Human Capital Project

The Human Capital Umbrella Trust Fund Program, launched in 2019 with support from the Gates Foundation and the Government of Canada, catalyzes investments in people through a comprehensive, evidence-based approach. Since its inception, activities funded by the Umbrella Program have informed 29 World Bank-financed operations, totaling more than $8.5 billion in lending. Working across sectors and government agencies, the program drives lasting social and economic transformation through three key pillars: knowledge and measurement, country engagement, and global collaboration. Through analytical work and strategic initiatives, the program influences project design and execution to effectively advance human capital outcomes. For example, in Ethiopia, the Trust Fund supported the expansion of the Unified Nutrition Information System (UNISE) to enhance the country’s nutrition monitoring and evaluation capabilities. In Bangladesh, the Trust Fund has been actively supporting the interim government on policy issues related to youth engagement, education, and jobs. The Trust Fund will continue to support investments in human capital that allow countries to navigate volatility and uncertainty driven by simultaneous large trends reshaping society. These include climate change, demographic shifts, and the advent of emerging technologies like AI.

Human capital — knowledge, skills, and good health — plays a critical role in job creation and economic prosperity. Two-thirds of the income gap between developed and developing countries can be attributed to disparities in human capital. Healthy, skilled, and innovative people are better equipped to seize job opportunities, create businesses that generate jobs, and drive economic growth.

Supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Government of Canada, the Human Capital Umbrella Program serves as a catalyst for accelerating investments in people. The Program continued to advance its work through a whole-of-government approach to support evidence-based initiatives across sectors to foster lasting social and economic transformation. Through analytical work and strategic initiatives, the program influences project design and implementation to effectively advance human capital outcomes. 

Climate change is a direct threat to human capital. At the same time, human capital empowers people to advocate for climate action and to pioneer the technology for a net-zero-emissions future. Read to learn the impacts of climate change on people and how to protect, build, and use human capital to ensure a livable planet.

The 2022 Annual Report highlights program results in 18 countries in Africa and South Asia. The Umbrella Program mainstreams and embeds a human capital approach to development, and collectively addresses challenges through multisectoral action—a ‘whole-of-government’ approach—yielding results at scale in high priority countries and globally. 

How can countries ensure resilience in the face of growing food and nutritional crises? What implications do these crises have on children, and how can they be abated? Find out more by reading the report. Keywords: high food prices, food shortages, supply chain disruption, food insecurity, vulnerability. 

Next-Generation Human Capital Investments for Inclusive Jobs.

The aim of this policy note is to examine the relative efficiency and equity of public expenditures and policies for human capital and labor markets over the past decade in Türkiye in preparing for a post-COVID, inclusive, green transition.