World Bank [to 12 April 2014]
http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/all
April 11, 2014
World Bank Group President Flags Sanitation as Key Priority for Ending Poverty
Kim urges world leaders to tackle poverty through increasing access to improved sanitation WASHINGTON, April 11, 2014 – World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim today, at a meeting with global ministers of finance, water and sanitation, called on world leaders to take urgent action to provide access to basic sanitation services for their citizens, as a means to fight poverty. The remarks come ahead of the IMF-World Bank Group Spring Meetings.“We’re here today to prevent millions of needless deaths of people – most of them poor children – who die because of a lack of sanitation,” said Kim.An estimated 2.5 billion people lack access to functioning toilets or sanitary means of disposing human feces. This includes the 1 billion people who practice open defecation near rivers and fields, spreading germs from human waste through food, water, and washing of clothes. The resulting diarrheal disease leads to the deaths of thousands of children every day, and countless other negative impacts…

April 11, 2014
Remittances to developing countries to stay robust this year, despite increased deportations of migrant workers, says WB
WASHINGTON, April 11, 2014 – International migrants from developing countries are expected to send $436 billion in remittances to their home countries this year, despite more deportations from some host countries, says the World Bank’s latest issue of the Migration and Development Brief, released today.This year’s remittance flows to developing countries will be an increase of 7.8 percent over the 2013 volume of $404 billion, rising to $516 billion in 2016, according to revised projections from the latest issue of the brief. Global remittances, including those to high-income countries, are estimated at $581 billion this year, from $542 billion in 2013, rising to $681 billion in 2016.Remittances remain a key source of external resource flows for developing countries, far exceeding official development assistance and more stable than private debt and portfolio equity flows. For many developing countries, remittances are an important source of foreign exchange, surpassing earnings…

April 11, 2014
WBG President Kim Calls for Renewed International Support to Help Haiti Overcome Cholera
Washington, April 11, 2014 – World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim today called for renewed commitments from international partners and a roadmap for integrated health, water and sanitation investments in support of Haiti’s National Cholera Elimination Plan. “Cholera can be eliminated in Haiti. We need to do much more to strengthen Haitian institutions and support the Government’s cholera elimination plan,” Kim said. “This will require an integrated multi-sector approach that prioritizes improvements in water and health programs for the most vulnerable people.” While the number of cases has been dramatically cut since the beginning of the outbreak in October 2010 – from a monthly average of more than 35,000 cases in the first year of the epidemic to around 4,900 in 2013 – Haiti still has the highest number of cholera cases in the world…

April 7, 2014
Africa’s Growth Set to Reach 5.2 percent in 2014 With Strong Investment Growth and Household Spending
WASHINGTON, April 7, 2014–Economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) continues to rise from 4.7 percent in 2013 to a forecasted 5.2 percent in 2014. This performance is boosted by rising investment in natural resources and infrastructure, and strong household spending, according to the World Bank’s new Africa’s Pulse, a twice-yearly analysis of the issues shaping Africa’s economic prospects. Growth was notably buoyant in resource-rich countries, including Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo. It remained steady in Cote d’Ivoire, while rebounding in Mali, supported by improved political stability and security. Non-resource-rich countries, particularly Ethiopia and Rwanda, also experienced solid economic growth in 2013.Capital flows to Sub-Saharan Africa continued to rise, reaching an estimated 5.3 percent of regional GDP in 2013, significantly above the developing-country average of 3.9 percent…