Among the root causes of the current political turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region are the large numbers of unemployed but increasingly educated youth. For the region to achieve stability, it will have to ensure a more inclusive and faster growth path and find enough jobs...

The political events reshaping the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region underlines that the key to political stability and renewed growth is going to depend on enabling more inclusive political and economic paths. Exports and especially non-oil exports will play a key role in developing...

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has made impressive strides in reducing gender gaps in human development. The ratio of girls to boys in primary and secondary education is 0.96, women in the region are more likely than men to attend university, maternal mortality is around 200...

Despite positive economic growth in recent years, basic labor market outcomes in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) remained stagnant and have only improved slightly in the past 10 years. A number of recent and ongoing analyses have stressed the pressing need for many economies in the...

MENA felt the impact of the financial and economic crisis to a much lesser extent than developed economies and emerging markets outside Asia, however, the economic recovery in MENA has also lacked vigor. Before the recent uprisings, MENA was expected to return to pre-crisis growth rates of 4.8...

This quick note is to provide the reader with a perspective on how the World Bank Group has been challenged by and has responded to recent global crises. However, at this historical moment, one cannot begin to write of global or regional issues without noting the momentous events that are now...

The HIV pandemic in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region continues as one of the most devastating health crises ever. The recent regional HIV/AIDS epidemiological synthesis report entitled characterizing the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the Middle East and North Africa: Time for strategic...

Improving women's access to economic opportunities remains an important development challenge for the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA). Although impressive strides have been made region-wide in improving women's educational and health outcomes, the region's low female labor force...

Though the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has weathered the recent global financial and economic crisis relatively well, it still faces daunting medium-term challenges. These include high unemployment (especially among young people), vulnerability to oil and food price shocks and...

Increased labor mobility bears large potential benefits for human development and poverty reduction through various channels including more competitive global labor markets and increased efficiency in the matching of skills supply and demand. Bank support for enhanced and better managed...