Rigorous evidence on cost-effective interventions must guide the development community, but these interventions will underperform without certain enabling conditions—conditions that can only be made f...

ALT: The Dude's "You Don't Say..." Frown

For about six weeks now, thousands of young Indians have camped out in nonviolent protest and hunger strikes in New Delhi. This situation has now hardened into a serious political challenge for the go...

Neonatal sepsis kills one newborn every 45 seconds. Defined as a bloodstream infection in the first 60 days of life, it is responsible for 400,000–700,000 deaths per year—more young lives than malaria...

Rapid growth and poverty reduction can lead policymakers and the international community to deny the existence of governance problems such as corruption and elite capture. When this denial increases d...

Babies have died after not receiving the vitamin K shot at birth. Their autopsy records underscore how preventable their deaths could have been.

Last week, the State Department released the first PEPFAR dataset on Spotlight since it picked up the program. The data cover the period July through September, 2025. PEPFAR provided antiretroviral th...

Last week, the State Department released the first PEPFAR dataset on Spotlight since it picked up the program. The data cover the period July through September, 2025. PEPFAR provided antiretroviral th...

This week we featured research on teachers, fiscal tightening, shadow banks and more!

Health taxes on sugar seem to have captured the zeitgeist: Mexico's soda tax, the UK's sugar levy, South Africa's Health Promotion Levy, a sugar tax in the Philippines, and so on. The evidence on thes...

The World Bank and IMF Spring Meetings arrive at a moment of increasing global disorder. Both the Bank and the IMF have an important role in helping client countries deal with the associated crises. B...

The World Bank and IMF Spring Meetings arrive at a moment of increasing global disorder. Both the Bank and the IMF have an important role in helping client countries deal with the associated crises. B...

The US–Israel war on Iran has already led to a spike in oil prices. While wealthier countries focus on fuel prices, for those in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), this could mean something far...

The US–Israel war on Iran has already led to a spike in oil prices. While wealthier countries focus on fuel prices, for those in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), this could mean something far...

The question seems simple enough: how can a rapidly growing African city improve the health and care of its pregnant women and their babies? But ask this question while navigating the humid, traffic-c...

Two Florida women had to attend virtual court hearings while in labor to argue for their right to choose their own medical care. As their state pushes to expand some types of medical freedom, it has a...

At least since former World Bank President Jim Wolfensohn coined the phrase “knowledge bank,” there have been periodic efforts to strengthen evidence-based policymaking at the World Bank. They have fo...