The World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
The World Bank Open Knowledge Repository (OKR) is The World Bank’s official open access repository for its research outputs and knowledge products.
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Total publications: 38,155
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Publication Social Foundations of a Just Coal Transition(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-12-16) Jordan, J.; Tenzing, J.With climate change causing loss and damage, disrupting nature, and affecting the lives of billions of people, the world has accepted that it cannot achieve carbon dioxide reduction goals without phasing out coal. This paper argues that addressing the broader social dimensions of coal transitions is crucial for success and offers benefits and opportunities for the millions of people affected. It outlines existing literature about anticipated impacts of the transition not just on workers but on people and communities more broadly, such as loss of employment, increased household costs, reduced public investment, mobility and outmigration, mental health, social and cultural identity, and conflict. It also considers the social co-benefits of coal transitions, such as reduced risks to livelihoods, new job opportunities, improvements in health and wellbeing, and social empowerment. Finally, it cautions that the uneven distribution of transition benefits and burdens can exacerbate pre-existing inequalities and systemic marginalization, reproducing the energy sector’s legacy of social exclusion and injustice (Johnson et al. 2020), underlining that social sustainability, alongside economic and environmental sustainability, is vital for advancing a just transition away from coal. The paper offers a framework of upstream interventions to help governments and other actors facilitate inclusive planning, decision-making, and transition management.Publication Cambodia Economic Update, December 2024: From Recovery to Resilience - Harnessing Tourism and Trade as Drivers of Growth(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-12-16) World BankCambodia will need to significantly improve its productivity performance in the coming decades to sustain high rates of economic growth and realize its vision of rapidly becoming a high income country. Productivity growth has not been a major driver of growth historically and Cambodia’s levels of labor productivity are very low compared to its peers across all sectors of the economy. The special focus section of this report highlights four priority reform areas to support a rapid transition to a more productivity-led growth model in Cambodia.Publication Kenya Economic Update, December 2024: Special Focus on Women's Economic Empowerment(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-12-16) World Bank GroupKenya’s macroeconomic environment improved in 2024, following a tighter macroeconomic policy framework. Still, GDP growth is decelerating as Kenya faced a multiplicity of challenges during the year. Broadening economic participation through women’s economic empowerment is essential for easing Kenya’s socioeconomic pressures. The government of Kenya is committed to advancing women’s economic empowerment through a progressive legal and policy framework; however, significant gender gaps in economic outcomes persist. Persistent gender economic gaps in Kenya are driven by a complex interplay of factors across the life cycle. Key areas such as early childhood development, education, age at family formation, sexual and reproductive health, and social norms are central to understanding women’s economic outcomes. Achieving lasting progress in women’s economic empowerment requires a comprehensive, multisectoral approach that addresses the interconnected challenges women face throughout their lives. A successful strategy also relies on timely, high-quality sex-and-gender-disaggregated data, including information on vulnerable populations such as the poor, women in ASALs, and refugees. This data is crucial for developing effective policies and tracking progress toward women’s economic empowerment. Promoting women’s economic empowerment does not mean leaving men behind; correcting economic gender imbalances benefits everyone and contributes to the county's overall development.Publication A Framework for Systemic Capacity Building in Local Government: An EU perspective(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-12-16) World BankThis report examines the current understanding of local government capacity constraints and capacity-building approaches in the context of country-level implementation of programs within the Cohesion Policy landscape of the European Commission (EC). The work is informed by practitioner engagements in a limited set of newer member states, including Romania, Poland, Bulgaria, Croatia, and Slovakia, as well as an in-depth case study of a recently completed capacity building program in Greece. The observations and lessons are largely drawn from a focus on regional development policies and approaches, in the general context of what can be generically referred to as Regional Operational Programs Funded through the EU Cohesion Policy. The report will start with a literature review to situate the work within the realm of current public administration academic literature, approaches by development agencies, and the complexity of the responsibilities of local governments. Next, the focus shifts to the EU context with an overview of capacity building in the context of the Cohesion Policy and an in-depth case study on the design, implementation, and lessons learned from a city-level advisory engagement in Greece.Finally, a proposed framework or methodology to support policy makers and development practitioners in designing systemic capacity building approaches is presented.Publication Pathways to Inclusion and Equity: Disability Inclusion in Education - Inclusive Education Approach Paper(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-12-16) Alasuutari, Hanna; Niaz, Laraib; D’Angelo, SophiaThis approach paper provides guidance to World Bank Education Task Team Leaders (TTLs), World Bank staff across sectors, and other stakeholders on how to ensure education sector operations become more inclusive and include marginalized learners, such as learners with disabilities. The primary purpose of the approach paper is to ensure that education systems are strengthened to become more inclusive and accommodate the diverse needs of all learners, including learners with disabilities, from the outset—whether drafting a research plan for an analytical study or conceptualizing operational work including lending operations. Despite a global focus on inclusive education, many of the most marginalized learners, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), remain left behind. For these learners, disadvantages may be amplified through intersecting variables such as gender and poverty. This approach paper provides four overarching principles to guide the World Bank’s inclusive education approach. Inclusive education has historically been associated with persons with disabilities; however, inclusion is broader in scope.