Publication

In this short note, it shares you the basic science of child development. It explains how children develop skills and what it means to promote early stimulation and early learning, and how to work with parents to promote better outcomes for young children. It highlights a range of different interventions to support young children and their families and share successful approaches countries are using to scale up access to early stimulation and quality early learning. Many of these approaches are simple and affordable, and many can be integrated into existing programs. 

This note provides guidance on interventions that work with parents to promote child development through early stimulation. It outlines key elements of design and implementation and offers examples of effective programs from around the world.

The global technology and innovation frontier pushes forward at a rapid pace, and countries around the world seek to either keep up, or catch up. Countries at the frontier are forward-looking, have robust economies, are open to investment and technology, and have competitive, well-matched workforces. And countries that want frontier-combatible workforces require agile, demand-driven training arrangements that allow for swift entry and re-entry to training. After all, as the fourth industrial revolution unfolds, technology and markets continue to change at ever-increasing speeds.

This paper examines the links between adverse events, depression, and decision making in Nigeria. It investigates how events such as conflicts, shocks, and deaths can affect short-term perceptions of welfare, as well as longer term decisions on economic activities and human capital investments. First, the findings show that exposure to conflict has the largest and strongest relationship with depression, associated with a 15.3 percentage point increase in the probability of reporting depressive symptoms (from a base of 22 percent).

Early mathematics learning has garnered considerable attention globally over the past few years. This increased attention is motivated by global research pointing to the importance of early mathematics in supporting children`s later academic development. The need to ensure that children have explicit and planned opportunities to develop foundational mathematics skills has led to the development of research-based early mathematics curricula that clearly articulate the types of mathematics learning experiences young children can and should have at different points in their learning pathways.

In the first half of 2018, the economy continued to expand at a brisk pace, well on track for Rwanda to achieve 7.2 percent growth in 2018. GDP growth was 8.6 percent, following 9.3 percent growth in the second half of 2017. Growth in production was again broad-based. As it continued to recover from recent droughts, agriculture expanded by 7.6 percent. Industry has also regained momentum as large construction projects resumed and food processing was strong. Growth in services was a healthy 8.7 percent. On demand side, investments were the main driver of growth.

Globally, as new technologies are emerging and changing the nature of work, a growing number of countries and companies are realizing that prioritizing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) jobs can drive innovation and spur economic growth. Despite the business and economic benefits of gender diversity in STEM, globally, STEM jobs are traditionally male-dominated, and women are less likely to enter and more likely to leave STEM careers.

Economic performance in 2018 has been mixed. The data that are available suggest some areas of softening in the economy.1 Foreign direct investment declined to 2 percent of GDP in 2017, down from about 5 percent in 2014. The current account deficit has increased to 3.8 percent of GDP in the year ending September 2018, from 2.2 in the preceding 12 months. Recent Bank of Tanzania data confirm lower cashew exports and 2017 decline in non-traditional exports has continued into 2018, which raises concerns on prospects for longer term growth.

Results-based financing (RBF) has gained popularity in the international development community because of its potential to make education spending more effective and efficient. In the education sector, RBF has been primarily applied to four levels: teachers; students and families; schools; and governments. The results overall have been mixed, with some notable successes and some disappointing experiences. This report explores when and how RBF can help achieve better impacts in education.

Indonesia has made remarkable strides in key human development indicators over the past few decades. Primary school enrollment is close to universal for both boys and girls, and the child mortality rate has declined rapidly (World Bank 2017). Nevertheless, infant mortality, child malnutrition, maternal mortality, and educational learning quality have all remained challenges in Indonesia compared with other countries in the region (World Bank 2015).