World Bank [to 25 July 2015]
http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/all
[We generally limit coverage to regional and global level initiatives, recognizing that a number of country-level announcements are added each week]

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PRESS RELEASE
Poll: Most Not Convinced World is Prepared for Next Epidemic
July 23, 2015
Publics in France, Germany, Japan, UK, and US Strongly Support Investing in Health in Developing Countries to Reduce Threat
Washington, DC, July 23, 2015 – Citizens in France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States are not convinced that the world is prepared for another global epidemic like Ebola, and they strongly support investments in developing countries to reduce the threat of infectious diseases, according to a new opinion research survey with 4,000 respondents among the general public and opinion elites across the five nations.
As new cases of Ebola continue to emerge in West Africa, twice as many respondents think the world will experience another global epidemic in the next decade as will not, and fewer than half are convinced that their own country is prepared. Nearly 8 in 10 people believe that investing in doctors, nurses and clinics in poor and developing countries helps prevent epidemics from breaking out in their own countries, while nearly 7 in 10 people say that doctors and nurses in their own countries should be encouraged to work in areas with disease outbreaks, outweighing risks of carrying diseases back to their own countries.
The poll, Preparing for the Next Outbreak: Public Views on Global Infectious Diseases, found that nearly 6 in 10 people support investments and policy changes in developing countries that will help protect their own country from global epidemics, while 7 in 10 believe strengthening health care in developing countries will save the world money…To view the presentation of the survey findings, please click here.

Latin America: New ways to strengthen social advances
July 21, 2015
The goal of the Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group is to end extreme poverty by 2030 in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The Latin American and Caribbean region will make history again this year. For the first time in nearly 50 years, the region will become the site of the international discussion on development. It will open its doors to thousands of representatives from around the world to discuss a future without extreme poverty and with more opportunities for all. The Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group are held every year in October. This year, the discussions will be held in Lima, Peru. It will be an appropriate scenario for highlighting the achievements and advances made in the region during this century, and for defining the challenges for continuing to reduce inequality and for reaching the goal of ending extreme poverty by 2030. The meeting will take place at a time when the region is facing challenges that are shaking the foundations of the recent economic growth and swelled the ranks of the middle class to nearly 100 million people.

PRESS RELEASE
World Bank Group Welcomes Launch of New Development Bank
July 20, 2015
WASHINGTON, July 20, 2015 –The World Bank Group today issued the following statement by World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim on the launch of the New Development Bank:
“We would like to congratulate Mr. K.V. Kamath, President of the New Development Bank, and the founding members — Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa — on this important occasion.
The New Development Bank joins a growing number of multilateral institutions — including the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank — that are working to address the world’s huge infrastructure needs. Emerging markets and low-income countries face an annual gap of $1 trillion to $1.5 trillion in infrastructure spending.
We are committed to working closely with the New Development Bank and other multilateral institutions, offering to share our knowledge and to co-finance infrastructure projects. These types of partnerships will be essential to reach our common goals to end extreme poverty by 2030, boost shared prosperity, and to reduce inequalities.”