Accelerating Change to Solve the Water Crisis

As the world’s largest multilateral source of financing for water in developing countries, the World Bank Group is committed to innovative, inclusive, and sustainable water action as we work together with our partners towards a water-secure world.

Read Story The World Bank and Water

WORLD BANK AND WATER

Water Matters: It's Time for Action in Latin America and the Caribbean

Millions of Latin Americans still suffer from water insecurity. Today, 150 million people live in highly water-scarce areas, and climate change is worsening this outlook. According to the World Bank, over the last two decades, Latin America has experienced 74 droughts, causing more than US$ 13 billion in damage. This phenomenon impacts agricultural and livestock production and farmers’ livelihoods, especially those living in vulnerable conditions.

EXPERT ANSWERS

Interview: COVID-19’s Devastating Impact on Human Capital

The COVID-19 pandemic caused a massive collapse in human capital at critical moments in the life cycle, derailing development for millions of children and young people in low- and middle-income countries, according to Collapse and Recovery: How COVID-19 Eroded Human Capital and What to do About It, the first analysis of global data on young people under the age of 25. What were the losses for young people and developing economies, and can they be recovered? To help us learn more, Norbert Schady, Chief Economist for Human Development at the World Bank Group and co-author of this year’s report, joins Expert Answers.

Food Security

Latest Food Security Update

Our latest update from March 9 shows that domestic food price inflation remains high around the world, with inflation levels above 5% in 94.1% of low-income countries, 86% of lower-middle-income countries, and 87.0% of upper-middle-income countries and many experiencing double-digit inflation. The countries affected most are in Africa, North America, Latin America, South Asia, Europe, and Central Asia.

Our Mission

The World Bank has two goals: end extreme poverty and promote shared prosperity in a sustainable way.

Who we are

Learn About Our Priorities

Food Security

Food security is defined when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.

NEW: Global Food & Nutrition Security Dashboard
Food Security Update (Mar. 9)
Joint Statement by the Heads of the Food and Agriculture Organization, International Monetary Fund, World Bank Group, World Food Programme and World Trade Organization on the Global Food and Nutrition Security Crisis
Food Security
Climate Change

Climate change, poverty, and inequality are the defining issues of our age. The World Bank Group is the biggest multilateral funder of climate investments in developing countries.

World Bank Group Climate Change Action Plan 2021–2025
Climate Action Stories
BLOG - To meet the climate crisis head-on, our approach to water storage must change
Climate Change
International Development Association (IDA)

IDA is the part of the World Bank that helps the world’s poorest countries.

About IDA
IDA 20 Highlights
BLOG: World Bank support to the poorest countries: 5 things to know about IDA20
International Development Association (IDA)
World Bank Data

The Open Data site is designed to make World Bank data easy to find, download, and use. All of the data found here can be used free of charge with minimal restrictions.

Data Blog
BLOG: How much do countries spend on education, and how do the price levels of education compare? Three charts from the International Comparison Program
World Bank Data

Join Us

Data

We engage the development community with real-world statistics

View More Data

More than half of all reforms captured were implemented in Sub-Saharan Africa region by seven economies

Browse Data

In 2022, the global average score on the World Bank’s Women, Business and the Law index rose just half a point to 77.1—indicating women, on average, enjoy barely 77 percent of the legal rights that men do. At the current pace of reform, in many countries a woman entering the workforce today will retire before she will be able to gain the same rights as men, the report notes. This year, 18 countries enacted 34 reforms, the lowest number of reforms in 20 years. But more than half of all reforms captured were implemented in the Sub-Saharan Africa region by seven economies. Learn More.

Globally, roughly half of working age women participate in the labor force, which is significantly lower than the male labor force participation rate of around 80%. This gap is virtually unchanged from what it was three decades ago. And there are sizeable differences in the level of female labor force participation across regions. Moreover, women tend to face inferior income opportunities and on average earn less than men. Explore more aspects of female labor force participation through this data story.

According to the latest statistics (see below), more than one in five women were first married before the age of 18, with the practice of child marriage being most prevalent in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Beyond being a human rights violation, child marriage also greatly undermines women’s and girls’ economic opportunities. It limits child brides’ access to education, reduces their future earnings, jeopardizes their health, and puts them at a heightened risk of domestic violence. Data on the economic impacts of child marriage provide the foundation for advocacy campaigns to end the practice. Learn more.