Social Sustainability & Inclusion

On May 18th, the World Bank commemorated IDAHOTB, convening a panel of government, civil society, and other partners on the importance of laws in advancing the rights of sexual and gender minorities globally.

The primary goals of the Youth Summit are to:  Empower youth to explore innovative ideas to tackle development challenges​ Provide youth with the tools to build and engage in impactful projects​ Promote dialogue between youth, the WBG, and other key stakeholders globally The theme for the 2021 Summit is Resilent Recovery for People and Planet.

Watch the launch of World Bank's report “The Distributional Impacts of Trade: Empirical Innovations, Analytical Tools and Policy Responses”, which provides knowledge, data, tools, and a policy framework with the aim to spread the gains from trade and make it more inclusive. 

As a global organization that has embraced the twin goals of ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity, the World Bank Group is committed to fostering and strengthening diversity and inclusion in both its work and workplace. We are committed to a workplace where everyone is valued, where differences are respected and celebrated, and where opportunity and equitable treatment is afforded to all.  For our next episode of Behind the Mission: Working at the World Bank Group, which is on the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (IDAHOT), we delve into LGBT+ issues at the World Bank Group. How has the diversity and inclusion agenda improved over the years? How does our institution ensure that LGBT+ rights are protected and LGBT+ staff are empowered and nurtured? Why should LGBT+ community consider a career in international development, especially at the WBG? Join the discussion with three staff members, who will share their insights and experiences about how the World Bank ...

In emerging markets and developing economies, large numbers of people work outside the legal and regulatory framework: they account for 70 percent of employment and about a third of GDP. These “informal” workers were more likely to lose their jobs or suffer severe income losses during COVID-19 lockdowns—and they tend to be largely excluded from social safety nets. Against this backdrop, this event will explore the findings of the first comprehensive study of the extent of informality and its implications for a sustainable and inclusive recovery going forward. Ceyla Pazarbasioglu, Director of the Strategy, Policy, and Review Department, IMF Brahima Coulibaly, Vice President, Global Economy & Development, Brookings Institution Ferid Belhaj, Vice President, Middle East and North Africa, World Bank Group Mari Pangestu, Managing Director, Development Policy and Partnerships, World Bank Join us for the live conversation on May 11th. Be sure to sign up for an email reminder! Learn more by downloading the report The Long Shadow of Informality: Challenges ...

As countries rebuild their economies after COVID-19, it is fundamental that they see this as a unique opportunity to lay the foundation for a green, resilient, and inclusive future. These efforts were the theme of the event kicking off the Spring Meetings on Tuesday, Economic Recovery: Toward a Green, Resilient, and Inclusive Future.

Join our next #OneSouthAsia live conversation to hear how three women entrepreneurs are navigating the pandemic and tapping regional opportunities to create jobs, contribute to economic growth, and reduce gender gaps. South Asia has the world’s lowest rate of women entrepreneurs, with just 18% of small, medium and large businesses principally owned by a woman. Few engage in trade. As South Asia rebuilds after COVID-19, the region needs more women entrepreneurs to help drive innovations in services and products. Entrepreneurs Maheen Adamjee of Pakistan, Sairee Chahal of India, and Ayanthi Gurusinghe of Sri Lanka will share their experiences growing their businesses domestically and regionally, accessing finance, and using digital technology. Former banker Anshula Kant, now chief financial officer of the World Bank Group, will offer insights about the World Bank’s support to women entrepreneurs globally and in South Asia. Cecile Fruman, the World Bank’s direction of regional integration and engagement in South Asia, will lead the conversation. No ...

The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened awareness of the need for better data to inform response and recovery efforts, leveraging the complementarity of public and private sources. Following the recent launch of the World Bank’s SDG Atlas, this event will convene partners to discuss how we can improve data literacy, and call attention to the urgent need to address data gaps especially in the developing world as we work to get the Sustainable Development Goals back on track as part of a resilient recovery. The Atlas of Sustainable Development Goals 2020 presents interactive storytelling and data visualizations about the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. It highlights trends for selected targets within each goal and introduces concepts about how some SDGs are measured. Where data is available, it also highlights the emerging impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the SDGs. In this World Bank Live event, we will introduce the the Atlas of the SDGs 2020 and discuss with data partners the role of data ...

COVID-19 has been called the "Inequality Pandemic", meaning that existing gaps have been exacerbated by the crisis. Now more than ever there is a need for inclusive economic development. But just what does that mean, and how do we go about achieving it?  Join us Wednesday, January 27th at 9am as we discuss some of these questions with Colin Andrews, Program Manager with the Social Protection & Jobs Global Practice at the World Bank. Meanwhile... Download the report The State of Economic Inclusion Report 2021: The Potential to Scale Watch the previous episode of the Resilient Recovery Series: Re-Imagining Post-Pandemic Education The Resilient Recovery Series includes in-depth interviews with the Bank’s leading experts focused on health, social, and economic responses, as well as policies, institutions, and investments that will be critical to resilient, inclusive, and sustainable recovery. Check out the previous episodes!         View this post on Instagram                       A post shared by World Bank (@worldbank)

As COVID-19 continues to have wide-reaching impacts, one question looms large: how we can address the long-standing systemic inequalities that it has laid bare?

For this episode of Behind the Mission, we talk to three staff members, each of whom have not only overcome their disabilities, but have flourished in their careers at the World Bank Group. They share their insights and offer tips and advice on careers at the WBG. To post a question or comment, go to the chat box on the right. 

The world is faced with a global education emergency of unprecedented scale. According to estimates by the World Bank, the COVID-19 pandemic, at its peak, caused more than 180 countries to mandate temporary school closures, leaving 85 percent of the world’s learners out of school. Children with disabilities and their families, especially those living in poverty, face significant multiple vulnerabilities during this pandemic, including education, health, and social protection. The World Bank's Inclusive Education Iniative (IEI) invites you to participate in a Gloal Seminar to discuss our latest Issues Paper, 'Pivoting to Inclusion: Leveraging Lessons from the COVID-19 Crisis for Learners with Disabilities.' The live event will feature experts and thought leaders who will provide reflections on the paper, based on their unique perspectives on education, remote learning, and social inclusion and protection.

For the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (IDAHOTB) 2020 commemoration, the World Bank (WB), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) will collaborate on a virtual program of events from May 18-22 that will focus on research and data for “breaking the silence,” this year’s IDAHOTB theme. The events will highlight the important role the MDBs are called to play in closing the SOGI data gap and will discuss ongoing and potential innovative approaches to data generation and evidence-based policymaking in their client countries. By virtually bringing together key SOGI research experts, policymakers, development professionals, and LGBTI civil society organizations, the joint IDAHOTB commemoration will draw attention to the discrimination, exclusion, and violence LGBTI people face globally and provide a platform to highlight successful examples of SOGI-inclusive data generation. On May 18, we invite you to join the very first live discussion to kick off the week, ...

SDGs in Action: Integrating the SDGs into National Budgets April 12, 2019   A collaboration between the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Equitable Growth, Finance and Institutions Global Practice (EFI) and the World Bank Group Senior Vice Presidency for the 2030 Development Agenda, UN Relations and Partnerships - SDGs in Action: Integrating the SDGs into National Budgets - underscored the fact that the SDGs set an ambitious path to 2030 that will require investments of all kinds – both public and private. The seminar shone light on a key area in need of attention - how to translate the SDGs into national budgets. It explored how countries can cost out gaps to achieve the SDGs and seek to fill those gaps by mobilizing resources and budgeting for SDG activities to be translated into tangible policy and implementation at the country level. Panelists comprising of country leaders and policy makers, discussed avenues to tackle fiscal and planning challenges to budget for, and build, successful outcomes for the ...

Please join us for a livestreamed Long Conversation with The Smithsonian during IFC’s annual Sustainability Exchange event in Washington DC. This innovative session will include visionaries from the worlds of energy, healthcare, politics, transport, mining, textiles, and technology in a relay of two-person dialogues focused on the drivers of change in emerging markets. Learn about the best ideas on the horizon in 15-minute rolling conversations between experts from all walks of life.

This is a Facebook Live interview. Watch the replay! As part of our Spring Meetings 2018 Interview Series, we will be talking with Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild, Founder and CEO, Coalition for Inclusive Capitalism, to discuss how innovative partnerships between the World Bank Group, investors, and governments can lead to win-win financial solutions that help countries meet 21st century aspirations and support sustainable and inclusive growth, while offering investors sound returns.  

Big data is drastically improving our ability to understand the world around us. This event will showcase how big data and new technologies allow cities and local communities to seize new opportunities for jobs and manufacturing; deliver effective and inclusive transport and energy services; prepare for disasters; and target assistance to those who need it most. Join us to discuss how the public and private sectors can partner to unlock big data’s potential.

Join with government officials, policymakers, civil society representatives, and others for a discussion on the latest findings from the Open Budget Survey 2017 on the state of government budget transparency and accountability in 115 countries around the world. Which countries have made progress and which have regressed? What drives improvements and regressions in budget transparency, participation, and accountability? What can reformers both in and outside government do to encourage and sustain more open and accountable budgets? In the current context of growing distrust in democratic institutions, shrinking civic space, and retreating democratic engagement, we will examine how improving countries’ public finance systems and practices can be an important step in bridging the gap between citizens and their governments.

Is it possible to #EndPoverty in an inclusive way? As part of our Annual Meetings 2017 Interview Series, we will be meeting with Amanda Farnan, GenUN Georgetown Campus Leader, and Mac Darrow, Representative, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, to discuss Inclusive Action: Creating a Better World for Us All. Join us live on Wednesday, October 11th, 4:30 pm. Leave your questions in the comments below.

Watch live as Philanthropist Michael Milken and World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim discuss how to expand opportunity for prosperity to everyone in a one-on-one conversation at the Milken Institute Global Conference, "Building Meaningful Lives."    Related Links:Milken Institute Global ConferenceConference Video

A conversation with Sri Mulyani Indriwati (broadcast in Bahasa Indonesia)

Despite some progress in the past two decades, the situation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people around the world remains challenging. The rights of LGBTI people are not fully respected, protected or realized due to punitive laws and policies, stigma, discrimination, and violence. More than 70 countries still criminalize homosexuality while, in a handful of countries, homosexuality is punishable by death. While robust data are scarce, existing evidence indicates that LGBTI people have lower educational outcomes, higher unemployment rates, as well as inadequate access to health, housing, and financial services. On May 17, the World Bank Group will observe the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, now celebrated in more than 130 countries. This year’s IDAHOT will bring together policymakers, civil society, the private sector, and development partners to discuss the linkages between social inclusion and good development outcomes. Related Links: Feature Story: To Fight Poverty, We Need to Fight Homophobia and Transphobia

Join Dr. Jim Yong Kim and Professor Michael Porter for an examination of the global context for private sector engagement in helping achieve development outcomes through shared value. This unique conversation will glean insights from Dr. Kim’s visionary leadership of the World Bank and will illuminate the role that the public sector and multilateral donors can play in advancing shared value, as well as opportunities for public-private collaboration. Submit questions for Professor Porter and Dr. Kim using Pigeonhole with the event passcode: SVLEADERS About the Shared Value Leadership Summit The 2016 Shared Value Leadership Summit will feature a series of exciting plenary and lab sessions designed to share insights, celebrate successes and challenge the business community to see the strategic advantage in tackling the world’s most pressing problems. Headline speakers include Jim Kim, President of the World Bank Group; Barbara Bush, CEO and Co-Founder of Global Health Corps and Alan Murray, Managing Editor of Fortune. Related Links: 2016 Shared Value ...

Companies and governments without child- and elder-care strategies and policies cannot attract and retain talent, nor can they achieve their full productivity and growth potential. The private sector and governments must partner to address the care crisis. How can we rethink the organization of affordable and accessible care for our families and businesses, knowing that solving this issue can contribute to retaining gender-diverse talent as well as increasing competitiveness and productivity? Join us with your spouses/partners to begin a fresh conversation about why we should all care about care—employees, employers and governments alike. Related Links: World Bank Group Gender Strategy (FY 2016–2023) Putting Gender-Smart Commitments Into Practice Child care is an investment — not an expense Child Care & Parent Productivity: Making the Business Case [PDF] Maternity and paternity at work: Law and practice across the world [PDF] What’s Next for Gender Equality? A New Strategy to Address Gender Inequality Investing In Women's Employment [PDF] Gender at Work: A Companion ...

The World Bank’s Global Partnership for Social Accountability (GPSA) convenes 47 governments and more than 260 civil society and private sector partners to solve governance challenges around the world.  Today, the GPSA seeks to advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by helping citizens and governments to address what Amina Mohamed, the UN Secretary-General's Special Adviser on the SDGs, has called “the one knot we haven’t tied”: Accountability.

How do we measure development? The Social Progress Index (SPI) was launched in 2013 as a holistic approach to benchmarking countries’ social performance, independent of economic measures. The SPI has been widely taken up on a global basis in evaluating national performance, and sub-national indices are proliferating at the regional and city level. In this lecture, Professor Porter will describe the insights that the SPI provides about the relationship between economic development and social progress, along with exploring the implications for development thinking and how the World Bank can best deliver on its “shared prosperity” goal.

Citizens across the world are calling for greater citizen-state engagement and accountability. But how and when does social accountability work? This book provides a framework on how to assess the contextual drivers of social accountability effectiveness, by providing an understanding of how and under what circumstances various processes of social accountability lead to positive development outcomes. The event will present the framework and some findings for “challenging contexts” and seek feedback from practitioners based on their views and experiences.

The GPSA Partners Forum 2015 brings together civil society organizations, academia, businesses, and governments from all around the globe, to provide an important and unique space to reflect on social accountability theory and practice, and define together the future social accountability agenda. The Forum will focus on the shifting paradigm in social accountability towards a citizen-centric governance approach. We will explore how the emerging concept of strategic social accountability will play an important role in how citizen-centered governance is realized. Tune in May 13 at 9:00 a.m ET for a live streamed discussion with World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim - "Social Accountability for Citizen-Centric Governance: A Changing Paradigm."

The Arab Spring was driven by young people demanding jobs and protesting the regimes in power.  While the leaders fell in four of the five countries, the aftermath of the Arab Spring has been characterized by civil war, sectarian violence, political turmoil and, in some cases, the return of a strong state to restore peace and stability.  Economic growth has slowed and unemployment has increased.  What can be done now to meet the aspirations of the young men and women who marched in the streets in 2010-11 demanding “bread, freedom and dignity?” Join us live on November 19, 2014 with professor Juan Cole for a panel discussion chaired by World Bank Vice President for MENA Inger Anderson, on his new book : “The New Arabs:  How the Millennial Generation is Changing the Middle East”

How can a city become a place where people are empowered, opportunities exist for all, and policies promote the well-being of its citizens? Can new technologies make governments more accountable to citizens? In this event, development leaders will discuss the transformative power of inclusive institutions and citizen engagement for enhancing accountability and improving public services for the poor. The panel will address the relationship between key elements of inclusiveness – institutions, governance, and citizen engagement – against the backdrop of rapid urbanization and social change, growing inequality, and rising crime and violence.

Fifty years have passed since the Nobel laureate poet- turned- plenipotentiary, Octavio Paz, saw India, where he was Mexico’s ambassador, as “a land of extremes”. The poet’s muse was his encounter with the profusion of sights and sounds, colors and smells, people and animals that greeted him during his travels in the subcontinent. It included what he described as “the incredible opulence” of the maharajahs surrounded by what he saw as “equally unbelievable” poverty. But is that still the case today? From what perspectives? Does the region stand out, by international standards? And if so, what lies behind it? What should be done (and not done) about it? Join us as the authors of Addressing Inequality in South Asia and other experts discuss dynamics and drivers of inequality in South Asia and how to potentially address inequality for better socioeconomic development in the region.