1 December 2021; Baghdad - As Iraq becomes a Party to the Paris Agreement, the United Nations in Iraq is calling for solidarity with and support to people in Iraq in their efforts to confront climate change. Traditionally known as "the land between two rivers" or Mesopotamia, lush and fertile, Iraq is increasingly experiencing extreme climate events, compounding environmenta
Read MoreIntroduction Chairman Addison, thank you for your remarks. And thank you, Governors, Kristalina, and distinguished guests for joining us today. I wanted to provide an update on what the World Bank Group (WBG) has accomplished since last year’s Annual Meetings, particularly our response to COVID-19 and progress made on debt transparency. The COVID-19 pandemic’s toll has be
Read MoreLast weekend’s agreement notwithstanding, international cooperation over oil output stands to be short-lived as the short- and medium-term battles for market share intensify. Over the course of the Easter weekend US President Donald Trump succeeded in brokering a deal between Russia and Saudi Arabia which seemingly brought to an end the impasse in the Opec+ group over oil ou
Read MoreThe battle against the coronavirus is above all a public health crisis. Needless to say, the response to the crisis is having enormous economic repercussions. Some countries have imposed sweeping shutdown and isolation measures to contain the spread. As a result, businesses are closing and unemployment is soaring. Countries that are net exporters of oil and gas will perhaps
Read More1 Introduction The effectiveness of foreign aid remains controversial. A large literature studies how aid is spent (Werker et al., 2009); how it is absorbed in the domestic economy (Temple and van de Sijpe, 2017); and how much it ultimately stimulates growth (Dalgaard et al., 2004), improves human development outcomes (Boone, 1996), and reduces poverty (Collier and Dollar, 2
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