growth and Poverty Alleviation
Many developing countries are experiencing a profound population shift from rural to urban areas, making their development challenges increasingly linked to rapid urbanization. IDA, the Bank’s fund for the poorest, is responding by channeling assistance to priority areas of urban development. Read More
IDA at Work: Transportation
Transport is a crucial enabler for economic growth, poverty reduction and attaining the Millennium Development Goals. Over the past ten years, IDA has funded the construction or rehabilitation of more than 260,000 kilometers of roads and 10,700 bridges, benefiting about 75 million people. Read More
Economist, Development Impact Evaluation Initiative
The Development Impact Evaluation Initiative, which generates knowledge on the effectiveness of government programs, is looking for an economist to provide intellectual guidance and advice on the use of impact evaluation, develop new programs in the area, and champion innovation in capacity development programs. Read More
For a full list of Open Positions and Scholarships…
Are Tanzania's Children Learning?
Tanzania has seen dramatic increases in primary school enrollments—with the country winning a Millennium Development Goals award for achievements in primary education, but are the children really learning? Bank Chief Economist for Africa, Shanta Devarajan, asks Rakesh Rajani of Twaweza, a Tanzanian NGO that conducted a survey of learning outcomes among 40,000 children. Read More
IN DEPTH
2010 Annual Report: New World, New World Bank
The Bank has played a significant role during the global financial and economic crisis, pulling poor people out of poverty and preventing others from falling into poverty. The Bank is concentrating on five post-crisis priorities: targeting the poor and vulnerable; creating opportunities for economic growth; promoting collective global action; strengthening governance; and preparing for future crises. Read More
DID YOU KNOW?
World Development Indicators Database Has Been Updated
The World Development Indicators database, now available free through the Open Data Initiative, has been recently updated with economic indicators for national accounts, balance of payments, government finance, monetary, trade, and private financial flows information from 2009 for most countries. Read More
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