When we walked through their yard, Alynur, 12, and Aryyet, 10, welcomed us with a contagious enthusiasm, one that quickly spread some joyful smiles into the joint World Bank and Kyrgyz government team. Not only was water now flowing into their home and school, new modern and safe toilets were there as well. Their grandmother, […]
Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku hosted the annual global climate Conference of the Parties (COP) from November 11–23 2024. Over 60,000 delegates were registered from nearly 200 countries for COP29. Dubbed a “Climate Finance COP”, the annual Conference of the Parties dedicated to climate change centered on one of the most challenging issues facing countries: how to pay […]
As we wrap up 2024, it’s the perfect time to reflect on the milestones we’ve achieved, and the transformative steps taken by the Global Department for Water. This year, we made great strides toward securing water for people, food, and the planet— a mission that lies at the heart of our work. Let’s revisit the top five […]
In observance of the International Migrants Day, December 18 Officially recorded remittances to low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are expected to reach $685 billion in 2024. The true size of remittances, including flows through informal channels, is also believed to be even larger. The growth rate of remittances in 2024 is estimated to be 5.8 […]
Unlocking the power of public investment is a crucial policy lever for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. The latest Global Economic Prospects report finds that certain policy interventions can help emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs) boost output by up to 1.6 percent over 5 years by scaling up public investment by 1 percent of GDP. The […]
The US stands unrivalled as both a military and financial superpower. This column uses a game-theoretic model to show how the global dominance of the US dollar – what economists call the ‘exorbitant privilege’ – is inextricably linked to America’s unmatched military strength. This dual hegemony allows the US to finance its defence spending at […]
The social cost of carbon is the estimated present discounted value of economic damages from emitting one ton of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere today. This column proposes a straightforward way to calculate the cost which takes into account the damages to aggregate production, the risk of recurring climate disasters, and the risk of a […]
Political risk is not taken into account when assessing whether countries can manage their debts, but it could be and should be. Debt sustainability analysis (DSA) is a tool used by institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the European Commission to assess whether countries can continue with their fiscal policies without running into […]
This Policy Brief explores the potential implementation of Article 7 interoperability for social networking core platform systems. Executive summary The European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) includes interoperability requirements for messaging services but not for personal social networking platforms. These gatekeeper platforms have seen little increase in competition under the DMA. Interoperability requirements – meaning different services […]
A comprehensive study of the long-term care (LTC) systems in Germany, France, Slovenia, Italy and Denmark This paper offers a comprehensive study of the long-term care (LTC) systems in Germany, France, Slovenia, Italy and Denmark. In many EU countries, the demand for LTC services already exceeds supply. Without major reforms, this ‘care gap’ is likely […]
