The Development Podcast: Highlights from the 2022 WBG-IMF Spring Meetings | Digital Revolution | Climate Action | Rising Fragility | Open Trade | Human Capital

Conflict, COVID-19 and climate change have combined to create unprecedented challenges for developing countries. More countries are struggling with rising risks of fragility, conflict and instability; food insecurity; increasing debt vulnerabilities; dropping literacy rates; and the impacts of climate change. Preparing for future crises and strengthening international cooperation are essential to deliver a resilient recovery and a better future for those most in need.

During the 2022 World Bank Group-IMF Spring Meetings, world leaders came together to discuss how to best build resilience & manage uncertainty. Listen to the Spring Meetings highlights in a special series of The Development Podcast.

• How can countries boost growth, productivity, inclusion and resilience as they recover by embracing private sector innovation coupled with enabling government policy? Listen to the highlights of the event The Digital Revolution: Fostering Inclusion and Resilient Growth.
• What are the investments needed to achieve a green, resilient and sustainable future? How can we unlock private finance for climate action? Listen to the highlights of the event Financing Climate Action: Transitioning Economies, Transforming Climate.
• How to stay engaged during times of crisis and meet the challenges in new and innovative ways to support countries facing conflict and fragility? Listen to the highlights of the event On the Frontlines of Rising Fragility: Collaborating and Innovating for Impact.
• How can international cooperation help create a fairer trading system for countries at all income levels? Listen to the highlights of the event Preserving Open Trade: Subsidies, Geopolitics, and International Cooperation.
• Why is putting people first through investing in human capital critical for sustainable, inclusive growth and poverty reduction? Listen to the highlights of the event Human Capital at the Crossroads: Reversing the Losses, Reclaiming our Future.

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Featured Voices | The Digital Revolution

• Paul Kagame, President of the Republic of Rwanda [tweetquote:[tweetText="A major challenge continues to be the insufficient reach of fibre optic cables in rural areas. This means that the majority of Africa's population does not have access to high-speed internet." @PaulKagame, President of Rwanda. Listen to this podcast!,tweetData=,tweetHash=]]
• Michael Miebach, Chief Executive Officer, Mastercard [tweetquote:[tweetText="Where is my data? Is my data safe? Where's my money? Is my money safe? If I have it under the mattress, I can see it, I can feel it. If it's somewhere in an app, I'm not quite sure." @MiebachMichael, Mastercard CEO. Listen now to the #DevelopmentPodcast!,tweetData=,tweetHash=]]
• Omobola Johnson, Senior Partner, TLcom Capital [tweetquote:[tweetText="Most of these tabletop entrepreneurs, most of these businesses are women, and they have been largely excluded from this #DigitalEconomy. But there is one way of including them." @OmobolaJohnson, Senior Partner, @TLcomCapital. Listen to this podcast now!,tweetData=,tweetHash=]]
• David Malpass, President of the World Bank Group [tweetquote:[tweetText="There are now so many services being provided across the internet, that it pays for the investments that countries are making." @DavidMalpassWBG, President of the World Bank Group. Listen now to the #DevelopmentPodcast about the #PowerofDigital,tweetData=,tweetHash=]]
• What else has been said? Listen to the episode! Transcript available.

Featured Voices | On the Frontlines of Rising Fragility

• Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed, Prime Minister, Yemen [tweetquote:[tweetText="Unprecedented times need unprecedented actions. The response of the crisis determine how we can build back better after the crisis. So the response should be unique." @DrMaeenSaeed🇾🇪 on the #DevelopmentPodcast Listen now! #RisingFragility,tweetData=,tweetHash=]]
• Alejandra Botero, Director General, Department of Planning, Colombia [tweetquote:[tweetText="If we're going to promise to give them all the services so that they can be part of the social system, health, schools, everything, you have to have a plan to integrate #migrants at all these sectors." @aleboterob🇨🇴 on the #DevelopmentPodcast Listen now!,tweetData=,tweetHash=]]
• Axel van Trotsenburg, Managing Director of Operations, World Bank [tweetquote:[tweetText="Our estimate shows that extreme poverty will be concentrated in fragility, conflict, and violence settings in the next couple of years; so if we want to stop that trend, we have to invest." @AxelVT_WB on the #DevelopmentPodcast Listen now!,tweetData=,tweetHash=]]
• Hervé Ndoba, Minister of Finance and Budget, Central African Republic [tweetquote:[tweetText="When we're facing fragility, the fiscal space is very reduced and we have to find solutions in order to increase this fiscal space. We have started the cleanup of the public financing." @HNdobaOfficiel🇨🇫 on the #DevelopmentPodcast Listen now!,tweetData=,tweetHash=]]
• Catherine Russell, Executive Director, UNICEF "Roughly 425 million children right now are living in conflict zones. These children are living in places where the compounding of the challenges requires a compounding of the responses" @unicefchief on the #DevelopmentPodcast Listen now! #RisingFragility[tweetquote:[tweetText="Roughly 425 million children right now are living in conflict zones. These children are living in places where the compounding of the challenges requires a compounding of the responses." @unicefchief on the #DevelopmentPodcast Listen now! #RisingFragility,tweetData=,tweetHash=]]
• Makhtar Diop, Managing Director, IFC [tweetquote:[tweetText="We need to be persistent enough to convince the private sector to invest in a fragile country, but also we need to think about how the private sector can help mitigate the risk of working in this context." @Diop_IFC on the #DevelopmentPodcast Listen now!,tweetData=,tweetHash=]]
• Donald Kaberuka, Chairman and Managing Partner, SouthBridge [tweetquote:[tweetText="These small businesses, what you call the informal sector, unfortunately are actually the ones able to provide the daily jobs which people need." @DonaldKaberuka🌍 on the #DevelopmentPodcast Listen now this episode about #RisingFragility,tweetData=,tweetHash=]]
• Mary Nazzal-Batayneh, Founder of Landmark Hotels & 17 Ventures [tweetquote:[tweetText="Looking at the multiple crises that we are facing as humanity, it shows that the public sector and private sector and civil society need to work together within the spirit of #SDG17." @MaryNazzal🇯🇴 on the #DevelopmentPodcast Listen now! #RisingFragility,tweetData=,tweetHash=]]
• What else has been said? Listen to the episode! Transcript available.

Featured Voices | Preserving Open Trade

• David R. Malpass, President of the World Bank Group [tweetquote:[tweetText="We need to find a way to have trade that occurs in an efficient way to get the gains for the people around the world. It's going to help the poorest people the most." @DavidMalpassWBG on the #DevelopmentPodcast about #UnleashTrade Listen now!,tweetData=,tweetHash=]]
• Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund [tweetquote:[tweetText="I worry most about multiple shocks simultaneously hitting us and our proven, inability to deal with more than one crisis at one time." @KGeorgieva on the #DevelopmentPodcast about #UnleashTrade Listen now!,tweetData=,tweetHash=]]
• Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director General, World Trade Organization [tweetquote:[tweetText="This globalization, this multilateral trading system that has been built, it's a global public good. It took time to build it. And it has lifted more than a billion people out of poverty." @NOIweala on the #DevelopmentPodcast Listen now! #UnleashTrade,tweetData=,tweetHash=]]
• Mathias Cormann, Secretary-General, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [tweetquote:[tweetText="It is about having a level playing field, making sure that resources are allocated to where they can have the most beneficial economic impact for everyone and subsidies really distorted that greatly." @MathiasCormann on the #DevelopmentPodcast Listen now!,tweetData=,tweetHash=]]
• What else has been said? Listen to the episode! Transcript available.

Featured Voices | Human Capital at the Crossroads

• Samia Suluhu Hassan, President of United Republic of Tanzania [tweetquote:[tweetText="In some societies, the herd keepers, the livestock keepers, they prefer their kids to go for herding rather than going to school. We had to educate the parents to accept sending their kids to school." @SuluhuSamia🇹🇿 Listen now to the #DevelopmentPodcast,tweetData=,tweetHash=]]
• David R. Malpass, President, World Bank Group [tweetquote:[tweetText="Men are part of the problem and have to be educated and brought forward along." @DavidMalpassWBG on countering gender-based violence. Listen to the episode #InvestInPeople of the #DevelopmentPodcast,tweetData=,tweetHash=]]
• Amina Mohammed, UN Deputy Secretary-General [tweetquote:[tweetText="Even if you had connectivity, teachers were not prepared to teach, and learners were not prepared to learn, even though we thought we had them connected." @AminaJMohammed🇺🇳 on the #DevelopmentPodcast Listen now! #InvestInPeople,tweetData=,tweetHash=]]
• Mari Pangestu, Managing Director, Development Policy and Partnerships, World Bank [tweetquote:[tweetText="This accelerated learning recovery really needs a focus, in terms of the programs that we need to design, the teachers that we need to train, to be able to have the tools and resources to address this." @Mari_Pangestu Listen to the #DevelopmentPodcast!,tweetData=,tweetHash=]]
• Malala Yousafzai, Co-Founder of Malala Fund [tweetquote:[tweetText="We know that when children enroll into schools, there's also the issue of what they learn in their classrooms. So it's the access to education, but also the quality of education that are important." @Malala on the #DevelopmentPodcast Listen now!,tweetData=,tweetHash=]]
• Beatrice Mahuru, Founder & CEO, GLaD Ltd and B&WE Ltd [tweetquote:[tweetText="Conflict resolution is definitely one of those soft skills that's required, both to manage workplace conversations, as well as their communities back at home." Beatrice Mahuru🇵🇬 on young & jobs #InvestInPeople Listen now to the #DevelopmentPodcast,tweetData=,tweetHash=]]
• What else has been said? Listen to the episode! Transcript available.

ABOUT THE DEVELOPMENT PODCAST

This international development podcast brings together the data, research—and solutions—that can pave the way to a sustainable future. Through conversations focused on revealing the latest data, the best research, and cutting-edge solutions, let us introduce you to the folks working to make the world a better place. Don't miss an episode! Listen and subscribe for free on your favorite platform. And rate our show! ;)

Tell us what you think of our podcast here >>>. We would love to hear from you!

ABOUT THE WBG-IMF SPRING MEETINGS 2022

Preparing for future crises and strengthening international cooperation are essential to deliver a resilient recovery and a better future for those most in need. At these Spring Meetings, the World Bank Group convened leaders, experts and activists to discuss the impact of these global shocks on the most vulnerable communities.

ABOUT THE WORLD BANK GROUP

The World Bank Group is one of the world’s largest sources of funding and knowledge for low-income countries. Its five institutions share a commitment to reducing poverty, increasing shared prosperity, and promoting sustainable development.