The World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
The World Bank Open Knowledge Repository (OKR) is The World Bank’s official open access repository for its research outputs and knowledge products.
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Publication Pacific Healthy Islands Transformation (PHIT) Project: Technical Note(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-11-04) World BankThe operation has been screened for climate and disaster risks and has been found to be highly exposed while risks to the operation’s activities are moderate. Climate change is profoundly impacting the health of Pacific Islanders, particularly the large portion of the population with non-communicable disease (NCD). Exacerbation of cardiovascular disease (CVDs) incidence, such as ischemic heart disease and stroke, are amongst the most pressing and deadly health impacts of climate change. Climate change is worsening food insecurity across the Pacific, driving up rates of obesity and intensifying the burden of diabetes - another leading cause of mortality and NCD prevalence in the region. Climate change poses significant health risks to Pacific Island countries through increased incidence of climate-sensitive epidemic-prone, infectious diseases, specifically water and vector borne diseases. Climate change is also affecting cancer incidence and outcomes, both directly and indirectly. Recent research shows that rising temperatures can elevate cancer risk through increased exposure to carcinogens, disruptions to health-care delivery, and can even influence biological processes at the cellular level. Pacific health infrastructure remains critically vulnerable to escalating climate threats, undermining the region's capacity to address growing disease burdens and provide the continuity of care essential to those with NCDs.Publication Planting Roots in Shifting Soil: Building Social Protection and Labor Systems in Fragile, Conflict, and Violence-Affected Settings(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-11-05) Al-Ahmadi, Afrah; Fuselli, Silvia; Rigolini, Jamele; Harvey, PaulTo guide policy and operational engagement in these complex contexts, this Approach Paper provides a structured framework for supporting social protection and labor systems and policies in FCV settings. The framework aims to support Task Teams and social protection practitioners in navigating diverse FCV situations through a practical, context-sensitive approach grounded in a deep understanding of each setting’s specific risks, constraints, and opportunities. The framework articulates three high-level objectives of social protection and labor support in FCV contexts: (i) protect and support the accumulation of human capital; (ii) enable people and institutions to build resilience and cope with FCV-related impacts; and (iii) lay the foundations for recovery and transition out of fragility and conflict. To translate these objectives into practice, the Paper introduces a pathway-based framework that organizes FCV contexts by four parameters: (i) the presence of active conflict, (ii) the feasibility of direct government engagement, (iii) the government’s territorial access, and (iv) the maturity of national Social Protection and Labor systems. These factors shape the engagement model, the actors involved, and how support is sequenced and scaled. Based on this framework, eight resulting pathways are identified, each representing a tailored approach to engagement, and illustrated through real-world case studies to support practical implementation.Publication Nepal Development Update, November 2025: Reforms to Accelerate Public Investment(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-11-01) World BankNepal experienced its worst unrest in decades on September 8 and 9, 2025. A social media ban triggered protest against corruption, and this was followed by widespread unrest causing significant human and economic losses. The damage to public and private infrastructure is still being assessed. On September 9, Nepal’s Prime Minister resigned, and an interim administration was appointed on September 12 to oversee the lower house parliamentary election scheduled for March 5, 2026. Nepal needs significant infrastructure investment to support growth, but this has hindered by weak execution of infrastructure projects. This special focus chapter of the NDU examines five critical bottlenecks in public investment management (PIM) across the project cycle at the federal level and provides recommendations to address these bottlenecks.Publication Climate Transition Risk Stress Testing Framework for the Banking Sector in Albania(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-11-05) World BankThis first climate transition risk stress test for the Albanian banking sector assesses the macroeconomic and financial sector implications of Albania’s shift to a low-carbon economy under different climate policy scenarios. It builds upon earlier exposure analyses conducted for the Albanian banking sector, which identified the main climate-related risks and transmission mechanisms impacting financial institutions. By quantifying the potential impact of transition risks, this analysis contributes to the Bank of Albania’s broader efforts to deepen understanding of climate-related financial risks. The focus here is on how the banking sector may adjust to economic changes stemming from the introduction of a carbon tax, which is used as a representative proxy for a wider set of transition-related policies. This analysis serves as an initial step in assessing climate risks, laying the groundwork for more comprehensive future assessments. It will be followed by further work, including an assessment of climate physical risks.Publication What Underlies the Poor Financial Performance of Electric Utilities in Sub-Saharan Africa?(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-11-13) Timilsina, Govinda R.This study investigates the factors responsible for the poor performance of 67 electric utilities in 47 countries, using descriptive data from the World Bank, the International Energy Agency, the U.S. Energy Information Administration, and national sources. The findings show that both cost-side and revenue-side factors are responsible for the poor financial performance of electric utilities. More than two-thirds of vertically integrated utilities and electricity distribution utilities are unable to cover their operational and debt service costs by their revenues. The main causes of the poor financial performance are high fuel costs (particularly oil), low capacity factors, low capital and labor productivity, high transmission and distribution losses, and leakage in electricity bill collections. The study finds that in these countries, despite their much lower per capita income, consumers face relatively higher electricity tariffs than in many countries around the world. The study also finds that if the transmission and distribution losses were reduced to the current level of South Africa (11 percent) and the leakages in bill collection were eliminated, several electric utilities that are currently operating at a loss would have higher revenue than their operational cost. The findings indicate that policy makers in the region should focus on a portfolio of policies, including switching from expensive generation to emerging cheaper options, improving factor productivities, having efficient institutions and governance, reducing transmission and distribution losses, improving bill collection, and reforming tariffs. The policy priorities could vary across countries, depending on the roles of various factors contributing to poor financial performance.