Our Mission

Globally, adolescent fertility has declined from 65 births per 1,000 adolescent women in 1990 to 44 births in 2017. This decline in adolescent fertility is strongly associated with an increase in secondary school enrollment of girls. In regions with higher rates of adolescent fertility in 1990, such as Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, this relationship is even more pronounced. Read More.

School feeding programs in low- and middle-income countries have been effective in improving the nutrition of the beneficiaries, as well as in boosting school enrollment and attendance rates.  Between 2009 and 2016, school feeding programs benefited nearly 270 million children in 89 economies that received assistance from the World Bank. More than 20% of the children were from the poorest fifth of the population in terms of the income/consumption distribution (per capita pretransfer welfare). Read More. 

In many economies in Sub Saharan Africa, as well as some countries in South Asia, birth registration in rural areas is very low. According to the most recent surveys available in Ethiopia, Chad, and Zambia, less than 10 percent of children under the age 5 had their births registered at the time of the latest survey.  In these countries, and a few others, registration in urban areas was also less than 50 percent. Read More

The youth—those born between 1994 and 2003—account for 16% of the world's total population. These 1.2 billion people are likely first-time job seekers or those relatively new to the labor market.

Where can they find employment? In the early 2000s, the Services sector surpassed Agriculture to become the world’s largest employer. Today, Services accounts for 50 percent of employment, while Agriculture and Industry make up 30 and 20 percent, respectively. Read More

Today, 47 million people are connected to a mini grid. Afghanistan, Myanmar, India and Nepal have the highest number of mini grids, followed by China, Philippines, Indonesia. Analysis by the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) shows that by 2030, nearly half a billion people could be connected to a mini grid. Read More.