World Bank Podcasts

In a move to tackle the century-old TB scourge among mineworkers, the governments of Lesotho, Mozambique, South Africa, and Swaziland will meet with mining industry, union representatives, development partners and other stakeholders, at a Ministerial Meeting on March 25, 2014, in Johannesburg, South Africa, to discuss a standardized approach to the management of TB in the mining industry across all four countries.

Boosting competition and promoting deeper regional trade integration are critical for restarting South Africa’s export engine to bolster growth which would help create jobs and reduce poverty, according to a recently released World Bank report.

Five years after the start of the global financial crisis, most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have continued to register relatively vigorous growth. Economic activity throughout the region continues to expand: GDP growth is projected to reach 4.9% in 2013, compared with 4.2% in 2012, and will rise to 5.5% in 2015, according to the World Bank’s new Africa’s Pulse, the twice-yearly analysis of the economic trends and latest data on the continent. Herbert Boh speaks with report author Punam Chuhan Pole and World Bank Africa Region Chief Economist, Francisco "Chico" Ferreira.

A new World Bank report, “Tourism in Africa: Harnessing Tourism for Improved Growth and Livelihoods,” says that African countries can compete with other tourist-rich regions of the world if they can effectively plan for and integrate tourism into their economies. Herbert Boh speaks with report authors Ian Christie and Hannah Messerli.

http://www.worldbank.org/vn - World Bank Group Vice President and Special Envoy for Climate Change, Rachel Kyte, visited the Mekong Delta in Vietnam, which is suffering from salt water intrusion and coastal erosion. She talks with local residents and urges decision makers and development partners to take actions to solve the problem.

Initiative sans précédent en Afrique, un nouveau projet soutenu par la Banque mondiale va offrir une prise en charge intégrée aux victimes de violences sexuelles ou d’autres formes de violences liées au genre, en RDC, au Rwanda et au Burundi. Les survivants bénéficieront ainsi de soins de santé, d’un soutien psychologique, d’une aide juridique et d’une offre de débouchés. Au Burundi et en RDC, les femmes pourront aussi accéder à des services de santé maternelle et génésique qui font aujourd’hui cruellement défaut.

http://www.globalpartnership.org - Walking from village to school can take a long time for children in Laos. Children who went home for lunch often wouldn't return to class. So to improve education for all, Laos introduced a national program that offers free meals at the school. Thanks to funding from the Global Partnership for Education, the whole community is actively involved gardening, fishing, and cooking -- so that every child will be well nourished and educated.

http://www.globalpartnership.org - For years, Cameroon's education sector was in disrepair - teachers didn't receive salaries as more and more children crowded into classrooms. But Cameroon has managed a turnaround with support from the Global Partnership for Education. Teachers now receive a regular paycheck, which has attracted better and more reliable applicants to the profession. Hiring more teachers has also led to smaller classroom sizes.

http://www.worldbank.org/ - The World Bank Group will mobilize millions to aid affected families and communities and to build up public health systems in West Africa. The pledge comes after calls for assistance from the three African countries hardest hit by Ebola and the World Health Organization (WHO).

La Banque mondiale œuvre aux côtés de l’OMS, de l’ONU et d’autres organisations pour renforcer les systèmes de santé des pays d’Afrique de l’Ouest affectés par l’épidémie d’Ebola et éviter que le virus ne se propage.

http://www.worldbank.org/southasia - Everyone agrees that it takes way too long to export goods out of Nepal and import goods in. The government of Nepal plans on changing that by improving its roads, modernizing its customs and trade procedures, and creating internationally accredited inspection labs.

http://www.ifc.org/financialinclusionafrica - Banks generally consider poor customers too risky and too expensive to serve. Employing an innovative business model of agent banking and biometric technology, micro-finance bank FINCA is bringing formal financial services to the poor in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Even low income people now have a safe place to save money, earn interest and manage economic decisions.

http://www.worldbank.org - One of India's biggest challenges -- and opportunity -- is that 10 million people every year will move from rural areas to cities. We're helping the country find new models to give job skills to those in transition, especially women. In the village of Padappai, about 20 miles outside Chennai in southern India, I listened to dozens of women tell stories about how acquiring job skills not only helped give their families a living wage but also raised their aspirations for their children. One after the other, they said their children wanted to become a pilot, a doctor, a civil servant, and a teacher. They spoke so convincingly that I had no doubt this transformation is already in motion. Please listen to the short blog to learn more.

The health and welfare of many girls around the world are being endangered by the practices of early marriages and Female Genital Mutilation. World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim urges nations to help adolescent girls live safe and productive lives.

http://www.worldbank.org - The rains are coming later and don't last as long. For an increasing number of Kenyans, the solution to Climate Change has been sustainable farming and herding techniques that reduce carbon output, save them money and make their farms and herds more prosperous. The goats seem okay with it too.

http://www.worldbank.org/philippines - Victims of typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) are recovering from the disaster with the government's conditional cash transfer program supported by the World Bank, and a livelihood project funded by the Korean Presbyterian Church in Palo, Leyte.

http://www.worldbank.org/ - Tokyo - From the 42nd floor of the Mori Tower in downtown Tokyo, which had models of Tokyo and New York City on the floor, you can see the lessons of urbanization for the world: ways to build dense and clean cities. During my two-day trip to Japan, I met senior officials and spent an extended period with our partners the Japan International Corporation Agency, or JICA. We have learned so much in our collaboration with JICA, especially involving universal health coverage and disaster risk management, and now we will work with them to deepen that relationship. To learn more, listen to this short blog.

http://www.worldbank.org/china - Changsha, China - For World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim, a technical training program at the Hunan Normal University illustrates how investment in education pays off over time. In 1992, a World Bank loan helped purchase machines that are still used today to provide students with technical and vocational training that will lead to jobs after they graduate. Listen as Kim talks about his visit to China and the Bank's plans to help China improve not only education, but also healthcare services.

http://www.worldbank.org/china - World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim said China's growing health sector will have a tremendous impact on the country's economy and said the Bank is collaborating with China and other organizations on a study that will help accelerate efforts to provide affordable quality medical care, especially for the country's aging population. Kim spoke at a press conference in Beijing following meetings with President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang and Vice Premier Liu Yandong and many other senior officials. World Bank Group,Jim Yong Kim,China,Beijing,Xi Jinping,Li Keqiang,Liu Yandong,healthcare

http://wrld.bg/vCj2N - The world's most successful social movements are started by a small group of like-minded people, says the World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim. The next major task is to end extreme poverty globally by 2030 and we need everyone - writers, artists, engineers, economists. Find your interest, identify your talents, and take it on. It will be the most thrilling thing you ever do. Related links: http://blogs.worldbank.org/voices/take-it-what-you-can-do-help-end-extreme-poverty http://blogs.worldbank.org/voices/take-it-on http://www.worldbank.org #takeon #endpoverty