Arabic PDFs Available

362 items available

Permanent URI for this collection

http://hdl.handle.net/10986/5996

The following titles are also available in Arabic. Click on the title link and look toward the bottom of the page to locate the PDFs that can be downloaded for that title.

Items in this collection

Now showing 1 - 10 of 42

A New State of Mind: Greater Transparency and Accountability in the Middle East and North Africa

(Washington, DC : World Bank, 2022-10-05) Belhaj, Ferid ; Gatti, Roberta ; Lederman, Daniel ; Sergenti, Ernest John ; Assem, Hoda ; Lotfi, Rana ; Mousa, Mennatallah Emam

The MENA region is facing important vulnerabilities, which the current crises—first the pandemic, then the war in Ukraine—have exacerbated. Prices of food and energy are higher, hurting the most vulnerable, and rising interest rates from the global tightening of monetary policy are making debt service more burdensome. Part I explores some of the resulting vulnerabilities for MENA. MENA countries are facing diverging paths for future growth. Oil Exporters have seen windfall increases in state revenues from the rise in hydrocarbon prices, while oil importers face heightened stress and risk—from higher import bills, especially for food and energy, and the depreciation of local currencies in some countries. Part II of this report argues that poor governance, and, in particular, the lack of government transparency and accountability, is at the root of the region’s development failings—including low growth, exclusion of the most disadvantaged and women, and overuse of such precious natural resources as land and water.
Remarks at the World Health Organization Media Briefing on COVID-19 and Vaccine Equity

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-06-01) Malpass, David

World Bank Group President David Malpass stated that the immediate priority is for countries that have sufficient supply to quickly release doses to countries that have vaccination deployment programs. He said that by the end of June, the World Bank will have approved vaccination operations in over 50 countries. It is vital to speed up the supply chain. The World Bank is providing transparent access to very detailed information about projects through an online portal available at https://www.worldbank.org/vaccines. He urged other development partners to publish detailed information about their vaccine financing and deployment programs and their delivery schedules. The World Bank is also working to expand supply and will be making announcements of investments by IFC, the World Bank Group’s private sector development arm.
Reversing the Inequality Pandemic

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-10-05) Malpass, David

World Bank Group President David Malpass spoke about the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has already changed our world decisively and forced upon the world a painful transformation. He explained the World Bank Group’s approach that has been comprehensive by focusing on saving lives, protecting the poor and vulnerable, ensuring sustainable business growth, and rebuilding in better ways. He focused on four urgent aspects of this work: (i) first, the need to redouble efforts to alleviate poverty and inequality; (ii) second, the associated loss of human capital and what must be done to restore it; (iii) third, the urgent need to help the poorest countries make their government debt more transparent and permanently reduce their debt burdens, two necessary steps to attract effective investment; and (iv) finally, how we can cooperate to facilitate the changes needed for an inclusive and resilient recovery.
Opening Remarks During the Media Call on the Analytical Chapters of the June 2020 Global Economic Prospects Report

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-06-02) Malpass, David

These opening remarks were delivered by World Bank Group President David Malpass during the media call on the analytical chapters of the June 2020 global economic prospects report on June 2, 2020. He covered about Bank's support activities, the debt service moratorium for the poorest countries, the progress on debt transparency and some of the next steps. He spoke about how the World Bank Group resources are being scaled up dramatically, providing strong net positive flows, especially to the poorest countries. He highlighted on IDA and IBRD working with countries to expand the coverage of social safety net programs, IFC providing finances to the private sector in developing countries over fifteen months, and MIGA helping to provide a more stable environment for investment by mitigating and managing risks arising from uncertainty. He described the debt moratorium that the World Bank and IMF championed, where the Debt service payments by all official bilateral creditors were suspended on May 1, adding to the potential resources for the poorest countries. He stated that an important part of this initiative is to help governments in debtor countries increase the transparency of their debt and investment practices and disclose the amounts and terms of their debt. He spoke about the Global Economic Prospects (GEP) report which finds a deep global recession, accompanied by a collapse in global trade, tourism and commodity prices and extraordinary market volatility. He said that beyond coping with the immediate crisis to limit the harm, policymakers can make a robust recovery more likely by maintaining private sector systems and infrastructure and allowing markets to allocate resources toward productive activities. He stated that most of the export restrictions that were announced earlier this year have not been implemented and global food prices have mostly remained stable. He highlighted on the important advances that are being made in digital connectivity in developing economies. He concluded by saying that the World Bank Group will continue to take broad, fast action in our response to the needs of people in developing countries.
World Bank Group Strategy for Fragility, Conflict, and Violence 2020–2025

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-02-27) World Bank Group

By 2030, more than half of the world’s extreme poor will live in countries characterized by fragility, conflict, and violence. Preventing and mitigating fragility, conflict, and violence (FCV) is central to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the World Bank Group’s (WBG) twin goals of ending extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity. The objective of the FCV Strategy is to enhance the WBG’s effectiveness to support countries in addressing the drivers and impacts of FCV and strengthening their resilience, especially for the most vulnerable and marginalized populations.
Access to Information in the Middle East and North Africa Region: An Overview of Recent Developments in Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, and Tunisia

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015) Almadhoun, Said

The right to access and request information is enshrined in article 19 of the universal declaration of human rights. Access to information (ATI) plays an essential role for promoting accountability and citizens ability to monitor the actions of the government, and it contributes to participatory development. The goal of this report is to provide an overview of the situation of access to information in the Middle East and North Africa (MNA) region, in particular the cases of Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, and Tunisia. This report looks at previous and current efforts for promoting ATI in the region in order to facilitate knowledge exchange among ATI practitioners across those countries and to help them identify areas for collaboration in the region. For each country, this report will first examine the legal and or institutional framework, including a range of factors such as constitutional provisions, restrictive legislation, relevant regional and international conventions, and key administrative bodies. Government initiatives affecting the right of ATI are then considered in detail for each country. This report examines the practice of ATI for each of these four countries, including the use and implementation of ATI legislation or other applicable transparency provisions. Finally, a summary of recent developments of the ATI coalitions and campaigns in these countries is provided.
Supporting Constructive Engagement between the Government of Yemen and CSOs : Partnership for Development Knowledge Conference

(Washington, DC, 2014-05-20) World Bank

This is a post conference summary of the Partnership for Development Knowledge Conference held in Yemen from March 4-6, 2014. The report summarizes the discussions that took place during various conference sessions and also some of the outcomes and agreements reached. Following a rich and open dialogue, important outcomes of the conference included a set of recommendations jointly formulated by the government technical teams and Civil Society Organization(s), or CSO representatives. They also agreed on a series of future actions, including the following: build on working group outcomes and discussions with the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation to determine the 3-4 priority sectors in which more sector-specific dialogue needs to take place. Preparations and groundwork for sector-specific dialogue, building on the conference outcomes, will continue via technical discussions with relevant Sector Ministries. A possible knowledge visit to India by a small government technical team will be explored, with a focus on issues of social accountability. Sector dialogue sessions will be implemented after Ramadan 2014 and will focus on sectors that were recommended by the working groups. Dialogue sessions will support the development of sector-specific action plans that identify concrete opportunities for partnership between specific ministries and CSOs operating within the sector. In conclusion, the conference provided an ideal background to prepare for the sector-level dialogue sessions. These sessions will be facilitated under the next phase of the World Bank funded Government-CSOs Partnership Project.
Mauritania : Counting on Natural Wealth for a Sustainable Future

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2014-05) Mele, Gianluca

A data set of key macro-sustainability indicators, constructed after several fact-finding missions, and World Bank methodologies on estimating wealth accounting are used to study Mauritania's wealth, which is estimated to be between USD50 and USD60 billion. The country's produced wealth represents roughly 12 percent of total wealth, much less than in lower-middle-income countries; by contrast, natural wealth represents approximately 45 percent of the total figure. Renewable resources account for slightly less than two-thirds of natural wealth, with fisheries alone equaling about one-fourth of natural wealth. This is good news for Mauritania, as sound management of these resources may ensure a constant flow of resources in the future and therefore -- with adequate policies -- the achievement of the same or higher levels of welfare for future generations. On the negative side, however, the ratio of net adjusted savings over gross national income is estimated to have been negative since 2006, meaning that the wealth of the country is being depleted. Mauritania has recently joined the ranks of lower-middle-income countries, largely thanks to its considerable natural resources endowment. Over time the mining sector's contribution to gross domestic product has grown significantly and important discoveries continue to be made. The overarching objective of this wealth accounting exercise is thus to support Mauritania to measure its assets better and achieve a more complete picture of the prospects for future income, with a view to better orienting public policies toward sustainable growth and shared prosperity. The paper concludes with several indicative policy recommendations.
Implementing Consumer Protection in Emerging Markets and Developing Economies: A Technical Guide for Bank Supervisors

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2013-08-16) Dias, Denise

Financial consumer protection regulation reflects the regulator's and policy makers' concerns with the relationship between financial institutions and their clients. Most emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs) researched for this guide have regulated at least one financial consumer protection topic. Each detail in the regulatory requirements impacts how the supervisor enforces them in practice and which tools and techniques will work best. For example, a rule simply requiring disclosure of an item will be checked by the field supervisor differently than a rule requiring the item to be disclosed at a specific moment and in a specified format. Ignoring the time dimension of this rule can jeopardize its core goal. This guide is an attempt to help bank supervisors enforce such regulations. It is divided into following sections: section one gives introduction. Section two details guidance points in eight areas of interest for supervisory staff and agencies, while section three suggests a prioritization framework for supervisors - particularly those in low-income countries with resource and capacity constraints - that adopt a gradual approach when implementing the guidance.
Guidance for the Directors of Banks

(International Finance Corporation, Washington, DC, 2013-08-09) Westlake, Richard

The need for sound governance of banks worldwide has never been stronger. After the global financial crisis of 2007-2009, spectacular bank failures, whether caused by greed, incompetence, or indifference, are still occurring. This guide is intended mainly for three groups of readers: (i) new directors with experience in banking; (ii) directors who understand governance, but have no experience in banking; and (iii) new directors who have no experience of either banking or being a director. It is mainly an introduction for the directors of non-complex banks, whose main business is to take deposits and provide loans, and is not designed for the directors of large, complex banks or investment banks operating in global capital markets and dealing with complex corporate structures. We hope, however, that even relatively experienced directors of banks, and those who work with them, may find the book a useful refresher. Main topics discussed in the Guidance are: 1) where banks fit in the corporate governance framework; 2) the unique role of banks governing risk; 3) Board structures and directors' duties; and 4) effective Board decision making. Since the late Jonathan Charkham CBE wrote the first edition of this Guidance book in 2003, the world has changed dramatically. During the crisis, many household-name banks merged or disappeared. Now there is stronger supervision of banks and greater expectations of Boards, so directors need to be knowledgeable about and engaged with their bank to provide direction and hold bank management to account.