World Bank Podcasts

The world is urbanizing at staggering, unprecedented rates. With rapid urbanization, fragile cities can emerge with “differently” governed spaces and subsequently, rising levels of crime and violence. Affecting more acutely the poorest and most marginalized populations, crime and violence needs to be a part of our broader development strategy at the Bank. Listen to what the Social and Urban Development Teams are doing to address this challenge! Read more @WBG_Cities on Twitter!

If knowledge is power, then few tools are as powerful as climate services. The Climate Investment Funds is helping communities and countries hit by changing weather not just survive but thrive by getting the right information to the right people at the right time. To learn more, please follow https://twitter.com/CIF_Action or go to http://www.climateinvestmentfunds.org

Going to an event at the 2015 World Bank Group-International Monetary Fund Annual Meetings in Lima, Peru can be a daunting exercise. There are meetings at all hours of the day. Several meetings that you would have wanted to go to are running conjointly or are only attended by professionals. Not so with the Civil Society Townhall. Anyone and everyone with ideas or just recriminations can address their complaints or queries directly to the President of the World Bank Group, Jim Yong Kim, or the Managing Director of the IMF, Christine Lagarde. It’s democracy at work. To watch a replay of the Townhall event, visit: http://live.worldbank.org/civil-society-townhall-2015

Throughout the last 20 years, Uganda’s population density has been growing rapidly, placing significant pressure on the use of land. If managed properly, this increase can support economic growth, but the right systems must be in place to promote efficient land use, according to a new World Bank economic update. The update, Searching for the Grail – Can Uganda’s Land Support its Prosperity Drive?, evaluates the complex challenges associated with better land management in Uganda, which can support the processes of agricultural transformation and urbanization, and enable the country to raise its level of productive and achieve economic transformation.

With its large number of participants, important seminars and meetings held in conjunction with the 2015 World Bank Group/IMF Annual Meetings in Lima, Peru, it was particularly difficult to choose which event to focus on. However, in this city, known around the world for its culinary excellence, one meeting in particular attracted the attention of many participants. Food power. To watch a replay of the event, visit: http://live.worldbank.org/future-of-food-climate-smart-food-system

The 2015 World Bank Group-International Monetary Fund Annual Meetings took place in Lima, Peru, from October 9-11, bringing together 16,000 participants from 188 countries. This major event featured seminars, regional briefings and press conferences, focused on global economy, international development, and the world's financial markets. It is designed to foster creative dialogues among the private sector, government delegates, and World Bank Group and IMF officials. Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank Group, gave a press conference at the opening of the event to highlight the mission of the World Bank Group and the aim of the Annual Meetings. To watch a replay of the event, visit: http://live.worldbank.org/annual-meetings-2015-opening-press-conference

The livestock market in Garu Tempane is buzzing with activity as buyers and sellers rush to make a deal before closing time. There are vendors selling chickens and goats but guinea fowl seems to be an especially big draw. This is because in Ghana, guinea fowl is one of the most popular sources of animal protein . The bird is native to West Africa and has long been a part of the region’s cuisine and history. The high nutritional content of guinea fowl makes it an important contribution to a food system that can feed every Ghanaian. Today, demand for guinea fowl is outpacing supply. In order to meet this demand, the World Bank-funded West Africa Agricultural Productivity Program, or WAAPP, is working with farmers in Ghana to increase production. With knowledge and the right equipment, guinea fowl can be a low-maintenance livestock to raise. Yeboah: “Guinea fowl, naturally they are heartier and they can also subsist even on vegetation. As they go around, they pick grains and insects. It is easier to man

We want to create a system that feeds every person, everywhere, every day. It sounds like a dream, but it could be a reality. Especially if we take steps to make agriculture climate-smart -- more productive, more resilient and less harmful to the environment. Join Pabsy Pabalan for this fascinating interview with Ethel Sennhauser, Director of Agriculture Global Practice at the World Bank Group, in advance of the World Bank-International Monetary Fund Annual Meetings in Peru. To learn more: http://live.worldbank.org/future-of-food-climate-smart-food-system http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/agriculture

Open a business. Find a passion. Start a movement. World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim tells Pabsy Pabalan that young people have the power to make a lasting impact on the movement to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity. The two caught up at the Young Dialogues event in Washington, D.C., on the eve of the Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund in Lima, Peru. No matter your age, take a listen! #PabsyLive

Selon Makhtar Diop, vice-président de la Banque mondiale pour l’Afrique, le ralentissement de la croissance représente une opportunité pour les pays africains de changer la structure de leurs économies. Éditions précédentes d'Africa's Pulse Avril 2015 : http://www.banquemondiale.org/fr/news/press-release/2015/04/13/africa-end-of-the-commodity-super-cycle-weighs-on-growth

World Bank Vice President for Africa, Makhtar Diop, discusses the regions slowing growth amid weak global financial conditions. Africa's slowing growth is one of the findings of the Fall 2015 Africa's Pulse Report, a biannual publication of The World Bank that analyses issues shaping Africa's economic future.

A new initiative launched by the World Bank and the governments of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda aims to address the daily hazards faced by small scale traders and at the same time boost a vital part of the region’s growing economy. Implemented in cooperation with the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa or COMESA, the Great Lakes Trade Facilitation Project aims to clear logistical and administrative logjams at busy border crossings, reduce corruption and the harassment of traders—particularly women—boost local and regional economies, and alleviate poverty.

The Nashville singer/songwriter stopped by World Bank to share some of his music and talk about his work with charitable organizations like One Egg and Blood: Water. He also urges fans to do their part to end poverty. To watch the interview and concert, visit our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8Ck9c3w4Xw

Three months from now, negotiators from around the globe will be in Paris to finalize an accord to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and begin slowing the impacts of climate change. Rachel Kyte, World Bank Group Vice President and Special Envoy for Climate Change, sits down with Pabsy Pabalan to discuss what we should be looking for in a climate deal and how we can get to a zero-carbon future. #PabsyLive #ClimateAction Watch the full replay of Climate Action Event here: http://live.worldbank.org/Climate-Action-Paris

As the world strives to curb greenhouse gas emissions and scale up low carbon energy solutions, geothermal power holds tremendous promise as one of the most plentiful and cheapest renewable energy options available. The Climate Investment Funds delivering geothermal investments at scale to empower climate-smart transformation.

In recent years, Ghana has suffered serious energy shortages that have affected the poor the most. The World Bank Group’s one-of-a-kind $700 million in guarantees for the “Sankofa Gas Project” aims to change that. Listen to the World Bank’s Anita Marangoly George and Pankaj Gupta talk about why this project is a “game changer” and how it aims to make reliable, clean and affordable electricity accessible for Ghana’s people. Learn more: http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/ghana/brief/what-is-the-sankofa-gas-project

Most government policies have the potential to broaden equality and bring positive change to the lives of individuals and communities. However, even well-designed policies can have unintended negatives consequences on certain groups of the population. In an effort to improve the ability of countries to use evidence to assess the potential social and economic impacts of policy reforms, The World Bank has created a series of learning events to bring together policymakers, development practitioners, academics, members from civil society, and international organizations, to share their insights and lessons learned in their countries. The most recent of these Poverty and Social Impact Analysis or PSIA learning events was a collaborative effort between The Bank and one of Africa’s most highly regarded academic institutions, The University of Cape Town. About 20 African countries were represented at the workshop in Cape Town, South Africa, as well as thought leaders and policy makers from India. World Bank acting

It is a large warehouse, with racks up to the ceiling. It is big, bright and humming with activity. Workers in white coats are going through purchase orders, using hand held scanners to pick items off the shelves: bottles of cough syrup, inhalers, syringes, antibiotics. We are in Nairobi, at the warehouse of the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority also known by its acronym - KEMSA. It is a state owned company with the mandate to procure, warehouse and distribute healthcare commodities to public health facilities across the country. Dr. John Munyu, chief executive officer at KEMSA: “With the coming of the devolved system of government in the year 2013, the health system underwent a paradigm shift. Previously health was centrally controlled by the central government from Nairobi, but with the adoption of the devolved system of government, the 47 counties are now responsible for health services management in their own counties. Therefore, KEMSA had to change its business model, we had to look at our architectu

Novak Djokovic may be known as the number one tennis player in the world, but his not-so-secret passion is helping children. The World Bank Group's Pabsy Pabalan catches up with Novak and World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim at UNICEF headquarters in New York, where they’ve announced a unique and far-reaching partnership to support early childhood development. Watch what they have to say – because it matters. #PabsyLive

Fantastic Negrito celebrates and preserves African-American culture through music. For more information visit: http://wrld.bg/R9QEd Questions asked in this interview: 00:34 You’ve switched to the name Fantastic Negrito, can you tell me what’s behind it? You play a lot of black roots music in Delta? 01:14 So it’s really important for you to preserve that musical cultural heritage? 01:21 You have a real great rags-to-riches story. You were a street musician at one time and now you’re? 02:22 Can you tell me more a little bit about your back story, and how you arrive to this point, to making this collective?