World Bank Podcasts

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.

Ces dix dernières années, le gouvernement du Burundi s’est engagé dans un processus de décentralisation destiné à renforcer la cohésion sociale et émanciper les communautés locales. Pourtant, la plupart des communes peinent à être financièrement viables et la responsabilité sociale demeure faible au niveau local. Dans la commune de Rutegama, au centre-ouest du pays, les autorités locales ont cependant réussi à mettre en place d’importantes réformes.

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 also provides free education and free healthcare. As a rule, the poorest people receive more in cash benefits than they are required to pay in taxes. The most recent South Africa Economic Update finds that this is a level of redistribution unsurpassed by other countries. GABRIELA INCHAUSTE / World Bank Senior Economist And what we find is that in terms of fiscal policy’s ability to reduce inequality and to reduce poverty, South Africa stands out. It stands out both in its ability to redistribute, but also in its ability to actually produce impacts on reducing poverty. South Africa’s cash transfers are cutting the poverty rate for those living on less than $2.50 per day by about 7 percentage points. The money brings meals to the dinner tables of families who otherwise would have no reliable income. 66 year old Eunice Ngcobo lives in the township of Alexandra in Gauteng Province. She’s Raised her four grandchildren after they were orphaned. EUNICE NGCOBO/Social Security Grant Recipient If I wasn’t getting the old age and child support grants, life would be very difficult for me. I am not working, and I have high blood pressure, so I would be in and out asking for food for my kids as well. Despite the benefit of such a progressive fiscal policy for South Africa’s poor, the country is grappling with slowing growth, high fiscal deficits and a debt burden that has grown to 40 percent of GDP, leaving little room for expanded social spending . Ending the legacy of inequality in South Africa and ensuring a bright future for all of its citizens will require a greater emphasis on the quality of education and health spending. It also calls for higher growth that creates jobs, especially for the poor, so that all South Africans can increase their earning potential.

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 pauvres en distribuant par exemple des allocations familiales ou de retraite. Il fournit également un accès gratuit à l’éducation et aux soins médicaux. Il est de règle que les plus pauvres reçoivent plus d’allocations qu’ils ne paient d’impôts. Le dernier rapport sur l’économie sud-africaine constate que ce niveau de redistribution est bien supérieur à celui des autres pays. GABRIELA INCHAUSTE, économiste senior à la Banque mondiale: "Et nous constatons que l’Afrique du Sud se distingue par sa politique budgétaire, qui parvient à réduire sensiblement les inégalités et la pauvreté. Elle se distingue à la fois par sa capacité de redistribution, et par son impact réel sur la réduction de la pauvreté." Les allocations diminuent la pauvreté de 7 points de pourcentage pour ceux qui vivent avec moins de 2,5 dollars par jour. Ces ressources permettent aux familles à faible revenu de se nourrir. Eunice Ngcobo, 66 ans, vit dans le township d’Alexandra, dans la province du Gauteng. Elle s’occupe de ses quatre petits-enfants orphelins. EUNICE NGCOBO, Bénéficiaire d’une allocation de sécurité sociale: "Si je ne recevais pas ces allocations familiales et de retraites, ma vie serait très difficile. Je ne travaille pas et j’ai des problèmes de tension. Sans ces aides, je serais obligée de faire la manche pour nourrir ma famille." Si cette politique budgétaire a bénéficié aux plus pauvres, le pays connaît désormais une croissance plus faible, des déficits publics élevés et un niveau d’endettement qui atteint 40 pour cent du PIB. Cela laisse peu de marge de manœuvre pour augmenter les dépenses sociales. Pour tourner définitivement la page des inégalités en Afrique du Sud et assurer un meilleur avenir à tous ses citoyens, le pays devra mettre davantage l’accent sur la qualité des dépenses d’éducation et de santé. Il devra générer une croissance plus forte, créatrice d’emplois pour les pauvres, pour que chaque sud-africain puisse améliorer ses revenus.

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.

A new World Bank Group report has found that it’s easier to conduct business this year because 80 percent of world economies surveyed have improved laws and regulations. The most extensive reforms occurred in sub-Saharan Africa. Watch what countries can do to improve trade and commerce, which are key to ending poverty.

An innovative program that allows health clinics to spend funds on what they need most has resulted in healthy babies and moms in Zambia. The World Bank's Health Results Innovation Trust Fund is supported by the governments of Norway and the United Kingdom. HRITF has been supporting Results-Based Financing (RBF) approaches since 2007 to help developing countries accelerate progress towards development goals, particularly those that focus on maternal and child health and nutrition.

http://www.worldbank.org/ - Leaders of the World Bank Group, United Nations and affected African countries agreed at a critical meeting in Washington to work on speeding up the global response to the Ebola crisis. Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim said they will reach out to countries around the world to send more health workers to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

http://www.worldbank.org/ - During the 2014 Annual Meetings, the World Bank has launched a massive private sector partnership to raise billions of dollars in private money to build infrastructure in developing economies and also announced a 50 million dollar pledge to fight cholera in Haiti. Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim said waterborne diseases are a leading cause of death for Haitian children. He also said that all developing countries need an estimated 1 trillion dollars a year to maintain and increase infrastructure needed to keep their economies growing.