A lively and, at times, heated discussion centered around what is arguably the greatest challenge facing development today – state fragility. Previously considered to be a phenomenon of low-income countries, fragility now afflicts middle- and even high-income countries, such as those in the Middle East. Moderated by author and journalist Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, the roundtable discussion featured three major global actors on state fragility: the Commission on State Fragility, Growth and Development, represented by Donald Kaberuka and Sir Paul Collier; the IMF’s Tao Zhang; and the WBG’s Kristalina Georgieva. “Be there, stay there” was a key takeaway from the panel, which highlighted Rwanda as a success story to learn from but acknowledged the global development community’s many failed efforts to lift states out of fragility. So which strategies will work? Everyone agreed they don’t revolve solely around money. Rather, they should focus on local people, economic growth, and job creation. Locals must have ownership of the rebuilding ...
For the first time in history we are seeing the emergence of vast cities in places that are both poor and, sadly, often also poorly governed. These megacities offer both tremendous possibilities of economic prosperity, growth, and development, but also enormous challenges including the spread of contagious disease, traffic congestion, and violent crime. Getting these cities right may be the most important challenge of the 21st century. The city’s land is the starting point—and the critical thing for land is creating a system of formal titles. If you are ever going to fund a city, you need property ownership to get property taxes. If you are going to have regulations that require people to use sanitary facilities, you need to have ownership as well. And if you’re going to empower ordinary citizens to change their city, they need to have a sense of owning it. Formal title is critical to housing and infrastructure, firm growth and employment, ...
For the third year in a row, MIGA will be presenting its Gender CEO Award to honor senior managers (CEOs or equivalent) who have a proven track record of seeking to further the causes of women’s advancement and gender equality while contributing to the World Bank Group’s twin goals of poverty reduction and shared prosperity. This year, MIGA is proud to honor Julie Monaco, the Global Head of the Public Sector at Citigroup. Ms. Monaco has decades of experience in the finance sector, and has been instrumental in her current role in shaping Citi’s investments in development projects across the globe – helping improve the lives of millions.
Over 65 million people are currently forcibly displaced worldwide. 22 million are officially recognized refugees outside of their home country. New drivers of displacement such as climate change mean this record number is likely to grow. And yet, as the refugee crises of 2015 showed, the current international system is ill-equipped to deal with the challenge. People seeking protection beyond their own borders, are increasingly stuck in protracted or situations while seeking increasingly dangerous routes. Anti-migrant sentiments in many societies are rising. Changes are needed on the international level to resolve this growing crisis. What role will resettlement, external processing, or special economic zones play? And how can the private sector and civil society be engaged in new and more productive ways? What can be done in conflict countries to prevent further mass migration?
The last 50 years have seen a great expansion of schooling in many developing countries, but education outcomes are lagging behind. As countries have committed to ensuring inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning (Sustainable Development Goal 4), the World Development Report 2018 (WDR 2018) – LEARNING to Realize Education’s Promise – warns that there is a “learning crisis”. Please join the World Bank’s Global Partnership for Social Accountability’s (GPSA) together with the World Bank’s Global Practice on Governance, Global Practice on Education, Basic Education Coalition and members of the GPSA’s Steering Committee for a Round Table discussion about the contribution that collaborative social accountability can make in the education sector in general and specifically towards addressing the learning crisis. The GPSA works with over 50 governments and more than 260 civil society and private sector partners towards solving governance challenges around the world. The GPSA portfolio has a set of projects where promising examples of civil society, governments and ...
