This report provides new data on trade in medical goods and services and medical value chains; surveys the evolving policy landscape before and during the pandemic; and proposes an action plan to improve trade policies and deepen international cooperation to deal with future pandemics.

New analysis in the report Where is the Value in the Chain? Pathways out of Plastic Pollution provides key recommendations to policymakers on how to create a comprehensive approach to addressing plastic pollution and make informed decisions.

Adoption of better technologies can generate better and more jobs for Senegal's growing population. The book recommends policies to ensure availability of affordable digital infrastructure and to promote use of better technologies by firms as well as to narrow deepening digital divides across enterprises and households.

Wealth, measured comprehensively to include all assets (produced, human, and natural capital) underpins national income, and sustained growth over the long term requires investment in this broad portfolio of assets. Changing Wealth of Nations 2020 firmly establishes wealth as a measure of sustainability and key component of country analytics by i) expanding the coverage and improving the quality of all assets, notably natural capital, and ii) demonstrating how wealth accounts can be applied in analytics to areas of major policy concern like climate change and natural resource policy reform.

Most policy makers readily acknowledge the economic, environmental, and social benefits of moving freight and passengers by waterways. However, why do many countries struggle to develop and revive their inland waterways transportation (IWT)? One reason is because of the dearth of successful examples of IWT revival. Aside from the United States and Europe, which have been relatively successful, the experience of many emerging countries has been a tale of intensive use followed by total collapse of the IWT sector. However, the combination of societal, economic, and environmental imperatives is motivating reassessment, as countries look to develop sustainable transport systems and to curb greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector. China's experience has similarities to the experience of many countries and offers valuable lessons. This report is the result of an in-depth retrospective study of IWT in China and fills a gap in global knowledge. From an IWT system that carried less than 150 million tons in 1978, IWT in China carried 3.74 billion tons of cargo in 2018—six times more than either the European Union or the United States. China now has the busiest IWT system in the world. China's leadership in IWT development started with years of investment in infrastructure that transformed lowgrade waterways, allowing larger vessels to use the waterways, which resulted in higher transport efficiency and lower cost. China also invested in development of skills and technical know-how. To date there are 127,000 km of inland waterways in China that have high-quality navigability and a good safety record. During the period of rapid economic development, China also adopted or developed internationally recognized technical innovations for river classification, vessel replacement, navigation technology, and environmental protection. What China achieved is informative. In particular, how and why China improved IWT provides valuable lessons for other countries

This toolkit outlines the multiphased approach needed to set up a health hotline or telemedicine service at a national scale while also providing tools that can be used to, for example, cost out and design the system, contract service providers, and/or engage mobile network operators.

Global Economic Prospects is a World Bank Group Flagship Report. Published semiannually, the report includes analysis of topical policy challenges faced by developing countries through in-depth research in the January edition, and shorter analytical pieces in the June edition.

The formation of human capital--the knowledge, skills, and health that people accumulate over their lifetimes--is critical for the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Human capital contributes not only to human development and employment but also to the long-term sustainability of a diversified economic growth model that is knowledge based and private sector driven. This approach is critical, given that income from oil and gas will eventually decline and that the nature of work is evolving in response to rapid technological changes, in turn demanding new skill sets. The GCC governments have demonstrated their strong political will for this shift: four of them are among the first countries to join the World Bank's Human Capital Project-a global effort to improve investments in people as measured by the Human Capital Index. The GCC countries face four main challenges:* Low levels of basic proficiency among schoolchildren* A mismatch between education and the labor market* A relatively high rate of adult mortality and morbidity* A unique labor market , in which wages in the public sector are more generous than in the private sector and government employment of nationals is virtually guaranteed. To address these challenges, this report outlines four strategies in a "whole-of-government" approach:* Investing in high-quality early childhood development* Preparing healthier, better educated, and skilled youth for the future* Enabling greater adult labor force participation* Creating an enabling environment for human capital formation. These strategies are based on best practices in other countries and feature some of the GCC countries' plans, including their national "Visions," to take their economies and societies further into the twenty-first century. With the COVID-19 pandemic, the GCC countries face additional challenges that may worsen some pre-existing vulnerabilities and erode human capital. In response, the GCC governments have taken multiple measures to protect their populations' health and their economies. Any country's decision to reopen its economy needs to closely consider public health consequences to avoid a resurgence of infections and any further erosion of its human capital. The COVID-19 crisis underscores that the need to accelerate and improve investment in human capital has never been greater. Once the GCC countries return to a "new normal," they will be in a position to achieve diversified and sustainable growth by adopting, and then tailoring, the strategies presented in this report.

Unemployment and underemployment are global development challenges. The situation in Ghana is no different. In 2016, it was projected that, given the growing youth population, 300,000 new jobs would need to be created each year to absorb the increasing numbers of unemployed young people. Yet the structure of the Ghanaian economy in terms of employment has not changed much from several decades ago. Most jobs are low skill, requiring limited cognitive or technology know-how, reflected by low earnings and less decent work. An additional challenge for Ghana is the need to create access to an adequate number of high-quality, productive jobs.This report seeks to increase knowledge about Ghana's job landscape and youth employment programs to assist policy makers and key stakeholders to identify ways to improve the programming and effectiveness of youth employment programs and to strengthen coordination among major stakeholders.Focused, strategic, short-to-medium and long-term responses are required to address the current unemployment and underemployment challenges. Effective coordination and synergies among youth employment programs are needed to avoid duplication of efforts while transformation of the country's economic structure is improved. Effective private sector participation in skills development and employment programs is suggested. The report posits interventions in five priority areas, which are not new but could potentially be impactful through scaling up. These areas include: (1) agriculture and agribusiness promotion; (2) apprenticeship (skills training); (3) entrepreneurship promotion; (4) high-yielding areas (renewable energy-solar, construction, tourism, sports, and green jobs); and (5) pre-employment support servicesFinally, with the fast-changing nature of work due to technology and artificial intelligence, Ghana needs to develop an education and training system that is versatile and helps young people to adapt and thrive in the 21st century world of work.

The Iraqi reconstruction experience after 2003 offers few successes and many failures from which the international community must learn. This paper tries to draw out lessons and provide recommendations for future reconstruction activities by examining the Iraqi reconstruction process after 2003.

This report lays the foundations for the World Bank to fully integrate a social contract lens in its development policy toolkit in SSA. This report's contribution consists mostly of a conceptual and empirical framework, mapping knowledge gaps, and presenting examples for the application of a social contract lens in the region.

Trade has played a critical role in global poverty reduction. In harnessing the potential of trade, some of the most successful countries have developed strong trade relationships with their neighbors. However, many South Asian countries have trade regimes that often offset the positive impact of geography and proximity. This report documents systematically the gaps between current and potential trade in South Asia and addresses important specific barriers that have held trade back. These barriers include tariffs and paratariffs, real and perceived nontariff barriers, connectivity costs, and the broader trust deficit. This policy-focused report unpacks these critical barriers to effective trade integration in South Asia through four in-depth studies that produce new, detailed, on-the-ground knowledge. Three of the studies are based on extensive stakeholder consultations. Two also rely on tailored surveys. The fourth study, on tariffs, benefits from new data on paratariffs. The report also marshals new evidence showing how trading regimes in South Asia discriminate against each other. Given the South Asian context, incremental, yet concrete steps aimed at tapping the potential of deeper integration are appropriate. The report has been drafted in this spirit. It offers precise, actionable policy recommendations that could help achieve measurable progress in key areas of trade and integration that would be to the advantage of all countries in the region.

Adaptive social protection (ASP) helps build the resilience of poor and vulnerable households by supporting their capacity to prepare for, cope with, and adapt to large covariate shocks. This book outlines a framework to help guide the design and implementation of ASP.

Building a capable public service is fundamental to postconflict state building. Yet in postconflict settings, short-term pressures often conflict with this longer-term objective. To ensure peace and stabilize fragile coalitions, the imperative for political elites to hand out public jobs and better pay to constituents dominates merit. Donor-financed projects that rely on technical assistants and parallel structures, rather than on government systems, are often the primary vehicle for meeting pressing service delivery needs. What, then, is a workable approach to rebuilding public services postconflict? Paths between Peace and Public Service seeks to answer this question by comparing public service reform trajectories in five countries - Afghanistan, Liberia, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, and Timor-Leste - in the aftermath of conflict. The study seeks to explain these countries' different trajectories through process tracing and structured, focused methods of comparative analysis. To reconstruct reform trajectories, the report draws on more than 200 interviews conducted with government officials and other stakeholders, as well as administrative data. The study analyzes how reform trajectories are influenced by elite bargains and highlights their path dependency, shaped by preconflict legacies and the specifics of the conflict period. As the first systematic study on postconflict public service reforms, it identifies lessons for the future engagement of development partners in building public services.

How can policy makers and senior officials in railway organizations support the movement of more cargo by rail rather than by road? This report highlights specific interventions and investments that are critical.

How can we manage cross-border mobility in a manner that is beneficial to all? The World Development Report 2023 shifts from a narrow focus on labor markets for migrants and legal protection for refugees to a more holistic perspective -- one that recognizes the humanity of migrants and the complexity of the societies of origin and destination.

Governments and societies around the world strive to improve their education systems and ensure that all children and youths have the opportunity to go to school and acquire the knowledge and skills they need to lead healthy and productive lives. Key inputs to the education system, such as curricula, teachers, and education infrastructure, help to improve the quality of education. The quality of education infrastructure, specifically its appropriate educational planning and design with a focus on child development, has been widely discussed in recent years. The Sustainable Development Goals, which are defined by the United Nations and scope the development agenda for all countries in the world, require countries to build and upgrade education facilities that are child, disability and gender sensitive, and provide safe, non-violent, inclusive, and effective learning environments for all. Many stakeholders around the world are seeking evidence on how various learning settings may positively or negatively affect child development. The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB), and the World Bank are doing analytical work to answer the question of how to design schools that are efficient, inclusive, and conducive to learning. Moreover, the World Bank and other international financial institutions have large and diverse investment portfolios on school infrastructure in different parts of the world, amounting to billions of United States dollars. Therefore, there is a need for more evidence on the effectiveness of these educational infrastructure investments. The potential benefits of improving the spaces where education is provided can be sizeable, including energy savings, safer and healthier environments for children, and better learning outcomes.

Jointly developed by the World Bank Group and National Metrology Institute of Germany, this book aims to help development partners and governments analyze countries? quality infrastructure ecosystems and provide recommendations to bridge any gaps, support reforms, and build the capacity of institutions.

This volume aims to provide an understanding of the evolving aged care landscape in China; review international experiences in long-term care provision, financing, and quality assurance and assess their relevance to China; discuss implications of current developments and trends for the future of aged care in China; and propose policy options.

Although the Latin American region has shown an impressive growth in educational attainment over the past two decades, that education has failed to yield expected benefits. A mounting body of research and policy debates argues that the quantity of education is not an adequate metric of human capital acquisition. Rather, individuals' skills - what they actually know and can do - should stand as policy targets and be fostered across the life course. Evidence from around the world shows that both cognitive and socio-emotional skills are demanded by employers and favorably affect a range of outcomes, including educational attainment and employment outcomes. Through original empirical research investigating the role of cognitive and socio-emotional skills in shaping adults' labour market outcomes in Bolivia, Colombia, El Salvador, and Peru, supplemented by similar studies in other Latin American countries, this review confirms that cognitive skills matter for reaping labour market gains in terms of higher wages and formal jobs in Latin America; but so do socio-emotional skills. Moreover, socio-emotional skills seem to particularly influence labour force participation and tertiary education attendance as a platform to build knowledge. The study also presents a policy framework for skills development by: (i) providing insights by developmental psychologists about when people are neuro-biologically, socio-emotionally, and situationally ready to develop socio-emotional skills, and (ii) suggesting new directions in cognitive development.

Remarkably, a small fraction of firms account for most of the job and output creation in high-income and developing countries alike. Does this imply that the path to enabling more economic dynamism lies in selectively targeting high-potential firms? Or would pursuing broad-based reforms that minimize distortions be more effective? Inspired by these questions, this book presents new evidence on the incidence, characteristics, and drivers of high-growth firms based on in-depth studies of firm dynamics in Brazil, Cate d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Mexico, South Africa, Thailand, Tunisia, and Turkey. Its findings reveal that high-growth firms are not only powerful engines of job and output growth but also create positive spillovers for other businesses along the value chain. At the same time, the book debunks several myths about policies to support firm dynamism that focus on outward characteristics, such as firm size, sector, location, or past performance. Its findings show that most firms struggle to sustain rapid rates of expansion and that the relationship between high growth and productivity is often weak. Consequently, the book calls for a shift toward policies that improve the quality of firm growth by supporting innovation, managerial skills, and firms' ability to leverage global linkages and agglomeration. To help policy makers structure policies that support firm growth, the book proposes a new ABC framework of growth entrepreneurship: improving Allocative efficiency, encouraging Business-to-business spillovers, and strengthening firm Capabilities. This book is the third volume of the World Bank Productivity Project, which seeks to bring frontier thinking on the measurement and determinants of productivity to global policy makers.