Gas flaring, the burning of natural gas associated with oil extraction, has persisted since the beginning of oil production, some 160 years ago. It takes place due to a range of issues, from market and economic constraints, to a lack of appropriate regulation and political will, and results in substantial carbon dioxide, methane and black carbon (soot) emissions. Eliminating this practice from oil production is the very least oil and gas operators can do to limit their direct emissions and will help countries achieve their Paris Agreement goals, advancing their path to decarbonization and renewable energy sources. Indeed, if all flaring was eliminated, it would reduce CO2 equivalent emissions by 400 million tons each year.

For many years the World Bank’s Global Gas Flaring Reduction Partnership (GGFR) has ranked the top gas flaring countries in the world by volumes flared and by volumes flared per barrel of oil produced (flaring intensity). However, we have not...

A World Bank pilot project called “Designing Futures” worked with Brazilian students to help them overcome the obstacles girls face in transitioning from secondary school to university studies and/or the workforce to make life dreams into reality.

Strong primary health care (PHC) saves lives and money and makes health systems work better for all people. The current COVID-19 crisis exacerbated pre-existing weaknesses and inflicted devastating health and economic costs. However, it also created a once-in-a-generation chance for transformational health-system change.

As of July 29, 2021, the World Bank approved operations to support vaccine rollout in 54 countries amounting to $4.6 billion. See the latest project financing, project documents and procurement information in the list below. More information will be shared here as it becomes available. 

Through this, the World Bank Group is working with partners on the largest vaccination effort in history to stop the COVID-19 pandemic. On April 2, 2020, at the initial COVID-19 response phase, the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved a $6 billion Global COVID-19 Response Program (also called the COVID-19 Strategic Preparedness and Response Program, or SPRP). The program has reached over 100 countries with emergency operations to prevent, detect, and respond to COVID-19 and strengthen systems for public health preparedness. The timing of potential vaccine development was not known when the SPRP was approved, but global vaccine development efforts...

Report provides new knowledge, data, tools to make trade work better for more people

WASHINGTON, May 19, 2021—Global trade has contributed to growth and poverty reduction in the past three decades, but gains from trade can be more inclusive, the World Bank said today. Spreading the benefits of trade more widely, within and between countries, can play a key role as the world seeks to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, which has reversed years of poverty reduction.

New data and tools developed by the World Bank can allow policy makers to ensure trade delivers more for the poor, according to The Distributional Impacts of Trade: Empirical Innovations, Analytical Tools and Policy Responses report. By identifying in advance those sectors and regions that are most affected by changes in trade patterns, policies can be designed to maximize the gains and mitigate potential losses.  

“There is no question that the rise in trade over the past...

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because a large part of the world remains unvaccinated and this is a danger for all of us," so warns Mamta Murthi, the World Bank's Vice President for Human Development.

  And what's being done to help?  In the latest edition of The Development Podcast, we're examining these questions and more.  

From Addis Ababa, Dr. Ahmed Ogwell, Deputy Director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control, details how the COVID-19 pandemic has unfolded across the African continent, and the steps being taken to increase vaccination rates.

Back in Washington, Murthi joins Raka Banerjee and Paul Blake to talk about global trends and the support that the World Bank Group is giving to countries and partners in the race to vaccinate the world...

"We are at a unique moment at which putting a price on carbon can power a resilient, inclusive, and sustainable post-pandemic recovery and help set countries on a low-carbon growth path."

The strategy put forward by our team is to PREVENT death of their caregivers through the rollout of vaccinations and continued attention to mitigation, testing, tracing and isolating; to PREPARE extended or foster families to care for children left without parental care so as to avoid the institutionalization of children; and to PROTECT these children from their increased risk of poverty, vulnerability and violence, including by supporting remaining parents and caregivers with child-sensitive social protection combining cash transfers with caregiver support.

As the largest provider of development assistance globally, the World Bank has a critical role to play in supporting countries to develop policies and programs to support the children left orphaned by COVID. Our work with governments, development partners, the private sector and civil society is essential to:

Sri Lanka is a lower-middle-income country with a GDP per capita of USD 3,852 (2019) and a total population of 21.8 million. With over six decades of partnership with Sri Lanka, World Bank Group continues to support Sri Lanka’s transition to a more competitive, inclusive, and resilient country.

aims to provide the international community with a global dashboard to register progress on energy access, energy efficiency, renewable energy and international cooperation to advance SDG 7. It assesses the progress made by each country on these four pillars and provides a snapshot of how far we are from achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) targets...

The International Monetary Fund, World Bank Group, World Health Organization and World Trade Organization have joined forces to accelerate access to COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics by leveraging multilateral finance and trade solutions, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.

The aim is to vaccinate at least 40 percent of people in every country by the end of 2021, and at least 60 percent by mid-2022.  The effort will track, coordinate, and advance delivery of COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics, working with governments and partners at the global and local levels to address finance and trade barriers to ensure that vulnerable populations have access to these life-saving tools. It supports the goals of the ACT-Accelerator and complementary initiatives.

The Task Force members are mobilizing critical financing, with a focus on grants and concessional lending; helping to remove barriers to...

WASHINGTON, July 19, 2021 - In response to COVID-19 severely damaging the lives and livelihoods of millions of people in developing countries, the World Bank Group deployed over $157 billion to fight the pandemic’s health, economic, and social impacts over the last 15 months (April 1, 2020 – June 30, 2021). This is the largest crisis response of any such period in the Bank Group’s history and represents an increase of more than 60% over the 15-month period prior to the pandemic. Bank Group commitments and mobilizations in fiscal year 2021 (FY21) alone (July 1, 2020 – June 30, 2021) amounted to almost $110 billion (or $84 billion excluding mobilization, short-term financing, and recipient-executed trust funds).

Since the start of the pandemic, the Bank Group supported countries to address the health emergency, strengthen health systems, protect the poor and vulnerable, support businesses, create jobs and jump start a green, resilient, and inclusive...

WASHINGTON, July 19, 2021 - In response to COVID-19 severely damaging the lives and livelihoods of millions of people in developing countries, the World Bank Group deployed over $157 billion to fight the pandemic’s health, economic, and social impacts over the last 15 months (April 1, 2020 – June 30, 2021). This is the largest crisis response of any such period in the Bank Group’s history and represents an increase of more than 60% over the 15-month period prior to the pandemic. Bank Group commitments and mobilizations in fiscal year 2021 (FY21) alone (July 1, 2020 – June 30, 2021) amounted to almost $110 billion (or $84 billion excluding mobilization, short-term financing, and recipient-executed trust funds).

Since the start of the pandemic, the Bank Group supported countries to address the health emergency, strengthen health systems, protect the poor and vulnerable, support businesses, create jobs and jump start a green, resilient, and inclusive...

In Malawi, where stunting is as high as 37%, and 10% of the gross domestic product is lost annually due to malnutrition, girls are becoming part of the solution.

Malawians between the ages of 10 and 35 years constitute approximately half of the population, most of them girls. But despite bad nutrition indicators, adolescent girls are routinely missing from malnutrition interventions.

Only 36% of girls successfully complete primary school and 30% become mothers, posing a significant risk to the nutrition status of the child. The likelihood of infants born to teenage girls being stunted is 6.3% higher than infants born to adult mothers. Worse still, 35% of adolescent girls are anemic and 12.9% underweight, further fueling low birth weight among their children, leading to intergenerational malnutrition. On average, an adolescent girl bears one child by the time she finishes her adolescence. This vicious circle has been going on like...

The International Monetary Fund, World Bank Group, World Health Organization and World Trade Organization have joined forces to accelerate access to COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics by leveraging multilateral finance and trade solutions, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.

The aim is to vaccinate at least 40 percent of people in every country by the end of 2021, and at least 60 percent by mid-2022.  The effort will track, coordinate, and advance delivery of COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics, working with governments and partners at the global and local levels to address finance and trade barriers to ensure that vulnerable populations have access to these life-saving tools. It supports the goals of the ACT-Accelerator and complementary initiatives.

The Task Force members are mobilizing critical financing, with a focus on grants and concessional lending; helping to remove barriers to...

Ground Experiences from around the Island  

Sri Lanka’s extensive network of public healthcare workers has been the underlying force behind the country’s pandemic response. This series of articles, beginning with the Puttalam District, aims to capture the ground realities of pandemic management, from the perspectives of public health workers around the country.

The Pandemic in Puttalam

“COVID 19 came to Puttalam before it reached other parts of the island,” says Consultant Community Physician Dr. Thushani Dabrera, focal point for Puttalam’s COVID 19 response strategy.

Having worked as an epidemiologist in Puttalam since 2007, Dr. Dabrera knew the district well. She knew its people, its geography, its unique customs, and most importantly it’s public healthcare network. “Puttalam has had a somewhat different experience with the pandemic, due to certain unique risk factors in this region,” says Dr. Dabrera, adding, “to cope, our...