Farmer working in the fields of Kasur, Punjab. Photo: World BankThis blog is part of a series that discusses findings from the Pakistan@100: Shaping the Future report, which identifies the changes necessary for Pakistan to become a strong upper middle-income country by the time it turns 100 years old in 2047. Environmental degradation is not only threatening environmental sustainability, but also Pakistan’s ...
Student at Hunerkada College of Visual and Performing Arts. Photo: World Bank This blog is part of a series that discusses findings from the Pakistan@100: Shaping the Future report, which identifies the changes necessary for Pakistan to become a strong upper middle-income country by the time it turns 100 years old in 2047. There is a broad consensus that no country can progress without ...
Mahmuda Siddika, a tech entrepreneur, from Rajshahi district in Bangladesh. Photo: World Bank We are now experiencing the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Our days are characterized by an explosion of innovative technologies blurring the lines between the physical, digital and cyber realities of our lives. This space is marked by technology breakthroughs in a number of fields, including robotics, nanotechnology, artificial intelligence (AI), biotechnology, ...
Youth facilitators and counselors motivate female students to participate in and complete skills training and other educational services. Photo: World Bank This blog is part of a series examining women’s economic empowerment in South Asia. “Time is running out for us. Even if we want to do something we can’t do it. We do the hard work but still ...
Sitting cross-legged under a mango tree’s shade in the middle of a village in Rajshahi district, Bangladesh, I joined my colleagues and about ten women who were participating in a focus group discussion. The fieldwork marked the beginning of our in-depth research on gaps and constraints to women’s economic empowerment in Bangladesh for the just-released World Bank report, Voices ...
Sitting cross-legged under a mango tree’s shade in the middle of a village in Rajshahi district, Bangladesh, I joined my colleagues and about ten women who were participating in a focus group discussion. The fieldwork marked the beginning of our in-depth research on gaps and constraints to women’s economic empowerment in Bangladesh for the just-released World Bank report, Voices ...
A man surrounded by vegetables and greens in an Indian Bazaar. Credit: Anton Jankovoy / Shutterstock.com The scale of the undernutrition problem in South Asia is exceptional. Children in the region have some of the highest global rates of stunting and wasting, which means they are too short and too thin for their age.In what is known as the South Asian Enigma, ...
Seismic station in Thimpu. Photo: World Bank Bhutan is highly vulnerable to earthquakes, thanks to its location in the seismically active Himalayas. However, past seismic events across the country were not properly recorded. As recent research indicates the potential for earthquakes of magnitude 8 and over, how can Bhutan ready itself to weather future earthquake risks? Following the September ...
Ang Dolma Sherpa, an expert carpet weaver in West Sikkim is one of the 200-300 women weavers in the region who are benefiting from the project’s interventions. Photo: World Bank Until six months ago, people in the remote corners of India’s Himalayan state of Sikkim had to travel long distances over the hillsides to do simple banking transactions. When ...
Pakistan is not investing enough and its share of investment to GDP is one of the lowest in the world at 15 percent almost half of the South Asian average at 30 percent. This translates into inadequate infrastructure, lack of access to sufficient levels of energy and water, poor quality of schools and hospitals. Photo: World Bank This blog is ...
Photo: World Bank This blog is part of a series that discusses findings from the Pakistan@100: Shaping the Future report, which identifies the changes necessary for Pakistan to become a strong upper middle-income country by the time it turns 100 years old in 2047. Structural transformation is central to how countries grow rich. The movement of jobs from agriculture to manufacturing and ...
Photo: World Bank This blog is part of a series that discusses findings from the Pakistan@100: Shaping the Future report, which identifies the changes necessary for Pakistan to become a strong upper middle-income country by the time it turns 100 years old in 2047. In recent years, Pakistan has made remarkable progress in reducing poverty. Estimates based on the national poverty line, which ...
Photo: World Bank This blog is part of a series that discusses findings from the Pakistan@100: Shaping the Future report, which identifies the changes necessary for Pakistan to become a strong upper middle-income country by the time it turns 100 years old in 2047. My parents’ gardener has six children – all aged 8 or younger. While his wife is busy taking ...
South Asian countries’ exports are only one-third of what they should be, had they mirrored the experience of economies with similar characteristics. Without further integration into global markets, South Asia will not sustain its growth. Photo: Shutterstock Bela Balassa worked for the World Bank from 1966 till his death in 1991. Luckily, his insights on international integration, revealed comparative ...
Photo: World Bank Over the last few decades, Nepal has considerably improved the health and wellbeing of its people. As we mark World Health Day today, here’s an overview of how much health progress Nepal has made in its efforts to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially the SDG 3 indicators, which focus on healthy lives and wellbeing for all at all ages.
Nurses in Sri Lanka. Photo: World Bank Today on World Health Day, we can say with confidence that Sri Lanka’s healthcare system has delivered on many of its promises. This year’s focus on universal health care is a timely reminder that Sri Lanka is still reaping the benefits of far-thinking health policies implemented as early as the 1800s. ...
Pakistani women in Lahore, Pakistan. Photo: A M Syed, Shutterstock This blog is part of a series examining women’s economic empowerment in South Asia. In patriarchal societies—as in most of Pakistan—men exert much influence over the lives of their female relatives and almost always have exclusive control over household income. Having a supportive father or husband is therefore critical ...
Pakistani girls attending a primary school. Photo: World BankThis blog is part of a series that discusses findings from the Pakistan@100: Shaping the Future report, which identifies the changes necessary for Pakistan to become a strong upper middle-income country by the time it turns 100 years old in 2047. In 28 years, Pakistan will turn 100 years old. The children born ...
Shamila Hakeem outside her home in Gazipur district's Shinglab village, Dhaka. Photo: World Bank In a tiny hamlet called Shinglab in Gazipur district, around 2 hours from Dhaka, you can see a cluster of homes made of varying materials depending on the household income. Shamela Hakeem, 40, lives in a functional mud hut with a tin roof. A widow ...
Digital fellows visiting historic sites in Peshawar, Pakistan. Credit: KPITB. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), one of Pakistan’s most underserved provinces, is emerging from decades of conflict and has turned to the digital economy to boost economic growth and provide jobs to its youth. Since 2013, the World Bank and its partners have helped the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Technology Board (KPITB) ...
