As the global COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic continues to unfold, young children will be especially vulnerable. World Bank teams can work with client countries to support early childhood development (ECD) by leveraging a range of interventions and mechanisms that will be part of the COVID-19...

Gender equality is important for development-it matters not only for women and girls, and boys and men but also for communities and societies-for poverty reduction and economic growth. This assessment report provides an in-depth description of the gaps between women and men in Benin regarding...

Fintech is increasingly recognized as a key enabler for financial sectors worldwide, enabling more efficient and competitive financial markets while expanding access to finance for traditionally underserved consumers. A critical challenge for policy makers is to harness the benefits and...

Open banking schemes provide consumers with more choice and new financial products and services through the use of technology, particularly application programing interfaces (API's). The main objective of this paper is to provide guidance on how to implement consumer consent protocols to access...

The alleviation of poverty has been the prime objective of small-scale targeted credit programs such as the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh. Based on household survey data, this paper concludes that these programs can play an important role in both lesing poverty and sustaining household welfare on a...

Women in the Europe and Central Asia region complain about loss of employment, sexual harassment, violence, poor enforcement of the law, poor political representation, and poor health care. Many greet these complaints with skepticism or dismissal. Is it economic expedience due to the sheer...