Previous Poverty and Shared Prosperity reports have conveyed the difficult message that the world is not on track to meet the global goal of reducing extreme poverty to 3 percent by 2030. This edition brings the unwelcome news that COVID-19, along with conflict and climate change, has not merely...

Guinea-Bissau is fighting a battle against poverty, low growth, and political fragility. Each of these areas presents both a formidable challenge as well as an opportunity for serious, long-lasting and much-needed change. Poverty is entrenched, inequality is high and other human development...

This report examines the role of infrastructure in explaining why the region lags so far behind the rest of the country. More importantly, it looks at how improved infrastructure may help the region catch up. Infrastructure is examined here through its impact on social as well as economic...

Guinea is a country with a rich historical legacy, abundant natural resources, a privileged geographical location - and a rapidly growing population. A successful political transition and the emergence of a vibrant civil society have helped to ensure ethnic peace and the absence of civil wars in...

The overall objective of the Maputo Urban Poverty and Inclusive Growth Study is to inform the municipal governments of Maputo and Matola in the Greater Maputo Area (GMA) on how to better target and finance urban poverty reduction programs by building critical knowledge on urban poverty and...

Liberia's status as a fragile state is deeply rooted in the political and economic exclusion practiced by the country's founders. Although they constituted just 5 percent of the population, freed American slaves and their descendants dominated the country's intellectual and ruling class from...

The report emphasizes the importance of breaking the cycle of inequitable investment in human capital and lack of well-paying job opportunities that trap the poor in poverty, generation after generation. Children from poor households start life at a disadvantage. Malnourished and stunted, with...

One of the key objectives of this first SCD of the Republic of Congo is to serve as an essential input to the Country Partnership Framework. The SCD is not intended to carry out substantial new analytical work, but rather to draw upon and synthesize the existing evidence. A substantial amount of...

Global growth is broadly stable but downside risks from rising trade tensions are increasing.A weakening recovery in trade and manufacturing activities is weighing down global growth. Global goods trade has decelerated more rapidly than expected. U.S. tariff s and the retaliatoryresponses of its...