Arsenic contamination in shallow groundwater aquifers remains a major barrier to providing access to safe drinking water in Bangladesh. Chronic exposure to arsenic has been shown to cause serious health impacts, including various cancers, skin lesions, neurological damage, heart disease, and...

This paper examines the extent to which the three key underlying determinants of nutrition-food security; adequate caregiving resources at the maternal, household, and community levels; and access to health services and a safe and hygienic environment-on their own and interactively are...

Inequality of opportunity : what it is, how it can be measured, and why it matters -- A human opportunity index for children -- Uses and policy applications of the human opportunity index -- Inequality of economic opportunity in seven Latin American countries -- Inequality of opportunity in...

Lao PDR has made notable progress in improving maternal health, with materanal mortality decreasing from 1,600 per 100,000 births in 1990 to 220 in 2013.1 However, in order for further gains to be realized, at least two barriers need to be addressed - the low utilization of maternal health (MH)...

Teenage pregnancies have potential negative consequences on the next generation. Children born to adolescent mothers are particularly at risk in terms of health, nutrition, cognitive and socio-emotional development. Evidence shows that the early years - especially the first 1,000 days - are...

Early Childhood Development (ECD) is a holistic concept that refers to the physical, cognitive, socio-emotional, and linguistic development of young children until the time they transition to primary school. This policy brief highlights that developmental gaps in the early years of a child's...

Early Childhood Development (ECD) is a holistic concept that refers to the physical, cognitive, socio-emotional, and linguistic development of young children until the time they transition to primary school. This policy brief highlights that developmental gaps in the early years of a child's...

Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank Group, discusses children's and women's health as absolutely crucial to the core mission of expanding prosperity and ending poverty. He speaks about helping ensure a continuum of care from family planning to pregnancy and safe delivery, to post-natal...

Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank Group, notes that we stand at a critical threshold for global health and development. Too many women and children are still dying because they lack access to quality health care, especially in the least developed countries. He talks about shifting focus...