Economics & Development

La prueba EGRA (Early Grade Reading Assessment) evalúa habilidades lectoras tempranas —reconocer los sonidos de las letras, leer palabras nuevas, leer un texto con la velocidad esperada y entender lo que se lee y se escucha - y constituye el predictor más robusto del éxito lector posterior. En 2025, Cali aplicó la prueba a estudiantes de 1.° y 2.° grado en 96 instituciones educativas públicas, con una particularidad relevante: la prueba se aplicó al inicio y al final del año escolar, lo que permite observar el progreso durante el periodo escolar. La muestra final de la prueba de salida fue de 5.767 estudiantes. Para enmarcar estos resultados, conviene tener presente que la ciudad ocupa el puesto 57 en las pruebas Saber 11 (2024) y que el 13,8 % de la matricula de 1.° a 2.° grado presenta sobreedad. Los umbrales de fluidez utilizados como referencia son 50 palabras por minute (PPM) en 1.° grado y 74 PPM en 2.° grado.

This Country Private Sector Diagnostic takes an investor perspective to identify a few sectors where private investment can be boosted by taking concrete policy actions to remove impediments. The selection of sectors follows a rigorous, systematic process that includes analysis of quantitative and qualitative indicators (subject to availability) and stakeholder consultations, including interviews with private investors, companies, technical experts, policy makers, and development partners. The criterion for selecting sectors is whether they can attract significant private investment over the medium term if well-identified constraints can feasibly be addressed by the public sector in the near term. Recognizing that an element of judgment is involved, the selection is not intended to be exhaustive; rather, it aims to facilitate focused analysis and concrete recommendations.

Nigeria is implementing the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE), a World Bank-assisted project implemented by the Federal Government of Nigeria through the Federal Ministry of Education, to improve secondary education opportunities for girls aged 10 to 20 in targeted states. Within this context, the AGILE Games 2025 and the subsequent Climate Entrepreneurship Hackaon created a platform for students to strengthen creativity, collaboration, and digital skills while engaging with climate change issues affecting their communities. As a result, the Roots & Dreams Graphic Novel Anthology compiles eight student-created stories developed through the hackathon, while a Video documents the scale, purpose, and approach of the AGILE AI Hackathon 2025. This note summarizes the key achievements, lessons learned, and strategic recommendations emerging from the activity.

Afghanistan’s economy is expanding modestly, but this growth is not improving people’s lives. Economic activity has picked up, supported by relative price stability and improved domestic revenue collection. However, rapid population growth—driven by the return of millions of Afghans — means that incomes per person are declining. At the same time, weak investment and limited job creation continue to constrain opportunities. While macroeconomic stability has largely been preserved, rising external pressures, regional conflicts, and declining aid are increasing vulnerability, and the outlook remains fragile.

The Country Opinion Survey in North Macedonia assists the World Bank Group (WBG) in better understanding how stakeholders in North Macedonia perceive the WBG. It provides the WBG with systematic feedback from national and local governments, multilateral/bilateral agencies, media, academia, the private sector, and civil society in North Macedonia on 1) their views regarding the general environment in North Macedonia; 2) their overall attitudes toward the WBG in North Macedonia; 3) overall impressions of the WBG’s effectiveness and results, knowledge work and activities, and communication and information sharing in North Macedonia; and 4) their perceptions of the WBG’s future role in North Macedonia.

The report outlines: part I: EMAP and poverty; EMAP and education; EMAP and nutrition; and Part II: what works?; global evidence; and Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) experience.

A robust National Quality Infrastructure (NQI) is vital for ensuring food safety, competitiveness, and access to global markets. This SAPLING brief assesses Sri Lanka’s NQI institutions, legislation, and laboratory capacity, identifying modernization needs in digitalization, traceability, and risk-based inspection. Recommendations include creating integrated management-information systems, improving conformity-assessment services, and aligning national standards with international benchmarks. By enhancing quality assurance and compliance, Sri Lanka can reduce trade bottlenecks, expand export markets, and improve public confidence in domestic food systems.

The purpose of this note is to inform an internal World Bank discussion on how to strengthen community facilitation as a core delivery function across the Lao PDR portfolio. This note builds on an FY25 stock-take of community facilitation that reviewed and assessed community facilitation modalities in World Bank financed projects in Lao PDR and responds to two questions: what needs to be strengthened in the current facilitation arrangements, and how the portfolio can move toward a more coherent, scalable, and sustainable system over time. It identifies priority areas for improvement - including role clarity, coverage, training, supervision, incentives, coordination, monitoring, and institutional anchoring - and proposes a phased pathway for action. Rather than prescribing a single model or immediate institutionalization, the note sets out steps to first harmonize minimum standards across projects, then test coordinated approaches in nutrition convergence areas, strengthen ministry-linked systems, and use these reforms to inform longer-term policy dialogue with Government of Lao PDR on institutional anchoring and sustainability.

Ce Diagnostic du secteur privé dans ce pays adopte une perspective d’investisseur pour en identifier quelques-uns Secteurs où l’investissement privé peut être stimulé en prenant des mesures politiques concrètes pour Éliminez les obstacles. La sélection des secteurs suit un processus rigoureux et systématique incluant l’analyse d’indicateurs quantitatifs et qualitatifs (sous réserve de disponibilité) ainsi que des consultations avec les parties prenantes, incluant des entretiens avec des investisseurs privés, des entreprises, des experts techniques, des décideurs politiques et des partenaires de développement. Le critère pour sélectionner les secteurs est de savoir s’ils peuvent attirer des investissements privés significatifs à moyen terme si des contraintes bien identifiées peuvent être réalistes et réalistes par le secteur public à court terme. Reconnaissant qu’un élément de jugement est impliqué, la sélection n’a pas pour but d’être exhaustive ; elle vise plutôt à faciliter des analyses ciblées et des recommandations concrètes.