This Global Economic Prospects (GEP) is being released during a period of increased uncertainty following four years of record growth in developing countries, and a 15-year period of steady declines in poverty. Global growth slowed modestly in 2007, coming at 3.5 percent after 3.9 percent in...

Consideration of lifelong learning extends the World Bank's traditional approach to education, in which subsectors are looked at in isolation. Three years ago, when he articulated the Comprehensive Development Framework, World Bank President James Wolfensohn referred explicitly to lifelong...

Client feedback surveys in Africa indicate that the Bank's performance requires strengthening with regard to (a) respect for local cultures, (b) adaptation of knowledge to the local context and (c) incorporation of local knowledge into development efforts. They would like to see greater...