Fix education to make AI work across Europe and Central Asia Ivailo IzvorskiAparnaa Somanathan October 28, 2026 This page in: English

https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/developmenttalk/fix-education-to-make-ai-work-across-europe-and-central-asia The countries of Europe and Central Asia (ECA) cannot afford to miss the opportunity that artificial intelligence (AI) offers, but they will not seize it without the right skills. This is the one of the main messages of the latest World Bank Economic Update on Europe and Central Asia. Few developing regions have as much to gain from AI as ECA. Productivity and business dynamism have been slowing for two decades. The working-age population has already shrunk in most countries and is on track to fall sharply across much of the region by 2060. On top of that, the quality of education has declined in most ECA countries over the last decade.

Beyond the Headcount: The Changing Geography and Composition of Global Poverty, 2003–2024 (English)

https://documents.worldbank.org/en/publication/documents-reports/documentdetail/099727410212633318 Using harmonized household surveys from 154 countries, covering about 96 percent of the global population, this paper examines changes in geography and composition of poverty. It yields two main findings. First, global extreme poverty decreased substantially between 2003 and 2024 (by roughly 1.2 billion people), however progress slowed and became increasingly uneven between 2013 and 2024. By 2024, the poor were concentrated in Sub-Saharan Africa...

Education and urbanization alone may not end global extreme poverty Minh Cong NguyenNishant YonzanBen BrunckhorstSotaire KwizeraChristoph LaknerGabriel Lara IbarraHenry Stemmler October 28, 2026 This page in: English

https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/opendata/education-and-urbanization-alone-may-not-end-global-extreme-pove Counting the number of people living in extreme poverty — on less than $3 a day — is only part of the picture. We also need to understand who they are, where they live, and how their circumstances have changed. A new paper using household surveys from 154 economies, covering 96 percent of the world’s population, examines the characteristics of people living in extreme poverty from 2003 to 2024. Although extreme poverty has declined worldwide, it is increasingly concentrated in Sub-Saharan Africa, fragile economies, rural communities, younger populations, and people with limited education. Advances in urbanization and education — both strongly associated with poverty reduction in East and South Asia—have produced much smaller gains in Sub-Saharan Africa.

From survival to scale: How Senegal is building a pipeline of growth firms Jana MalinskaSeydina Alioune DjigoDouglas PearceMazen Bouri October 28, 2026 This page in: English Français

https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/psd/senegal-is-building-a-pipeline-of-growth-firms Logidoo, formerly 2W Logistics, is a Senegalese logistics company. It had been operating for years before growth constraints began to weigh. Foundations were already in place, but scale remained elusive. The company faced familiar hurdles: limited visibility, organizational challenges, and difficulties expanding internationally. Like many small businesses, it was looking less for a shortcut than for clearer pathways to move forward.

A century of extreme poverty: five facts from 1950 to 2050 Christoph LaknerSamuel Kofi Tetteh Baah October 26, 2026 This page in: English

https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/opendata/five-facts-about-extreme-poverty-in-the-world-in-long-time-horiz 1. The world has made remarkable progress in reducing extreme poverty in the past 75 years. Between 1950 and 2025, the world has experienced remarkable progress in reducing the proportion of the population living in extreme poverty from 60 percent to 10 percent. Consider the lifetime of someone in their 70s today. When they were born, six out of ten people were living in extreme poverty globally. Today, one out of ten people are living in extreme poverty. The world has made remarkable progress in reducing extreme poverty over the past 75 years, despite the global population more than tripling (from 2.5 billion to 8.3 billion). Today, more than 800 million people are living in extreme poverty; that is, they live on less than $3.00 a day (2021 PPP).

Lifelines: The Resilient Infrastructure Opportunity

https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/c3a753a6-2310-501b-a37e-5dcab3e96a0b From serving our most basic needs to enabling our most ambitious ventures in trade and technology, infrastructure services are essential for raising and maintaining people’s quality of life. Yet millions of people, especially in low- and middle-income countries, are facing the consequences of unreliable electricity grids, inadequate water and sanitation systems, and overstrained transport networks. Natural hazards magnify the challenges faced by these fragile systems. Building on a wide range of case studies, global empirical analyses, and modeling exercises, Lifelines lays out a framework for understanding infrastructure resilience—the ability of infrastructure systems to function and meet users’ needs during and after a natural shock—and it makes an economic case for building more resilient infrastructure. Lifelines concludes by identifying five obstacles to resilient infrastructure and offering concrete recommendations and specific actions that can be taken by governments, stakeholders, and the international community to improve the quality and resilience of these essential services, and thereby contribute to more resilient and prosperous societies.

Jobs in a Changing Climate: Insights from World Bank Group Country Climate and Development Reports Covering 93 Economies

https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/b241b8f1-c77d-4470-9070-514fdc168440 The World Bank Group’s Country Climate and Development Reports (CCDRs) provide a crosscutting look at how countries’ development prospects, and the job opportunities they offer to their people, can be threatened by climate impacts and supported by climate policies. Climate change and policies affect jobs through impacts on productivity, energy and material efficiency, and physical, human, and natural capital. They can also transform employment opportunities, especially through complementary measures that help workers and firms adapt to and benefit from new technologies and production practices. Prepared by the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), CCDRs integrate country perspectives, climate science and economic modeling, private sector information, and policy analysis to assess how countries can successfully grow and develop their economies and create jobs despite increasing climate risks and while achieving their climate objectives and commitments. Each CCDR starts from the country’s development priorities, opportunities, and challenges, and is developed in close consultation with governments, businesses, and civil society, ensuring the recommendations reflect national priorities. By combining evidence on adaptation, resilience, and emissions pathways, CCDRs highlight where climate action can reinforce development and job creation, and where targeted policies are needed to manage risks and smooth labor market transitions. Taken together, these elements can help create local jobs, ensure economic transitions are just and inclusive, and equip workers and firms to navigate the disruptions and opportunities of a changing climate and changing technologies.

Jobs in a Changing Climate

https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/climatechange/publication/jobs-in-a-changing-climate Investments in building climate resilience can deliver benefits equivalent to 150 million jobs by 2050, according to the World Bank report, “Jobs in a Changing Climate: Insights from World Bank Group Country Climate and Development Reports (CCDRs) covering 93 economies.” The report, which draws on evidence from CCDRs representing 64 percent of the population and 77 percent of the GDP of low- and middle-income countries, demonstrates ways that countries can integrate their own climate and development goals to drive job creation, economic growth, and resilience. The report finds that the impacts of climate change will negatively affect employment—with the potential for the equivalent of 43 million job losses by 2050 across 49 countries—a figure that rises to 260 million when extrapolated to all low- and middle-income countries.

People in a Changing Climate: From Vulnerability to Action

https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/climatechange/publication/people-in-a-changing-climate-from-vulnerability-to-action Ending poverty on a livable planet requires all countries to enhance the resilience and adaptation of their people and economies to the impacts of climate change, while also reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and other damages to nature and the environment. To identify opportunities and priorities to align development and climate change action and objectives at the country level, the World Bank Group introduced the Country Climate and Development Reports (CCDRs) in 2022. This summary report, the third in the series, presents key findings from the first three years of CCDRs,covering 72 countries and economies. It complements the previous two summaries by focusing on the role of people, as they are affected by climate change impacts, but also as essential actors in inventing, designing, and implementing solutions to make development more resilient and to lower emissions.

The Development, Climate, and Nature Crisis

https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/climatechange/publication/the-development-climate-and-nature-crisis The world is facing a triple crisis—in development, climate, and nature— and climate action is off track. Poor governance, limited access to finance, and political economy barriers are slowing down progress. Countries are not reducing emissions or building resilience fast enough, which is putting development achievements at risk. But beyond these grim headlines, there are increasingly clear opportunities to achieve development and climate double wins and there is a better understanding of the challenges that can turn these opportunities into trade-offs. That’s what the World Bank’s Country Climate and Development Reports (CCDRs) intend to capture: identifying opportunities for each country and priorities for investments and reforms.

São Tomé and Príncipe Country Climate and Development Report: Building Resilience in a Boutique Biosphere Country

https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/90639df6-153a-4cb6-828c-312cc32b5aeb Climate change poses a serious threat to São Tomé and Príncipe, but the country's unique assets offer a powerful foundation for a resilient, prosperous future. This Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR) shows that ambitious climate action can protect people and livelihoods while unlocking new engines of inclusive growth. São Tomé and Príncipe is highly exposed to climate risks. Flooding already costs the country around 3 percent of GDP annually and could double by 2080. Sea level rise threatens the nearly three-quarters of the population living in low-lying coastal areas, while ocean warming and shifting rainfall patterns put fisheries and agriculture under growing pressure. Yet STP holds a distinctive competitive advantage: it is the world's first country whose entire territory is designated a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve — a credible platform for accessing green and blue finance, attracting eco-tourism, and building high-value sustainable supply chains. The report lays out two alternative futures. Under a business-as-usual path, the economy grows at roughly 3.1 percent annually, heavily dependent on public investment and aid, with slow job creation and persistent vulnerability to climate shocks. Under an aspirational scenario anchored in structural reform and climate investment, growth accelerates to 4.1 percent annually, GDP per capita rises nearly 29 percent higher than the baseline by 2050, and employment expands by 70 percent, turning climate adaptation into an important jobs agenda. The energy transition is among the most compelling near-term opportunities. Implementing the country's national energy decarbonization plan (reaching 50 percent renewable electricity by 2030) is projected to save more than US$600 million over the next decade, while reducing dependence on costly imported fuel. To realize this better path, the CCDR highlights priority investments across seven areas: climate-smart agriculture and fisheries; water security; resilient value chains for cocoa, spices, and seafood; coastal and transport infrastructure; clean energy systems; climate-resilient social services; and innovative climate finance.

Climate and Development: An Agenda for Action

https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/climatechange/publication/climate-and-development-an-agenda-for-action Climate change poses a major threat to long-term development objectives, especially poverty reduction, and accelerated emission reductions are needed, particularly in high-income and other high-emitting countries. Reducing emissions can be done without compromising development: taken together, CCDR low-carbon development strategies reduce emissions by 70%, without significant impact on growth, provided that policies are well designed and financing is available. Financing needs average 1.4 percent of GDP, a manageable amount with appropriate private sector involvement. But in lower-income countries, financing needs can exceed 5 percent, which will require more support from high-income countries, including increased concessional resources.

Country Climate and Development Reports (CCDRs)

https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/country-climate-development-reports The World Bank Group’s Country Climate and Development Reports (CCDRs) are a core diagnostic that integrates climate change and development. They support countries to identify how to accelerate their development ambitions in line with their own nationally determined contributions and long-term strategies. CCDRs build on data and rigorous research and identify main pathways to reduce GHG emissions and boost resilience, including the costs and challenges as well as benefits and opportunities from doing so. The reports suggest concrete, priority actions that countries can take to develop while building resilience. As public documents, CCDRs are tools for governments, citizens, the private sector and development partners and feed into other core Bank Group diagnostics, country engagements, and help inform operations. Every year, key insights are summarized in an annual report, and four reports have been published so far. The latest one,  Jobs in a Changing Climate: Insights from Country Climate and Development Reports (CCDRs) covering 93 economies, shows that investments that build greater resilience and help countries, communities, and companies adapt can generate the equivalent of 25 million more and better-paid jobs across the 49 of the countries studied—or 150 million jobs when extrapolated to all low- and middle-income countries. It was published at COP30. The third report, People in a Changing Climate, focuses on the role of people, as they are affected by climate change impacts and as essential actors in inventing, designing, and implementing solutions to make development more resilient and to reduce emissions and was published at COP29. The second report, the Climate, Development, and Nature Crisis, was based on CCDRs covering 42 economies and was published at COP28. The first report, Climate and Development: an Agenda for Action, was based on 20 CCDRs and was published at COP27. 

What 100 economies have taught us about climate and development Paschal Donohoe October 28, 2026 This page in: English

https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/voices/what-100-economies-have-taught-us-about-climate-and-development The current El Niño is a reminder of how quickly climate shocks can become development challenges. Drought can wither crops and drain the reservoirs that power homes and factories. Heavy rainfall can wash away schools, roads, and other infrastructure. The effects vary from place to place, but the lesson is widely shared: countries need to build resilience through smart development that protects livelihoods, creates jobs, and drives growth.

UAE Signs Agreement to Host 2029 World Bank Group and IMF Annual Meetings in Abu Dhabi

https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2026/10/18/uae-signs-agreement-to-host-2029-world-bank-group-annual-meetings BANGKOK, October 18, 2026—The United Arab Emirates has signed the agreement to host the 2029 Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group (WBG) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Abu Dhabi. Signed at the conclusion of the 2026 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group in Bangkok, Thailand, the agreement reflects growing international confidence in the UAE’s economic and financial ecosystem. It also reinforces the country’s position as a global financial hub and strategic partner in supporting the stability of the international economic system and shaping its future direction.

World Bank Group Launches First Digital Strategy to Expand Access and Create Jobs

https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2026/10/20/world-bank-group-launches-first-digital-strategy-to-expand-access-and-create-jobs SEOUL, October 20, 2026— The World Bank Group today launched its first digital strategy, bringing together its public and private sector capabilities to help developing countries expand affordable digital access, improve services, and create jobs.

Sri Lanka Launches AgriConnect Joint Implementation Plan to Transform Agriculture, Create Jobs

https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2026/10/29/sri-lanka-launches-agriconnect-joint-implementation-plan-to-transform-agriculture COLOMBO, October 30, 2026– The Government of Sri Lanka, in partnership with the World Bank Group and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), today announced the launch of the Sri Lanka AgriConnect Joint Implementation Plan, a coordinated effort to transform the country’s agrifood sector, create jobs, and strengthen food security.

Rebuilding Homes, Restoring Communities: Scaling Housing Solutions for Recovery and Growth in Ukraine Date & Time November 03 - 05, 2026 ET 9:00 AM EET

Rebuilding Homes, Restoring Communities: Scaling Housing Solutions for Recovery and Growth in Ukraine First Ukraine Annual Housing Conference (AHC) organized by the World Bank Group and Ministry of Communities, Territories, and Internally Displaced Persons of Ukraine Date & Time November 03 - 05, 2026 ET 9:00 AM EET Location Kyiv, Ukraine In-Person LANGUAGE: Ukrainian with simultaneous interpretation into English, unless otherwise indicated under specific sessions FORMAT: Hybrid for Day 1; In-person for Days 2 and 3. https://www.worldbank.org/en/events/2026/10/07/rebuilding-homes-restoring-communities-scaling-housing-solutions-for-recovery The AHC will bring together stakeholders engaged in Ukraine’s housing recovery and reconstruction agenda. The event is designed to ensure a balanced dialogue between policy makers, financiers, implementers, technical experts, civil society, and private sector, reflecting the multi-dimensional nature of the housing sector and the need for coordinated action across all levels. Main objectives of the Conference are: 1. Strategic Alignment. Strengthen a shared vision for housing recovery by aligning policy priorities, implementation approaches, and investment decisions across national and local stakeholders. 2. Coordination and Implementation. Enhance coordination among government, municipalities, development partners, IFIs, civil society, academia, and the private sector to improve program alignment, investment planning, and implementation of housing initiatives. 3. New Knowledge Generation and Networking. Facilitate the exchange of lessons learned, innovative practices, and international experience to support evidence-based decision-making and the development of effective solutions for Ukraine's housing recovery, while improving synergies and networking opportunities between the participants and stakeholders. Questions? Contact us at Ukraine_Housing_Conference@worldbankgroup.org

Law, Justice, and Development Forum of Attorneys General and Ministers of Justice Date & Time November 02 - 03, 2026 ET

Law, Justice, and Development Forum of Attorneys General and Ministers of Justice Legal Leaders as Catalysts for Development. A high-level exchange of global knowledge on legal frameworks for unlocking private investment for development. Date & Time November 02 - 03, 2026 ET Location World Bank Group Headquarters in Washington, DC Event Contact Email: ljd@worldbankgroup.org https://www.worldbank.org/en/events/2026/11/02/ljdforum2026 Creating more and better jobs is the foundation of durable growth, stability, prosperity, and hope. When clear rules and predictable and consistent policies and regulations are in place—also known as a business-enabling environment—capital can be unlocked and firms can plan, invest, and hire with more confidence. Attorneys General and Ministers of Justice play a central role in stewarding a country’s legal and regulatory frameworks. As the chief legal officers in their governments, they lead and can leverage the systems to implement policy and reform commitments that are essential to enable private sector investment, job creation, and economic growth. The Law, Justice, and Development (LJD) Forum places legal frameworks at the center of the development agenda. Over two days, this closed-door program will convene these legal leaders from around the world to discuss and identify specific collaborative engagements aimed at creating business-enabling environments across priority sectors. Through peer exchange and moderated sessions, the LJD Forum will spotlight the legal systems and solutions to remove obstacles to investment and unlock growth through a more dynamic private sector.

Indonesia: Early Market Engagement (EME) - LMIS (SIAPKerja) Off-the-Shelf Solution (Perpetual License) Date & Time November 02, 2026 03:00 AM - 05:00 AM ET 2 pm - 5pm local time

Indonesia: Early Market Engagement (EME) - LMIS (SIAPKerja) Off-the-Shelf Solution (Perpetual License) The purpose of EME is to engage potential solution providers early in the process and gather market insights to help refine the TOR and procurement strategy. https://www.worldbank.org/en/events/2026/10/25/indonesia-early-market-engagement-eme-lmis-siapkerja-off-the-shelf-solution-perpet Description: The purpose of the early market engagement to engage potential solution providers early in the process and gather market insights to help refine the TOR and procurement strategy. Event Contact For more information, please reach out to: listrafrocankemnaker@gmail.com