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Sri Lanka Development Update, April 2025: Staying on Track
No full textThe Sri Lanka Development Update (SLDU) has two main aims. First, it reports on key developments over the past 12 months in Sri Lanka’s economy, places these in longer term and global contexts, and updates the outlook for Sri Lanka’s economy. Second, the SLDU provides a more in-depth examination of selected economic and policy issues. It is intended for a wide audience, including policymakers, business leaders, financial market participants, think tanks, non-governmental organizations and the community of analysts and professionals interested in Sri Lanka’s evolving economy.
The report is based on published data available on or before March 18, 2025
Air Quality Management in EU Member States
No full textThe objective of this technical note is to inform the governments of Bulgaria, Croatia, Poland,
and Romania about ongoing efforts and opportunities to strengthen AQM governance to
achieve better air quality in these countries. To this end, the note develops a framework by
which to assess institutional capacity for effective and efficient AQM. The framework consists
of 16 components organized around five attributes and a set of guidance questions to carry
out the assessment
del crecimiento a la prosperidad
No full textPanama has been one of the
fastest-growing countries in the region, with rapid economic
expansion accompanied by significant poverty reduction.
Driven by public and private investment as well as labor
accumulation, the Panamanian economy grew by an annual
average of 5.7 percent between 1990 and 2023, much higher
than the regional average of 2.5 percent. This growth
contributed to a significant reduction in poverty. Using the
poverty line of US6.85 por día per cápita (PPA 2017), la proporción de panameños afectados por la pobreza mejoró de uno de cada dos en 1989 a solo uno de cada diez vivía en 2023. Sin embargo, Panamá sigue siendo uno de los países más desiguales del mundo. Mientras que la pobreza en las zonas urbanas fue del 4,8 por ciento en 2023, la pobreza en las regiones indígenas (comarcas) alcanzó el 76 por ciento, 15 veces más. Los limitados avances en la reducción de la desigualdad, medidos por el coeficiente de Gini, contrastan con los logros de Panamá en otras áreas. A nivel mundial, Panamá ocupó el puesto 11 en desigualdad en 2000, con un coeficiente de Gini de 53,8. Dos décadas después, ocupaba el 8º lugar, con un coeficiente de Gini de 50,9 en 2022. Este informe examina los logros y desafíos de Panamá en la reducción de la pobreza y la desigualdad para informar las opciones de política. Con un enfoque especial en el período 2008-2023, el informe documenta los avances en materia de pobreza y equidad en las últimas décadas, destacando el acceso a los servicios básicos, la expansión de empleos de calidad, la mejora del capital humano y la promoción de la resiliencia de los hogares como prioridades políticas críticas
Armenia Country Gender Assessment
No full textArmenia has made important advances in promoting gender equality in recent years. Yet the country stands to benefit from the narrowing of persistent gaps in human endowment, economic opportunity, and voice and agency. This assessment offers new
insights on what remains to be accomplished to bolster gender equality, maximize opportunities, and raise the returns to human capital among women and men in the country
Technology and Corporate Ethical Standards
No full textUsing data from the World Bank
Enterprise Surveys from 2006 to 2023, this paper studies the
corporate ethical standards of technological digital
oriented firms. The findings indicate that technology and
digitalization positively impact the adoption of
environmental and social standards. However, digital
oriented technological firms show lower governance
standards. These results are influenced by country culture,
the burden of business regulation, and the perception of the
courts as an obstacle to business activity. This underscores
the importance of the broader society and the quality of the
business environment in shaping how digital oriented
technological firms adopt ethical standards
Making Cities Engines of Growth and Economic Inclusion
No full textThe new political context emerging
from the May 2024 elections provides a unique opportunity
for South Africa. The alignment of economic and political
incentives, in the sense that improving the economy is
essential for gaining political power, offers a platform to
launch a decisive transformation process, even if there is
not yet an agreement on which economic reforms to implement.
Such alignment was key behind the successful economic
transformation of China in the early 1980s, Vietnam in the
late 1980s and 1990s, Poland in the 2010s, and India in the
early 2020s. Those successes were anchored on a development
bargain, whereby the country’s elites shifted from
protecting their own positions to gambling on a growth-based
future. This report offers pragmatic policy options,
tailored for South African policymakers who want to obtain
short-term results, while creating momentum for structural
reforms, resume growth, and improve the overall welfare of
their citizens, especially the most disadvantaged
Delivering Quality and Climate-Friendly Infrastructure
No full textThe new political context emerging
from the May 2024 elections provides a unique opportunity
for South Africa. The alignment of economic and political
incentives, in the sense that improving the economy is
essential for gaining political power, offers a platform to
launch a decisive transformation process, even if there is
not yet an agreement on which economic reforms to implement.
Such alignment was key behind the successful economic
transformation of China in the early 1980s, Vietnam in the
late 1980s and 1990s, Poland in the 2010s, and India in the
early 2020s. Those successes were anchored on a development
bargain, whereby the country’s elites shifted from
protecting their own positions to gambling on a growth-based
future. This report offers pragmatic policy options,
tailored for South African policymakers who want to obtain
short-term results, while creating momentum for structural
reforms, resume growth, and improve the overall welfare of
their citizens, especially the most disadvantaged
For Advancing Circular Economies for Plastics in Bangladesh
No full textRapid economic development and
population growth in Bangladesh have fostered significant
advancements and opportunities for its citizens. Alongside
these positive changes, however, there has been a notable
increase in per capita plastic consumption, leading to a
pressing need for effective plastic waste management.
Recognizing this challenge, the Ministry of Environment,
Forest, and Climate Change (MoEFCC) of Bangladesh took a
proactive step in 2021 by endorsing the action plan for
sustainable plastic waste management. This plan aims to
establish a circular economy for plastics, ensuring that
resources are used more efficiently and sustainably.
Extended producer responsibility (EPR) shifts responsibility
from municipalities to producers and fosters product design,
management, and recycling, offering a multi-faceted array of
economic, environmental, social, and technological benefits.
It has been found that material streams of packaging,
electronics, tires, vehicles, and batteries are popularly
brought under EPR. This study on EPR assumes paramount
significance for Bangladesh. The Government of Bangladesh
recognizes the critical need for a well-designed waste
management policy and is in the process of recalibrating its
waste management policies to create a more robust and
environmentally conscious framework. This report examines
case studies from Brazil, India, the Philippines, Republic
of Korea, Singapore, South Africa, and Viet Nam to
understand their successful strategies, material streams,
legal frameworks, stakeholder roles, implementation models,
and compliance mechanisms. By assimilating global best
practices and success stories from various EPR
implementations, Bangladesh can enhance its policy
frameworks, adapting them to its unique social, economic,
and technological context
A Review of Promising Interventions Based on Global Evidence
No full textThe Government of Mongolia is committed to reducing the gender gap in life expectancy. Reducing the gender gap in life expectancy is an explicit objective of Mongolia’s Cross-Sectoral Strategic Plan for Promoting Gender Equality in Mongolia (2022-31). The first plan to reduce the disparity in life expectancy was adopted from 2020 to 2022; however, only about 60 percent of the plan was implemented. Learning from the experience of the first plan, an interdisciplinary Working Group with representatives from different governmental and nongovernmental organizations prepared a second interdisciplinary plan to reduce the disparities in life expectancy between men and women. The Prime Minister of Mongolia approved the plan in May 2024, covering the period from 2024 to 2027. The report is structured into three sections. Chapter 1 of the report provides an updated diagnostic of gender differences in mortality and summarizes the key underlying drivers of the gender gap in life expectancy identified in previous work (World Bank 2020). Based on this diagnostic, four types of policy and program interventions are selected for the review of evidence in Chapter 2, including interventions to reduce tobacco and alcohol consumption, interventions to increase uptake of primary health care, suicide prevention interventions, and interventions to address gender norms. Finally, chapter 3 highlights the way forward, including a summary of evidence-based recommendations and global evidence on the costs of implementing them
How to Promote the Green Transition, Competitiveness, and Employability by Focusing on Skills Development in South Africa
No full textSouth Africa’s green transition will
have major implications for its workforce. The World Bank
recently published several complementary reports that more
elaborately describe existing knowledge about the current
and future demand for skills for the green transition; the
ability of the PSET system to respond to these skill needs;
and recommendations to improve workforce preparedness for
the green transition. This note synthesizes these findings.
The focus of this note is on skill needs for the just energy
transition (JET) and on post-school education and training
(PSET), especially Technical and Vocational Education and
Training (TVET) and university education