Uganda is embarking on a major program to upgrade its statistical systems. As with many African countries, the quality of national statistics and the timeliness with which they are produced have been issues of considerable concern for a number of years. It has suffered from problems common to...

Africa has significant potential to improve its climate-smart sustainable development by focusing on the Blue Economy. However, efforts to reach this potential are stymied by poor access to relevant data and knowledge due to inadequate historical investments in technology and institutional...

Many countries in sub-Saharan Africa identify technology as a viable complementary tool to improve learning outcomes in primary and secondary education. New research evidence from The Gambia suggests that a student-centered computer-assisted learning (CAL) program significantly improves student...

Policymakers and development experts seeking to improve the quality of education are interested in the role technology can play. Not only do they want to use technology to directly aid learning, but they also want to ensure that students in developing countries - and poor communities everywhere...

It is generally believed that information and communication technologies (ICTs) can empower teachers and learners, promote change and foster the development of '21st century skills, but data to support these beliefs are still limited. There is widespread belief that ICTs can and will empower...

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...

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) include benchmarks related to children's health and sanitation. Government and non-governmental organizations working to meet these goals by 2015 continue to face many challenges. Learning about effective approaches that result in sustainable behavior...

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...

The Philippines has made remarkable progress in improving the quality of basic education in recent decades. Even so, despite significant improvements in primary and secondary education, the number of students who drop out of school remains worryingly high. More than five million youths have...