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Macro Poverty Outlook Country-by-Country Analysis and Projections for the Developing World, Spring Meetings 2025
Get PDFThis edition of the Macro Poverty Outlooks periodical contains country-by-country forecasts and overviews for GDP, fiscal, debt and poverty indicators for the developing countries of Middle East and North Africa. Macroeconomic indicators such as population, gross domestic product and gross domestic product per capita, and where available, other indicators such as primary school enrollment, life expectancy at birth, total greenhouse gas emissions and inflation, among others, are included for each country. In addition to the World Bank’s most recent forecasts, key conditions and challenges, recent developments and outlook are briefly described for each country in the region
Rapport national sur le climat et le développement de l'Union des Comores
Get PDFThe World Bank Group’s Country Climate and Development Reports (CCDRs) are a core diagnostic that integrates climate change and development. They help countries prioritize the most impactful actions that can reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and boost adaptation and resilience, while delivering on broader development goals. CCDRs build on data and rigorous research and identify main pathways to reduce GHG emissions and climate vulnerabilities, including the costs and challenges as well as benefits and opportunities from doing so. The reports suggest concrete, priority actions to support the low-carbon, resilient transition. As public documents, CCDRs aim to inform governments, citizens, the private sector and development partners and enable engagements with the development and climate agenda. CCDRs feed into other core Bank Group diagnostics, country engagements and operations, and help attract funding and direct financing for high-impact climate action.The Union of the Comoros (“The Comoros”) has significant vulnerability to climate change related risks but has considerable opportunities to strengthen preparedness and resilience against these challenges. According to the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Index, the Comoros is the 29th-most vulnerable country to climate change and the 163rd most ready to adapt (out of 191). The Comoros archipelago is exposed to many natural hazards that adversely affect the country’s natural capital, people, and physical infrastructure. In 2014, the economic cost of climate-related disasters was estimated at $5.7 million annually, equivalent to 9.2 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Between 2018 and 2023, as many as 11 tropical depressions or cyclones impacted the country, with Cyclone Kenneth causing the greatest damage, equivalent to 14 percent of GDP, resulting in total economic growth falling from 3.6 percent in 2018 to 1.9 percent in 2019. More than 345,000 people (40 percent of the population) were affected by the cyclone, with 185,000 people experiencing severe impacts and 12,000 displaced. However, there is an opportunity for the country to grow more robust and shock-responsive, and to establish prepositioned funding mechanisms to enhance future crisis response efforts.L’Union des Comores (« les Comores ») est particulièrement vulnérable aux risques climatiques, mais peut saisir d’importantes opportunités pour renforcer sa préparation et sa résilience face à ces défis. Selon l’indice mondial d’adaptation de Notre Dame, les Comores sont le 29e pays le plus vulnérable au changement climatique et se situent au 163e rang en ce qui concerne la préparation à l’adaptation, sur 191 pays évalués. L’archipel est exposé à de nombreuses catastrophes naturelles qui affectent gravement le capital naturel, la population et les infrastructures physiques. En 2014, le coût économique des catastrophes climatiques a été évalué à 5,7 millions USD par an, soit 9,2 pour cent du produit intérieur brut (PIB). Entre 2018 et 2023, le pays a subi 11 dépressions tropicales ou cyclones, le cyclone Kenneth ayant provoqué les plus lourds dégâts. Ces dommages ont représenté 14 pour cent du PIB, entraînant une baisse de la croissance économique de 3,6 pour cent en 2018 à 1,9 pour cent en 2019. Plus de 345 000 personnes, soit 40 pour cent de la population, ont été affectées par le cyclone, dont 185 000 gravement affectées et 12 000 déplacées. Malgré ces défis, les Comores disposent d’importantes opportunités pour renforcer leur résilience face aux crises climatiques. Le pays peut devenir plus robuste et réactif aux chocs, notamment en mettant en place des mécanismes de financement prépositionnés afin d’améliorer les efforts de réponse aux crises à venir
Letter of Authorization and Acknowledgement
No full textThis Letter of Authorization provides a common template to be used with schedules that may be specified by each Member Country. This template is intended to simplify the process for authorization, reduce transaction costs, and allow flexibility for bilateral arrangements. It is intended to be used for all authorizations to be granted under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement (6.2 and 6.4). It includes an illustrative schedule of terms that is most likely to maximize investment and value for the Member Country. The Guidance document allows each Member Country to actively choose whether the project is intended to be authorized (subject to corresponding adjustments and a Letter of Authorization) or outside the scope of authorization (ideally subject to a Letter of Acknowledgement in order to increase certainty and corresponding investment value). This version incorporates changes related to decisions made at COP29
Expanding Economic Opportunities for Youth, Women, and Refugees in Jordan
Get PDFEconomic growth and job creation remain key challenges for Jordan, where the economy has only grown by an annual average of 2.5 percent over the past decade. Unemployment is persistently high (22.3 percent in 2023), particularly for youth (46.1 percent). Women, too, face significant structural barriers to working, from legal restrictions to lack of childcare; at 13.5 percent, Jordan’s female labor force participation rate is one of the lowest in the world. Adding to these challenges is Jordan’s large Syrian refugee population, who numbered some 1.3 million in 2023. One of the government’s main objectives under the Economic Modernization Vision is to create economic opportunities by improving the livelihoods of vulnerable groups, increasing labor force participation, encouraging entrepreneurship, and expanding vocational and technical education and training
Amazonia Bond Issuance Guidelines
Get PDFAmazonia, the world’s largest tropical rainforest region, plays a critical role in global bio-diversity, climate regulation, and sustaining the livelihoods of millions of people, including Indigenous peoples (IP), Afro-descendants (AD), and traditional communities (TC). It faces several complex and inter-linked challenges, such as socio-economic inequality, defor-estation, ecosystem degradation, food insecurity, and vulnerability to climate events.
The World Bank and the IDB jointly developed the Amazonia Bond Issuance Guide¬lines (Guidelines) to provide guidance and suggestions for the issuance of capital market instruments to finance investments in projects that support the transition to net-zero deforestation in the Amazonia region and help the local population pursue better liveli-hoods while preserving the ecosystem. While the existing Green Bond Principles (GBP), Social Bond Principles (SBP), and Sustainability Bond Guidelines of the International Cap-ital Market Association (ICMA Principles) provide best practices for bond issuances, they do not specifically address the unique challenges and priorities of the Amazonia region that Amazonia Bonds should finance. This document assists in closing the financing gap by providing suggested definitions of Amazonia Bonds and guidance for the issu¬ance process
India's Tuberculosis Recognition Program
Get PDFThis report outlines the development of a novel strategy for an intergovernmental transfer program known as performance-based incentives (PBIs). The Government of India initiated the Sub-National Certification for Tuberculosis (SNC) to consolidate efforts aimed at eradicating Tuberculosis (TB). A detailed understanding of the TB burden at subnational levels, along with more granular insights into interventions in various contexts, is critical for TB control. The World Health Organization certifies member states for disease elimination globally; however, the prevalence of diseases varies significantly among Indian states and regions.
In response, India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare developed a ‘Sub-National Certification of Progress towards TB Free Status’ initiative to measure progress toward ending TB at district and state/Union Territory levels. The early introduction of the TB Index, designed to complement the SNC scheme, ensures compatibility between the two. This SNC initiative, which is a provider recognition program, rewards increasing levels of tuberculosis elimination relative to a 2015 baseline through public recognition and financial incentives. During its implementation amid over two years of disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the SNC initiative aims to achieve several objectives: (i) assess the current pace, challenges, and lessons from the SNC's initial implementation to inform future improvements and scale-up; (ii) promote this domestic innovation on an international scale; and (iii) contextualize this innovation within other performance-based innovations in the health sector, offering a range of options for countries aiming to eliminate TB.
This document aligns with the Lighthouse India Initiative. The World Bank documents lessons and evidence from India while sharing global lessons and best practices with Indian policymakers and technocrats. By situating India’s innovation within the broader scope of international health experiences with various award-based, incentive-based, performance-based, and results-based approaches, the report provides a comprehensive menu of options for future efforts to combat Tuberculosis
Results Snapshot from a Rapid Monitoring Phone Survey of Households
Get PDFThe Lao economy faces increased challenges from currency depreciation and high inflation. Economic recovery from COVID-19 has been gradual, undermined by macroeconomic instability and external factors. The combination of the need to service large external debts, high import prices, and limited foreign exchange reserves, has led to a sharp fall in value of the local currency. The World Bank has conducted a series of Rapid Monitoring Phone Surveys of Households in the Lao PDR to regularly monitor household welfare. The first survey was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, from June 20 to July 16, 2020. Following the sixth-round survey of December 5, 2022 to January 4, 2023, the seventh and most recent round was conducted from May 29 to June 28, 2023. 1 The monitoring data offers insights into the effects of economic shocks on household well-being. This note provides a snapshot of findings from the seventh round
Mobilizing Private Capital for Development Through World Bank Group Guarantees, Fiscal Years 2015–24: An Independent Evaluation (Approach Paper)
Get PDFThe World Bank Group strategy emphasizes that private capital is critical for the investments required to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in client countries (World Bank and IMF 2023). A large gap persists between the resources of governments and donors and the investment required to address development challenges. In recognition of this gap, multilateral development banks (MDBs) and other development institutions, donors, and governments have recognized the importance of giving priority to private finance. Financing development goals is especially challenging in lower- and middle-income countries. This evaluation takes place at a time when the Bank Group strategy positions it to play a key role in mobilizing private capital for development. Guarantees are central to the Bank Group’s strategy for the Evolution Roadmap (World Bank and IMF 2023), which foresees the Bank Group enabling and mobilizing private capital to achieve development impact at scale. Emphasis on guarantees is rooted in recognition that they are vehicles to enable the substantial private investment required to meet the SDGs and confront development challenges. The main objective of this evaluation is to extract learning from the Bank Group’s experience in using guarantees appropriately and effectively to support clients in their efforts to mobilize private capital for development purposes
Income Shocks, Bride Price, and Child Marriage in Turkey
No full textEarly marriage persists in many countries in spite of legal prohibition. The role of income shocks and bride price norms is investigated in the context of Turkey. Using data from the Turkey Demographic and Health Surveys 1998 to 2018, rainfall shocks are exploited as an exogenous source of variation of household income. To study the role of marital payments, measures of shocks are interacted with a province-level indicator based on past prevalence of bride price. Estimation results show that girls exposed to a large negative shock during adolescence have a higher probability of being married before 15, if living in provinces with a high prevalence of bride price. More arranged and forced marriages are found after severe shocks in those provinces. Results suggest that daughter marriage, as a response to mitigate negative income shocks, is not limited to the poorest countries, and still contributes to household strategies in Turkey
The Case of Jamaica
No full textThis country profile analyzes gender
gaps in the disaster risk management (DRM) agenda in Jamaica
that influence the exposure and vulnerability, preparedness,
and coping capacity of different populations. Identified
gender gaps need to be considered when preparing and
implementing DRM policies, programs, and projects before,
during, and after disasters strike to improve their
effectiveness and equity