Investments in early years of education and childhood development are among the most cost-effective and beneficial a country can make to tackle learning poverty, promote healthy child development, and enhance shared prosperity. Over the past two decades, the Government of Indonesia (GoI) has...

Tajikistan's human capital, eroded by the country's civil war (1992-97), remains low today. According to analyses by the World Bank's Human Capital Project, a child born in Tajikistan today is expected to be 53 percent as productive as he or she could be with full health and complete education....

Skill formation and human capital accumulation are a lifetime process, and quality early childhood education and development (ECED) is critical for ensuring that children get a head start in this process. Recognizing the importance of ECED, the sustainable development goals (SDGs) include an...

This guide was prepared by the Early Learning Partnership (ELP) team at the World Bank as a resource for policy makers and development professionals interested in improving access to high-quality Early Childhood Development (ECD) services. It brings together a selection of approaches to ECD that...

There is a growing body of evidence that demonstrates the benefits of investing in early childhood education (ECE) for human capital development and economic growth, which lays the foundation for cognitive development, socioemotional skills, and lifelong learning. Recognition of the need to...

A small open economy, Benin has seen growth that is above average for the region. The volatility of high growth spells combined with low productivity growth has translated into limited gains in income per capita. Following its transition from low-income country to lower middle income country...

In 2015, Lao PDR is virtually unrecognizable from what it was just a decade ago. A more open, more outward trade landscape has transformed the country from a closed-off backwater into a fast-growing developing country, complete with coffee shops, restaurants, and billboards lining the streets of...

Public-private dialogue (PPD) is highly necessary in fragile and conflict-affected situations (FCS) to fill the gap resulting from the lack of legitimate institutions, to help create transparency and trust among stakeholders, and to identify the need for reforms and interventions that can...

This paper presents the main findings of the 2017 survey on national development banks that the World Bank conducted in collaboration with the World Federation of Development Financing Institutions. Sixty-four development banks from different parts of the world, mainly from middle-income...

Despite sustained economic growth over the past two decades, Sub-Saharan Africa faces massive challenges and significant gaps in many development outcomes. Although poverty has been declining, a recent report estimates that over two-fifths of the African population was poor in 2012. Nearly...