In 2006-07, the Water and Sanitation Program-South Asia (WSP-SA) initiated a research toidentify barriers to service delivery for the urban poor. The research included a review ofvarious initiatives from across the globe that have resulted in improved service delivery for theurban poor and...

As a green mode of transportation, railways have an important role to play in decarbonizing transport through shifting transport from more polluting modes of transport such as road and air. Railways can enable economic growth, which in turn generates increasing transport demand, while keeping...

This regional analytical activity will contribute to knowledge on the technical, operational, and financial viability and strategic partnership required among ASEAN countries to strengthen coordinated investments on the vaccine value chain. The ASA has three major activities: i) A deep-dive...

Transition to a new world order with more diffuse distribution of economic power is under way. This first edition of a new World Bank flagship report, 'Global Development Horizons 2011', focuses on three major international economic trends: the shift in the balance of global growth from...

With its impressive maternal and child health outcomes and control of communicable diseases, Sri Lanka is often depicted as a success story. The primary objectives of this study are to examine the prevalence and distribution of non-communicable disease (NCDs) and risk factors across...

Reducing gender inequality could increase GDP per capita by more than a fourth in Niger by 2030. These significant economic gains would be generated by enabling women to have the same earnings as men and reducing fertility and thereby population growth. Investing in girls' education and reducing...

As of early July 2020, life in Hanoi appears to be back to normal or close to what it used to be before the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic. The government's policy helped contain the virus and contributed to saving human lives. Today, most social distancing measures have been lifted. However,...

This retrospective examines how the World Bank's strategic use of climate-related trust funds has enabled it to play an outsized role in catalyzing climate action worldwide for nearly 30 years. By looking back at the history of climate and carbon finance, with a focus on the pioneering role of...

With the COVID-19 pandemic, the development context for the world is fundamentally challenged in many ways. The pandemic has taken a drastic human toll, and its global-scale economic and social impacts affected rural development work focused on the most poor and vulnerable populations. It has...