Digital technologies are paving the way for economic growth and new service delivery models across Africa. On key digital indicators, Botswana fares similarly or better than regional neighbors, but is lagging behind global peers with the same income levels, illustrating the potential to enhance...

Forests and terrestrial ecosystems play a primary environmental role in climate-change mitigation and adaptation. In many developing countries, forests provide ecosystem services and support the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people, mainly the poorest and most vulnerable in rural areas....

This study performed an assessment of the solid waste management (SWM) plans and the collection, recycling, and disposal conditions of the 17 Local Government Units (LGUs) of Metro Manila to determine the gaps and barriers hindering the effective implementation of Republic Act 9003 (RA 9003),...

Pakistan remains susceptible to emergencies caused by a variety of natural hazards. There are two fundamental reasons for Pakistan's high vulnerability. The first reason is increasingly high exposure due to rapid changes in the region such as unprecedented population growth, urbanization,...

Pakistan along with all UN member states has been a signatory to the International Health Regulations (IHR) 2005 which calls for countries to work together to prevent, detect, and respond to public health emergencies under the IHR (2005). The signatory countries have also agreed to work towards...

This report focuses on the socio-economic impacts of Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Solomon Islands. The fourth round of the high frequency phone survey (HFPS) interviewed 2,671 households in January-February 2022 on the socio-economic impacts of Coronavirus (COVID-19), including employment and...

Many Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries, including Guinea-Bissau, lack the requisite enabling environment to capture a larger fraction of the global digital economy or benefit from its gains and are thus at increasing risk of being left behind. Rapid digital transformation is reshaping the...

Inclusive and environmentally sound sustainable development requires managing natural resources that societies depend on for the long term. In the context of marine and coastal resources which provide an important source of income for large numbers of households and revenue for countries, this...

The purpose of this note is to explain how the pandemic is reshaping regulations in China and affecting urban planning and city management. In preparing this note, a meta-analysis was conducted based on a review of China's urban planning responses to COVID-19. The review covered newly issued...

In response to a request from the Government of Vietnam, this World Bank study was conducted from July 2020 to April 2021 to deepen knowledge about the different plastic waste types leaking into rivers and the ocean in Vietnam and identify their market alternatives for potential substitution....