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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...

Just before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic struck, just over half of the world’s population approximately (51%) had access to the internet compared with just 30% in Western and Central Africa. With the strict lockdown implemented during the pandemic, many services were only available to people across the region through the internet. 

Ever since, the need for universal, affordable, and safe high-speed connectivity has increased exponentially. West African countries will not be left behind and will need to deepen reforms and attract the necessary investments for increased digitalization of services, an essential condition for strong, resilient, green economic growth and quality job creation. 

The stakes are therefore high and the region is showing tremendous potential and...

Like many of the world’s megacities, Kinshasa faces many challenges. With nearly 15 million residents, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is known for its epic traffic jams, widespread poverty, unreliable electricity, decades of violent confrontation and an underlying vulnerability to floods, droughts, and other climate shocks. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the wellbeing of Kinshasa’s people economically and health-wise.

In this, Kinshasa is hardly unique. Among the more than 30 megacities around the world with 10 million or more inhabitants, many of these same issues are urgent. Moreover, rapid urbanization in Sub-Saharan Africa will lead to an estimated threefold increase in the urban population from 441 million in 2020 to 1.3 billion by 2050. In 2020, the country’s urban population grew by 4.5%, indicating that 1.5 million new residents arrive in its cities every year.

In the near future, Kinshasa, like many other...

KATHMANDU, August 13, 2021 – Nepal is the second country globally to have completed agreements with GAVI to procure 4 million doses of Moderna vaccines, financed by the World Bank, through the COVAX cost-share option. This will diversify and strengthen the country’s COVID-19 vaccine portfolio.

“Nepal is an early mover in utilizing the COVAX cost-share scheme, and I am pleased to note that we have finalized an arrangement, despite very challenging circumstances, to bring safe and highly effective vaccines to Nepal,” said Umesh Shrestha, Minister of State for Health and Population. “Moderna vaccines have helped expand options for vaccinating Nepalis above 12 years of age and fast-track Nepal’s progress towards a safer post-COVID world.”

Delivery of these vaccines is expected to start by March 2022 and will contribute to Nepal’s goal to vaccinate at least 72 percent of its population, as well as children 12-17 years of age for whom the...

When I saw Agnès’s market garden while on a field trip to Logohoué a few weeks ago, I gained a greater appreciation of our obligation to help rural communities push back the frontiers of poverty. In this village of the Houéyogbé commune in southwest Benin, Agnès runs a cooperative largely composed of women. The goal?  Help them get established in horticulture to improve their households’ daily living conditions. These intrepid women are already growing vegetables, cabbage, tomatoes, and other organic leguminous plants on one and a half hectares of developed land on the banks of the Dati river. Water is accessible, but harnessing it remains challenging. 

Lacking a motor pump, and with only two watering cans, the women use basins to collect the water and irrigate the beds. Such challenges slow the productivity of their small farm despite the healthy dose of energy that they expend on this work. The land is there, the water is...

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

Ukraine registered its first case of COVID-19 in early March 2020. The sample had been sent to a laboratory in Kyiv from a city in the Chernivtsi region, roughly 500 km from the Ukrainian capital. “At that time, it was only possible to analyze a SARS-CoV-2 sample at our laboratory. On the evening of March 2, 2020, we confirmed a positive case from Chernivtsi region. We immediately informed the World Health Organization,” said Iryna Demchyshyna, who is the head of the virology laboratory at the State Institution ‘Public Health Center’ in Kyiv.

Ten days later, the Government of Ukraine would impose a national quarantine in an attempt to contain the pandemic. As the number of cases rose across Ukraine, the country’s healthcare system confronted significant shortages of essential supplies, such as masks, respirators, rapid tests, hospital beds, and medical oxygen.

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