World Bank Podcasts

Mohammed Sidie Sheriff (or Sidie as he is known) is one of nearly 900 health workers who have been infected during the current outbreak of Ebola. The lab technician at Maculey Street Government Hospital in Freetown, Sierra Leone completed as many as 100 blood tests on suspected Ebola patients before falling victim to the hemorrhagic fever himself. He believes he contracted the disease while taking a blood sample from a 4-year-old boy, who was infected with Ebola, and later died. He was wearing full protective gear, when he believes a single drop of blood breached his defenses. Within a week, he started to show symptoms. We met him at his work in the lab at the Maculey Street Government Hospital where he told the story of the day he believes he became infected. SOUNDBITE: “I went into the holding center with the necessary precautions. And I went there purposefully to get this child’s blood. So I went to the mother, and I asked her, I said to her, Madame, please help me I have come to take the blood o

Earthquakes, tsunamis, storms: Being well prepared for natural disasters is key to overcoming their impact on people and economies. Learning from the Japanese model of disaster preparedness is on top of the agenda for World Bank Group President, Jim Yong Kim. Kim is attending the third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Sendai, Japan. A cyclone that destroyed wide parts of the island nation of Vanuatu shortly before the start of the conference added ever more urgency to the discussion of disaster preparedness.

Who wants to be a trillionaire? Well in developing countries, the clean technology market is estimated to be worth a staggering 6.4 trillion (with a T) dollars over the next decade. Michael Ehst, from the World Bank Group’s infoDev program, is excited about the massive growth of technologies that will help mitigate climate change. And he explains exactly how many zeros we’re talking about here. For more information visit http://www.infoDev.org/climate 'My Favorite Number' is a series: When economists get excited, it’s usually for a good reason.

https://www.climateinvestmentfunds.org/cif/ - One of the winners of 2014’s UN Momentum for Change awards, Wandee Khunchornyakong, has been transforming Thailand’s renewable energy capacity with utility-scale solar farms. To get finance flowing for what was then a new industry in the country, she worked with the World Bank Group's International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Climate Investment Funds to access blended finance. The project is increasing clean energy capacity while helping drive economic growth in one of Thailand’s most impoverished regions.

Van Anh Vu Hong est arrivée en Haïti en 2010 peu après le tremblement de terre pour travailler sur des projets de secours d'urgence, y compris un projet de nettoyage des canaux d'eaux usées qui risquaient de propager des maladies. Cinq ans plus tard, dit-elle, de nombreux défis demeurent. L’un d’eux est la decentralisation de l'économie de la capitale Port-au-Prince vers les aux autres régions, afin de créer plus d'opportunités d'emploi pour la population croissante de Haïti.

Van Anh Vu Hong arrived in Haiti soon after the earthquake in 2010 to work on emergency relief projects, including one to clean canals filled with sewage that risked spreading disease. Five years later, she says many challenges remain. A major one is decentralizing the economy to other regions from the capital Port au Prince, in order to create more job opportunities for Haiti’s growing population.

Why do some people choose to use toilets...or not? Or to take medicines that will save them...or not? The World Development Report for 2015 looks at this and other health-related behaviors. Kenneth Leonard was directly involved in some of the fieldwork and spoke of his experience. If you want to learn more about the India toilet program that Kenneth talks about, check out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGEMldM48k0

Mamta Murthi is the Country Director for Central Europe and the Baltic Countries, based in Brussels, Belgium. In this podcast she discusses why the World Bank has offices in Brussels, what kind of work they do there, and why Brussels is a key focal point for development in the region.

The number of Ebola cases are dropping, but the epidemic will continue to cripple the economies of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. That’s the conclusions of a new World Bank Group report released on the eve of the World Economic Forum in Davos. Listen to World Bank Senior Economist David Evans, co-author of the report, as he explains why the cost of Ebola is so high and why impoverished people who never got the disease are suffering.

Following the Arusha Peace Agreement in 2000, which ended the Burundian civil conflict, a decentralization reform emerged as a clear policy objective to improve and encourage state-citizens interactions. In 2005, after the adoption of a new constitution, Burundi began a trans-formative process of decentralization to empower local entities known as communes to bring basic services to Burundi’s entire population. This will increase citizens’ access to education, health care, clean water and better food.

As part of his work as United for Wildlife President, the Duke of Cambridge joined World Bank Group President, Jim Yong Kim at the opening of the International Corruption Hunters Alliance, addressing more than 300 corruption experts, heads and senior members of anti-corruption and prosecuting agencies; and representatives of international organizations from more than 120 countries.

http://www.worldbank.org/ - Development policies need to be re-hauled to reflect how people’s minds really work, a new World Bank study argues. This could help form and realize development goals, including that of breaking poverty cycles from one generation to the next, the study says.

The impact of Climate Change may now be unavoidable because the Earth's atmospheric system is locked into warming close to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels by mid-century, according to a new report by the World Bank Group which announces major adverse impacts. Climate Change, Africa, LAC, Brazil, development, water, shortages, drought, glaciers, soybean, wheat, rainfall, rural, Turn Down the Heat, World Bank Group, Confronting the New Climate Normal, Rachel Kyte,

Jim Yong Kim was just in Mexico to join the launch of its innovative Prospera social protection program, which is the country’s latest innovation in helping connect the poor and vulnerable to social services as well as improve the health and education of themselves and their families. The World Bank Group has approved a $350 million low-interest loan and has added our expertise to partner with Mexico on this ambitious new initiative. In this podcast, Jim Yong Kim is joined by Arup Banerji, who explains why Mexico’s new program could be helpful for countries around the world.

The end of Apartheid in South Africa has led to many positive changes in the country. But the division of wealth and income remains inadequate to address Apartheid’s crippling economic legacy. Like many growing countries, South Africa faces the difficult challenge of redistributing its wealth. However, unlike other countries, South Africa is facing the challenge head on. CATRIONA PURFIELD, World Bank Senior Economist We look at the top ten percent. They are earning incomes that are a thousand times bigger than those in the bottom ten percent in South Africa. They are only earning ZAR 200 a year before fiscal policy takes effect. However, once we look at fiscal policy, we say that it takes taxes to the rich, and gives it to the poor in the form of fiscal benefits. And as a result of that, that gap narrows from a thousand times bigger, to sixty six times bigger. In South Africa, the government provides benefits in the form of cash payments such as child and old age grants to the poorest people. It

La fin de l’apartheid en Afrique du Sud a eu beaucoup de retombées positives Mais les écarts de richesse et de revenus hérités de l’apartheid demeurent encore trop importants pour permettre au pays de tourner définitivement la page. L’Afrique du Sud, comme beaucoup de pays émergents, est confrontée au défi important de la redistribution de ses richesses. Contrairement aux autres pays, l’Afrique du Sud s’est fermement attaquée à ce problème. CATRIONA PURFIELD, économiste senior à la Banque mondiale: "Prenons les 10 % les plus riches de la population sud-africaine. Ils gagnent mille fois plus que les dix % les plus pauvres. Ces derniers ne gagnent que 200 rands sud-africains par an avant la politique de redistribution. Cette politique fiscale prélève des impôts sur les riches qu’elle redistribue aux pauvres sous la forme d’aides budgétaires. Grâce à cela, l’écart de revenu entre riches et pauvres se réduit de mille à soixante-six fois." Le gouvernement sud-africain vient en aide aux populations les plus pauv

What would motivate you to install a toilet in your home? Most rural families in Rajasthan have defecated in open fields for generations. Listen to how a campaign that appeals to human dignity has spurred whole communities to change their lives and improve not only their health, but their peace of mind.

Tim Evans - the World Bank Group's Senior Director for Health, Nutrition and Population - gives an eyewitness account of his trip to the Ebola-affected countries of Guinea and Liberia. Community mobilizers and health workers there are playing key roles in combating the increasingly challenging disease, says Evans.

http://www.worldbank.org/ - Did you know that the billions of dollars migrants send home to their countries each year far surpass the total amount of money that international aid agencies give annually? Mr. Dilip Ratha is a lead economist for the World Bank Group in Washington DC, and is a migrant himself. He says the money, called remittances, which international migrants send to their families and friends, is leading to healthier, more educated communities. Such remittances should be encouraged, says Ratha, who argues that regulations now controlling money sending are unnecessary.

http://www.worldbank.org/ - World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim, in Kenya to pledge 1.8 billion in assistance for economic growth in the Horn of Africa, tells about his experience using the popular African mobile app M-Pesa, a service that allows users to pay for goods and conduct finances over their mobile phones. Kim and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon are part of a high level delegation that is joining forces to promote stability and development in the Horn of Africa.