Newsletter - World Bank in India - May 2021

World Bank in India Vol 23 / No. 5

May 2021

A JOURNEY BEYOND THE HORIZON

Development Dialogue How to Vaccinate Every Country

07

Green Power for Delhi Metro

15

New Publications

19

A JOURNEY BEYOND THE HORIZON

T

he Nai Manzil – New Horizons – Program is run

with intellectual and physical disabilities – with an

by the Ministry of Minority Affairs, Government

opportunity to receive a certified formal education

of India and supported by the World Bank with

and skills training. The Program runs in 26 states and

a loan of $50 million. Implementing agencies

3 union territories with six months of education and

under Nai Manzil provide members of the minority

three months of skills training, followed by a further six

community – including school dropouts and people

months of support to help them establish themselves.

Nai Manzil is benefitting more than 98,000 minority youth across the country by improving their education outcomes and increasing their employability options.

2

World Bank in India

Empowering minority women in India

a go of things, despite the temporary setback.

Sameera now plans to study further and become a better entrepreneur.

Sameera was just 14 years old when she dropped out of school and soon afterwards her impoverished parents arranged her marriage. She stayed at home to cook and clean for her husband’s

Kausar Jahan, a mother of three, lives with nine

family, like all the other women in her small fishing

drop out of school. Fortunately, some years later,

community in Kerala’s Malappuram district.

Nai Manzil’s training enabled her to get a job at

other family members in Hyderabad in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Married off at 17 she had to

a government hospital providing bed-side care When enrollment for the Nai Manzil program was announced in her village, she joined eagerly with the support of her husband. A year later, Sameera, along with three other women from the program set up Bismil Tailoring, a home-based venture that took in sewing assignments from the community.

They earned good money. But the pandemic and the ensuing lockdown took a heavy toll on the nascent enterprise. Despite this, Sameera wasn’t disheartened and managed to get several orders for masks and was able to keep her small family afloat during the crisis. Her education and training, and her exposure to the outside world, had instilled

to patients. When the pandemic hit, Kausar was able to support her family with her salary, as her electrician husband was unable to find work. She now uses her training to provide free health services to her community in the old city of Hyderabad.

More than half of Nai Manzil’s beneficiaries are women, with Muslim women constituting the majority. So far, more than 50,700 minority women have benefited from the education and skilling provided by the program.

in her a new self-assurance that she could make

More than 50,700 minority women have benefited from the education and skilling provided by the program.

3

The Nai Manzil program provides education and skills training to persons with disability belonging to minority communities.

Helping minority youth with disabilities

Laxmi was forced to drop out of school at age 10 and

Another notable achievement of the Nai Manzil program has been to provide education and skills training to persons with disability belonging to minority communities.

schooling. She moved to Siddipet near Hyderabad

Anas lives with his parents and extended family in Malappuram district in Kerala. He was born with a disability affecting his intellectual and motor skills. His parents worried about how he would support himself when they were no longer around.

He had attended special schools for the disabled while growing up, but it was after enrolling in the Nai Manzil program in his district that he started showing improvement. He was able to finish grade 10 and complete a formal skills training program.

At 27, Anas was working as a data entry operator, earning his own money and taking care of himself and his family. Although unemployed now due to the lockdown, he is not worried as he knows he has a skill that will help him in the future.

4

was paralyzed from waist down at age 17. An eager student, she lost all hope of ever completing her for treatment and joined the Program and completed her education and training. She now works as a bedside assistant in a government hospital. She considers herself very fortunate and now wants to motivate and help other people with disabilities to become self-reliant.

The community mobilizers At the forefront, and perhaps often forgotten, are the community mobilizers who play a pivotal role in the success and long-term impact of the program.

Being a new program, there was a lot of skepticism and distrust among people at the beginning. The onus of collecting data on school dropouts in their area, targeting the deserving communities and then convincing the families to enroll in the Program was the work of these young men and women.

World Bank in India

Take for example Samina, who has been working

villages of Punjab mobilizing out of school youth,

in the hill state of Manipur since 2017. She helped

especially young girls from the Sikh community, to

mobilize poor youth from the Christian community

join the Nai Manzil program. She says that not every

to join the program. As part of her work she travels

household welcomes them or shows interest. But she

deep into the most underserved areas in the hilly

perseveres, travelling door to door, talking with the

region, meeting with the families and over time

families, convincing the village elders and religious

gaining their trust. Samina is “overwhelmed” with

heads to let the girls complete their schooling.

the appreciation she gets from the people. “Nai Manzil has opened the eyes of minority youth.

The efforts have borne fruit. Vandana mentions

Many students are in college now. Many are

that students who completed grade 10 under the

now in Delhi studying nursing, some are getting

program keep calling her to ask if Nai Manzil can

management training, some are having their own

support them to complete grade 12 as well. In fact,

embroidery business,” she says with pride.

seeing the opportunities opening up for their peers, many young people who could not enroll for the

While Samina focused on youth from the Christian

program the first-time round, now ask eagerly when

community, Vandana has been working in the

the second part of the program will be launched.

Community mobilizers in Punjab, encouraging youth, especially young girls from the Sikh community to join the Nai Manzil program

5

DEVELOPMENT DIALOGUE

HOW TO VACCINATE EVERY COUNTRY DAVID MALPASS

The current approach to COVID-19 vaccination – using limited vaccine supplies to protect low-risk populations in a handful of countries while low- and middle-income economies wait indefinitely for doses – doesn’t make sense for anyone. A successful global vaccination effort must be equitable, and it must stand on three pillars.

6

World Bank in India

The COVID-19 pandemic will not truly end until everyone has access to vaccines, including people in the poorest countries. Worldwide vaccination offers the best hope for stopping the spread of infections, saving lives, and protecting livelihoods. People cannot reach their potential until they can again study, work, travel, and socialize in the confident knowledge that they are safe from COVID-19.

Conducting a large-scale vaccination campaign is a major undertaking for any country, but the logistics are particularly challenging for countries with limited resources and fragile health systems. The ongoing COVID-19 disaster in India and the surge of infections and deaths in Latin America are grim reminders that the pandemic is as bad as ever for many of the world’s poor.

Distributing vaccines more widely is thus an urgent necessity. The pandemic has worsened inequality by hitting the poorest and most vulnerable the hardest.

In developing countries, women, children, the poor, and informal-sector workers have paid an extremely high price as COVID-19 took away livelihoods, closed classrooms, and prevented urgent social spending.

A successful global vaccination effort must stand on three pillars.

Delays in starting vaccination rollouts in developing countries are deepening global inequality and leaving hundreds of millions of elderly and vulnerable people at risk. I continue to urge countries with sufficient vaccine supplies to release their additional doses as soon as possible to developing countries that have delivery programs in place.

Some countries have gone well beyond vaccinating their most at-risk citizens. But many others have yet to receive any doses, much less administer them widely to the vulnerable. Many of the poorest countries have limited vaccination capacity and will require several months to immunize a large share of the most at-risk groups.

First, countries with an adequate vaccine supply should immediately release doses to the vulnerable worldwide. This may mean exercising options and guiding vaccines to other countries or making clear to manufacturers that they can quickly send supplies without exposing themselves to legal risk. Or it could involve actually fulfilling funding commitments to the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access (COVAX) facility set up by the international community to allocate doses equitably to poorer countries.

The World Bank already has board-approved financing available in 22 developing countries, with several dozen more expected by mid-year under the fasttrack process we used for emergency COVID-19 assistance in 2020. This $12 billion can facilitate rapid

This illogical approach – using limited vaccine supplies in a handful of countries while low- and middle-income economies wait indefinitely for doses – doesn’t make sense for anyone. More lives will be lost, global economic growth will be more unequal, and even countries with high vaccination rates will be more at risk from novel coronavirus variants than they would be if developing countries had greater access to vaccines. The longer it takes to achieve broad vaccination of the vulnerable, the higher the risk of extreme poverty in 2021 and 2022, which in turn will invite future health and social crises.

7

what has been learned from vaccine-readiness assessments we helped undertake with over 140 countries over the last half-year, working closely with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the Global Fund, the World Health Organization, and UNICEF. Thus, the Bank’s online portal is also an invitation to vaccine manufacturers, purchasers, and intermediaries to follow suit, and another plea to those controlling the supply of approved vaccines to release them to safe, well-funded deployment programs.

vaccine deployment through national health systems and pay for vaccine purchases and shipments if needed. Standardized, transparent contracts that arrange for fair and equitable distribution are crucial. If vaccine supplies pass through COVAX, which envisions immunizing the most vulnerable 20% of countries’ populations, World Bank financing can be used to help with distribution and to purchase additional supplies to vaccinate more people.

Second, we need greater transparency regarding contracts between governments, pharmaceutical companies, and organizations involved in vaccine production and delivery so that financing can be directed effectively, and countries can plan for receipt and deployment. This is also critical to enable the private-sector investments that will be needed to expand supply.

In that spirit, the World Bank is launching a comprehensive online portal that provides easy access to information about our projects, including individual country-financing operations. The portal will also incorporate

8

The third pillar is increased vaccine production.

The International Finance Corporation, the World Bank Group’s private-sector arm, has invested over $800 million in health care, including in vaccine manufacturers. And it currently has another $1.2 billion in the pipeline through the Global Health Platform, a $4 billion financing mechanism created to help meet the immediate need for vaccines, medical equipment, and health services.

The IFC is actively engaging with governments and companies on early-stage development of commercially viable pharmaceutical manufacturing projects, including for COVID-19 vaccines.

The pandemic has overwhelmed health systems worldwide, even in the most developed countries.

We must now strengthen them, not just to cope with the vaccination effort, but also to prevent and treat COVID-19 and ensure the full range of essential health services.

The global COVID-19 vaccination campaign will be the largest in history – unprecedented in scale, speed, and complexity. Our goal must be to carry it out as quickly, broadly, and safely as possible; learn from what worked and what didn’t; and boost preparedness and resilience for future crises.

David Malpass is President of the World Bank Group.

This oped was published on the Project Syndicate site on May 19, 2021

World Bank in India

#YOUTHSPEAK The World Bank Group and the Financial Times jointly conducted a blog writing competition for high school students. In the context of COVID-19, students were asked to provide ideas and solutions to improve education outcomes. High school students from around the world (more than 400 students from 62 countries), from different social, cultural and economic backgrounds wrote about how their experience of learning was affected during COVID-19 and shared their ideas about how to improve the learning experience and make it more impactful.

Shirin Rajesh from India, was one among the winners.

Education in COVID times - Shirin Rajesh

9

Online learning: The trojan horse of education - Shirin Rajesh The world as we knew it has changed forever. The COVID-19 virus continues to disrupt learning globally forcing the alternative to "in-person" classes: online schooling. Be it Google Meet or Zoom, Microsoft Teams or Classroom, the one thing we all agree upon is that we miss the "good ol' days" of face to face interaction.

While learning platforms have transitioned from physical to digital, not much else has changed. The quarks and chemical bonding that we learnt about on whiteboards is now taught using virtual ones and the workload is as hefty as ever. Although the interactive element has been missing, as a 12th grader we never had much of it anyway! This leads me to question, if the only major distinction is the platform, why has our learning experience been so different?

Why is attendance dropping and why are scores plummeting?

In my opinion, the answer lies in the environment and approach towards teaching coupled with its reception. Nobody was prepared for the challenges that the pandemic threw at us. It's a struggle to tackle the never-ending list of assignments especially with mental health issues in teens being at an all-time high. The administration can be more flexible with deadlines and the workload based on feedback from students to allow for a less stressful learning experience. Our school, for instance, has set a tentative timeline for us to space our tasks to help save us the trouble of scheduling and hassle of timemanagement.

10

Still, schools haven't cut back much on their curricular expectations and "ineffective" learning becomes detrimental for students in the long run.

Many virtual classes nowadays choose lectures and slide reading as not all traditional teaching methods can be adopted. I prefer less conventional approaches like class activities, debates and discussions as opposed to assignments to be turned in. With interactive being the way to go, these alternatives can be substituted for a more meaningful, effective and fun learning space.

It's important to recognize that teachers only contribute to 50 percent of the equation of profitless E-learning. I learned this during a lecture that I led where presenting my work to the screen of alphabets felt as though my efforts were being invalidated.

Trying towards a discussion was met with silence (the analogy "speaking to a wall" seemed to describe the situation perfectly). As a student, I know it's all too easy to scroll through lnstagram while our teachers aren't watching, but what are the consequences of these actions?

I empathize with teachers and students around the world and recognize that online learning is not a long-term alternative in a post-Covid world. As someone who would be classified as an extreme introvert, I'm still surprised to see how much the small interactions actually impacted my views on learning in general! Unfortunately, though, all we can do for now is try to find the silver lining and ensure that we put in our efforts so our futures aren't jeopardized.

World Bank in India

INDIA’S YOUTH RISE UP TO FIX COUNTRY’S TOXIC AIR PROBLEM College students participate in a case study competition and suggest innovative ways to improve air quality in Indian cities

Seeing bluer skies in India—a nation known for its alarming air pollution levels—remains a major governmental priority. In recent times, the country launched its flagship National Clean Air Program (NCAP) to provide a roadmap to prevent, control, and reduce unhealthy air and mitigate its effects on development. Yet, much remains to be done, and one can still cough up troubling statistics on the lack of clean air in India: On an average, 248 million Indians lose 8 years of their lives due to exposure to poor air quality. And 1.67 million deaths were attributable to air pollution in India in 2019.

Naturally, it came as a breath of fresh air when on April 12, six college teams from across India—beating 1,500 peers in a national competition co-organized by the World Bank and Shri Ram College of Commerce,

New Delhi—became air-quality champions for the day and advocated innovative, practical solutions for a cleaner tomorrow, their tomorrow.

“Each presentation was fantastic and filled with innovative ideas,” said Urvashi Narain, Lead Economist at the World Bank, and one of the three jurists of the competition. “And all of this was a weekend’s worth of work. Can you imagine what change these youth can spur if they take on the challenge of air pollution as their main profession?”

The other jurists of the competition included Anumita Roychowdhury, Executive Director of the Centre for Science and Environment in New Delhi and Aasherwaad Dwivedi, Assistant Professor at Shri Ram College of Commerce.

11

Rising Up to the Challenge The premise of the Shri Ram Macromania youth challenge was three-fold: pick an Indian city of choice, study its air quality trends, and develop a public awareness campaign to mitigate the impact of air pollution, particularly from exposure to PM2.5—small particulates hanging in the air that cause deadly illnesses such as lung cancer, stroke, and heart disease.

The challenge came with two practical caveats.

The approach had to be multi-jurisdictional and incorporate an airshed-based management approach to air pollution. Air pollution travels across administrative boundaries, and pollution sources are located both inside and outside of any given city.

Therefore, an airshed-based management approach that cuts across jurisdictions is key to achieving results.

Also, the approach had to be multi-sectoral, recognizing that poor air quality in India is driven by urban as well as rural sources such as agricultural residue burning, household use of biomass for cooking, and less-known sources such as excessive use of fertilizer, emissions from which contribute indirectly to the formation of PM2.5.

12

Youth: Informed Agents of Change “If not youth, then who?” asked John Roome, World Bank’s Regional Director for South Asia Sustainable Development, in his opening remarks.

Narain’s familiar refrain after each of the six rounds, asking contestants what they had learned in preparation for the competition, captured their newfound awareness and insights: “I learned that the horticulture and agriculture industries lead to large contributions of PM2.5.”

“Combatting crisis at a city level is not effective, a regional solution is required. Knowing that made a lot of difference.”

The future of the world indeed belongs to youth. “I am glad we are catching them young and now, to address these issues,” said Roychowdhury.

Solutioning Beyond Delhi: An All-India Challenge India’s capital city of New Delhi has long attracted global attention and analyses as the most polluted capital in the world, two years in a row. But the Shri

World Bank in India

Ram Macromania challenge finalists steered clear of Delhi’s familiar smog to envision bright and bold solutions for cleaner air in other afflicted cities such as Gurugram, Mumbai, and Indore.

Visualize It! was one such award-winning solution for Mumbai from the Pune-based Team ACERS, representing Symbiosis Centre for Management and Human Resource Development. The team proposed leveraging new technologies such as Augmented Reality, LED Screens, and Smart Glasses to make the deleterious effects of air pollution more visible daily to citizens.

Delhi’s Team Triplets, from the Shri Ram College of Commerce, focused on Kolkata and won kudos for their five-point plan for the transportation sector and a deep dive into public awareness campaigns on air pollution: Hospital on Wheels Campaign to create awareness and provide quality healthcare on the go; Sahayak, a campaign to train anganwadi or rural healthcare center workers; and the Campaign for Lung Cancer Awareness. They also drew on best practices in airshed approaches from other countries.

Team Freewheeling3 from Indian Institute of Management, Rohtak, won the competition for their

clear theory of change and comprehensive framework for an airshed management approach to air pollution.

The team used Gurugram—a suburb of Delhi that had a mere 40 good air days in 2020—as their backdrop to approach change methodically—build awareness, change attitude, and lead to action.

Act Now or Forever Hold Your Breath One of the evening’s poignant moments came from author and activist Jyoti Lavakare, who seamlessly wove in a personal narrative on losing her mother to lung cancer—a deadly reminder of the effects of air toxicity—with her appeal to youth to be informed, vigilant citizens.

“Make yourself very aware and make others very aware, and then try and make sure you keep asking and demanding to breathe clean air,” appealed Lavakare to the youth. “And vote with your ballots and wallets to save the environment.”

It’s the zest for life, teased out through such youth challenges, that will brighten the sky and enable us all to breathe easier.

13

SOME RECENT BLOGS South Asia unites to double down on marine plastics pollution South Asia is the world’s second largest contributor of solid waste —334 million tons annually-- and is on track to be the fastest growing contributor to plastic pollution over the next two decades Read more at: https://blogs.worldbank.org/endpovertyinsouthasia/south-asia-unites-double-down-marine-plastics-pollution

South Asia needs a united voice at UN climate, biodiversity meetings The cross-border consequences of climate change and ecological degradation demand collaborative action. The success of South Asia in dealing with climate change will be a major contribution to the global response to climate change.

Read more at: https://blogs.worldbank.org/endpovertyinsouthasia/south-asia-needs-united-voice-un-climate-biodiversity-meetings

Menstrual health and hygiene empowers women and girls: How to ensure we get it right If menstrual health and hygiene (MHH) is well managed from the start, it has a surprisingly high potential to contribute to increasing female empowerment at a critical stage of a girls’ Read more at: https://blogs.worldbank.org/water/menstrual-health-and-hygiene-empowers-women-and-girls-how-ensure-we-get-it-right

Installing solar panels at high altitudes in the snow: Mission possible The thought of installing solar panels in isolated, snowbound regions with harsh weather conditions may seem far-fetched. But Himachal Pradesh, a hilly state in northern India where snow and sun abound, is about to break new ground.

Read more at: https://blogs.worldbank.org/energy/installing-solar-panels-high-altitudes-snow-mission-possible

14

World Bank in India

Green Power to the Delhi Metro

A 1590 acre Ultra Mega Solar Park in Rewa's Gurh Tehsil in Madhya Pradesh is among the largest single-site solar power plants in the world. And 24 percent of the park’s solar energy is being sold directly to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), meeting almost 60 percent of its daytime demand. This will essentially help DMRC not only reduce its dependence on coal, but also save Rs. 793 crore on its energy bill over the next 25 years.

The park, with an installed capacity of 750 megawatt, has been made possible with support from the World Bank and Clean Technology Fund through a US$ 18 million funding as part of a Shared Infrastructure for Solar Parks Project. The International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, was the transaction advisor for the project.

The World Bank Group is now collectively working on replicating the success of the Rewa Solar Park in other such parks in Madhya Pradesh and possibly in Odisha.

More than half of the Delhi Metro runs on solar power coming all the way from Rewa in Madhya Pradesh.

This means that 290 trains across 373 kilometers serving 2.6 million passengers in a single day are now green.

15

NEW PUBLICATIONS

World Development Report 2021: Data for Better Lives March 2021 Data are a powerful weapon for fighting poverty in low- and middle-income countries. But data themselves won’t help lift people out of poverty. It’s the people using them that generate insights that can turn into action to improve development outcomes. Data are currently not reaching their full potential for use in development. The World Development Report (WDR) 2021 explains this problem and introduces an important part of the solution: a social contract for data

16

World Bank in India

INDIA: POLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPERS WPS9592

Bridging Bangladesh and India: Cross-Border Trade and the Motor Vehicles Agreement

By Matias Herrera Dappe, Mathilde Sylvie Maria Lebrand and Diana Van Patten This paper studies the effects of removing transport and trade barriers between Bangladesh and India and focuses on the Motor Vehicles Agreement between Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Nepal and full transport and trade integration between Bangladesh and India. It shows that decreasing transport and trade barriers between Bangladesh and India can lead to up to a 7.6 percent increase in national real income for India and a 16.6 percent increase for Bangladesh.

WPS9584

Workers at Risk: Panel Data Evidence on the COVID-19 Labor Market Crisis in India

By Maurizio Bussolo, Ananya Kotia and Siddharth Sharma This paper focusses on the differential impact on the formal and informal segments of the labor market in India, using data from a large household panel survey and employing a difference-indifferences event study approach.

WPS9578

The Cost of a Nutritious Diet in Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Nepal

By Felipe Jr Fadullon Dizon, Zetianyu Wang and Prajula Mulmi This paper calculates and compares the minimum cost of a recommended diet across four countries

in South Asia. Within countries, the cost and affordability vary across urban and rural areas, subnational areas, and seasons of the year. In a context of constrained resources, this suggests the need for strategic prioritization of investments and service improvements in transport and storage of food and, more broadly, a rethink of food policies.

WPS9569

Closing the Gap: Gender, Transport, and Employment in Mumbai

By Muneeza Mehmood Alam, Maureen L. Cropper, Matias Herrera Dappe and et.al.

A growing body of literature documents the differences in men and women’s mobility patterns.

However, there is limited evidence on the evolution of these mobility patterns over time and the role that transportation networks play in women’s access to economic opportunities. Transport appears to be only one of many barriers to women’s labor force participation and not the most important one.

WPS9566

The Silenced Women: Can Public Activism Stimulate Reporting of Violence against Women?

By Abhilasha Sahay This paper examines whether public activism on violence against women can stimulate disclosure of socially sensitive crimes such as rape and sexual assault. The analysis finds an increase of 27 percent in reported violence against women after the 2012 “shock.” Additional evidence -- generated from selfcompiled high frequency crime data -- suggests that the increase can be attributed to a rise in reporting rather than an increase in occurrence.

17

OTHER PUBLICATIONS SOUTH ASIA ECONOMIC FOCUS SPRING

2021

South Asia Vaccinates

South Asia Economic Focus, Spring 2021: South Asia Vaccinates March 2021

Prospects of an economic rebound in South Asia are firming up and putting the region on a path to recovery. But growth is uneven and economic activity well below pre-COVID-19 estimates. The economic benefits of vaccination are huge. South Asian governments lack the resources and health infrastructure and delivery capacity to purchase and distribute vaccines. A stronger COVAX facility is needed to centrally acquire and provide vaccines for free to countries with insufficient resources.

What's Cooking: Digital Transformation of the Agrifood System Kateryna Schroeder, Julian Lampietti, and Ghada Elabed April 20211 The Report investigates how digital technologies can accelerate the transformation of the agrifood system by increasing efficiency on the farm; improving farmers’ access to output, input, and financial markets; strengthening quality control and traceability; and improving the design and delivery of agriculture policies.

project presents eight indicators structured around women’s interactions with the law as they move through their lives and careers: Mobility, Workplace, Pay, Marriage, Parenthood, Entrepreneurship, Assets, and Pension. This year’s report updates all indicators as of October 1, 2020. Prepared during a global pandemic that threatens global progress toward gender equality, the report also includes important findings on government responses to COVID-19 and pilot research related to childcare and women’s access to justice.

Primer on Large-Scale Assessments of Educational Achievement Marguerite Clarke and Diego LunaBazaldua April 2021 This new World Bank book is a response to the huge demand from policymakers and education stakeholders for a concise, easy-to-read introductory guide on the topic. It is meant to be a first-stop resource for those wanting to understand how to properly design, develop, administer, analyze, and use the results from large-scale assessments of educational achievement. It also provides an update on the main assessment studies of this type conducted in the last ten years.

Debt Report 2021 Edition II April 2021

Women, Business and the Law 2021

By World Bank April 2021 This Report is the seventh in a series of annual studies measuring the laws and regulations that affect women’s economic opportunity in 190 economies. The 18

The second of the series of Debt Reports for 2021 published online, aims is to provide users with analyses of evolving trends and development related to external debt and public debt in individual countries and regional groups, with primary emphasis on low- and middle-income countries, and to keep users abreast of debt-related issues and initiatives.

World Bank in India

Small Dam Safety: Good Practice Note on Dam Safety April 2021 Small dams play an important role in the provision of many kinds of benefits, such as drinking and irrigation water supply, flood control, small/mini hydropower generation, fishing, and so on. This note provides some lessons on how to address the challenges of small dam management with participation of community groups and effective government support for them.

The Potential of ZeroCarbon Bunker Fuels in Developing Countries Dominik Englert, Andrew Losos, Carlo Raucci, and Tristan Smith April 2021 The report examines a range of zero-carbon bunker fuel options that are major contributors to shipping’s decarbonized future: biofuels, hydrogen and ammonia, and synthetic carbon-based fuels.

Furthermore, the report finds that many countries, including developing countries, are very well positioned to become future suppliers of zerocarbon bunker fuels—namely ammonia and hydrogen.

Frontline: Preparing Healthcare Systems for Shocks from Disasters to Pandemics J un Rentschler, Christoph Klaiber, Mersedeh Tariverdi, Chloé Desjonquères and Jared Mercadante April 2021 Healthcare systems are at the frontline of delivering critical care during emergencies.

Yet, already before the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries were struggling to meet even

routine demands for health care. To strengthen the resilience of health systems to shocks and pressures, this note outlines five principles and priority areas for action. The principles presented in this note can help to better prepare health systems to respond to a wide range of shocks, from seasonal demand surges, to pandemics, climate change, and disasters.

The Role of LNG in the Transition Toward Low- and Zero-Carbon Shipping Dominik Englert, Andrew Losos, Carlo Raucci, and Tristan Smith April 2021 This report, considers the potential of LNG to play either a transitional role, in which existing LNG infrastructure and vessels could continue to be used with compatible zero-carbon bunker fuels after 2030, or a temporary one, in which LNG would be rapidly supplanted by zero-carbon alternatives from 2030.

The research finds that LNG is likely to only be used in niche shipping applications or in its non-liquefied form as a feedstock to kickstart the production of zero-carbon bunker fuels when used in conjunction with carbon capture and storage technology.

Tax Theory Applied to the Digital Economy: A Proposal for a Digital Data Tax and a Global Internet Tax Agency ristian Óliver Lucas-Mas and Raúl C Félix Junquera-Varela March 2021 Tax Theory Applied to the Digital Economy analyzes the tax-disruptive aspects of digital business models and reviews current tax initiatives in light of traditional tax theory principles. The analysis concludes that market countries’ tax claims are unsubstantiated and contravene the most basic foundations of tax theory, giving rise to a series of legal, economic, tax policy, and tax administration issues that policy makers cannot overlook.

19

POLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPERS WPS9648

WPS9642

Using Poverty Maps to Improve the Design of Household Surveys: The Evidence from Tunisia

COVID-19 and African Firms: Impact and Coping Strategies

By Gemechu A. Aga and Hibret Belete Maemir

By Gianni Betti, Vasco Molini and Dan Pavelesku WPS9641 WPS9647

Enhancing Human Capital at Scale Francesco Agostinelli, Ciro Avitabile and Matteo Bobba WPS9646

How Does Trade Respond to Anticipated Tariff Changes? Evidence from NAFTA

By Shafaat Yar Khan and Armen Khederlarian WPS9645

Understanding FDI Spillovers in the presence of GVCs

By Valerie Anne Mercer-Blackman, Wei Xiang and Fahad Khan WPS9644

Effects of Recognition of Prior Learning on Job Market Outcomes: Impact Evaluation in Bangladesh

By Shiro Nakata, Uttam Sharma, Tashmina Rahman and et.al.

By Simon Bilo, Mohamed Ihsan Ajwad, Ebtesam Alansari and et.al.

WPS9640

Regime-Dependent Environmental Tax Multipliers: Evidence from 75 Countries

By Christian Schoder WPS9639

Does Gender Equality in Labor Participation Bring Real Equality? Evidence from Developed and Developing Countries

By Federica Alfani, Fabio Clementi, Michele Fabiani and et. al.

WPS9638

The Impact of PTAs on the Duration of Antidumping Protection

By Thomas J. Prusa and Min Zhu

WPS9643

WPS9637

Effects of Public Sector Wages on Corruption: Wage Inequality Matters

Containing Chinese State-Owned Enterprises?: The Role of Deep Trade Agreements

By Asli Demirguc-Kunt, Michael M. Lokshin and Vladimir Kolchin

20

The Long Shadow of Short-Term Schooling Disruption: Analysis of Kuwait's Civil Service Payroll Data

By Kevin Jean-Rene Lefebvre, Nadia Rocha and Michele Ruta

World Bank in India

WPS9636

WPS9629

Assessing Response Fatigue in Phone Surveys: Experimental Evidence on Dietary Diversity in Ethiopia

Machine Learning in International Trade Research: Evaluating the Impact of Trade Agreements

By Kibrom A. Abay, Guush Berhane, John Hoddinott and et.al.

By Holger Breinlich, Valentina Corradi, Nadia Rocha and et.al.

WPS9635

WPS9628

Estimating the Gains from International Diversification: The Case of Pension Funds

Trade, Jobs, and Worker Welfare

By Juan Pablo Afanador, Richard Mark Davis and Alvaro Enrique Pedraza Morales WPS9634

The Distribution of Effort: Physical Activity, Gender Roles, and Bargaining Power in an Agrarian Setting

By Jed Friedman, Isis Gaddis, Talip Kilic and et.al.

WPS9633

Organizational Resources, Country Institutions, and National Culture behind Firm Survival and Growth during COVID-19

By Erhan Artuc, Paulo S. R. Bastos and Eunhee Lee WPS9627

Social Transfer Multipliers in Developed and Emerging Countries: The Role of Handto-Mouth Consumers

By Jessica Roxana Bracco, Luciana Maria Galeano, Pedro Francisco Juarros and et.al.

WPS9626

Inclusive Statistics: Human Development and Disability Indicators in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

By Sophie Mitra, Jaclyn Lourdes Alcala Yap and Justine Francoise Marie Herve

By Yu Liu, Mike W. Peng, Zuobao Wei and et.al.

WPS9625 WPS9632

How to End the COVID-19 Pandemic by March 2022

By Ruchir Agarwal and Tristan Reed

Invisible or Mainstream? Disability in Surveys and Censuses in Low- and MiddleIncome Countries

By Sophie Mitra, Wei Chen, Justine Francoise Marie Herve and et.al.

WPS9631

The Economic Ripple Effects of COVID-19

WPS9624

By Francisco J. Buera, Roberto N. Fattal Jaef, P. Andres Neumeyer and et. al.

Gender Violence, Enforcement, and Human Capital: Evidence from Women's Justice Centers in Peru

WPS9630

By Maria Micaela Sviatschi and Iva Trako

A General Equilibrium Assessment of the Economic Impact of Deep Trade Agreements

WPS9623

By Lionel Fontagne, Nadia Rocha, Michele Ruta and et.al.

Human Trafficking: Definitions, Data, and Determinants

By Stephen Joseph Winkler

21

WPS9537

WPS9616

Do Large-Scale Student Assessments Really Capture Cognitive Skills?

From Health Crisis to Financial Distress

By Rafael E. De Hoyos Navarro, Ricardo Estrada and Maria Jose Vargas Mancera

By Carmen M. Reinhart WPS9615

When Distance Drives Destination, Towns Can Stimulate Development

Mapping Data Governance Legal Frameworks Around the World: Findings from the Global Data Regulation Diagnostic

By Joachim De Weerdt, Luc Christiaensen and Ravi Kanbur

By Rong Chen

WPS9622

WPS9621

Motivating Teams: Private Feedback and Public Recognition at Work

By Clara Anne Delavallade

WPS9614

What Prevents More Small Firms from Using Professional Business Services? An Information and Quality-Rating Experiment in Nigeria

By Stephen J. Anderson and David J. Mckenzie

WPS9620

A Map of the Poor or a Poor Map?

By Paul Andres Corral Rodas, Kristen Himelein Kastelic, Kevin Robert Mcgee and et. al.

WPS9619

Does Participation in Global Value Chains Reduce Spatial Inequalities within Countries?

By Arti Goswami Grover and Somik V. Lall WPS9618

The Evolution of City Form: Evidence from Satellite Data

By Somik V. Lall, Mathilde Sylvie Maria Lebrand and Maria Edisa Soppelsa WPS9617

Long-Term Impacts of Short Exposure to Conditional Cash Transfers in Adolescence: Evidence from the Philippines

By Ervin Dervisevic, Elizaveta Perova and Abhilasha Sahay

WPS9613

Welfare Impact of Hosting Refugees in Ethiopia

By Ashenafi Belayneh Ayenew

WPS9612

Coping with Disasters: Two Centuries of International Official Lending

By Sebastian Horn, Carmen M. Reinhart and Christoph Trebesch WPS9611

Do Workfare Programs Live Up to Their Promises? Experimental Evidence from Côte d’Ivoire

By Marianne Bertrand, Bruno Jacques Jean Philippe Crepon, Alicia Charlene Marguerie and et. al.

WPS9610

A Cautionary Tale: An Experiment on The Stability of Business Environment Perceptions in a Firm Survey

By Islam,Asif Mohammed,Rodriguez Meza,Jorge Luis

22

World Bank in India

WPS9609

WPS9602

Understanding the Requirements for Surveys to Support Satellite-Based Crop Type Mapping: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa

Trade Barriers in Government Procurement

By George Azzari, Shruti Jain, Graham Jeffries and et. al.

WPS9608

Deep Services Trade Agreements and their Effect on Trade and Value Added

By Ingo Borchert and Mattia Di Ubaldo

WPS9607

The Realities of Primary Care: Variation in Quality of Care Across Nine Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa

By Kathryn Gilman Andrews, Ruben Orion Conner, Roberta V. Gatti and et.al.

WPS9606

Natural Capital and Sovereign Bonds

By Dieter Wang WPS9605

Integration of Venezuelan Refugees and Migrants in Brazil

By Mrittika Shamsuddin, Pablo Ariel Acosta, Rovane Battaglin Schwengber and et.al.

WPS9604

Damaged by the Disaster: The Impact of COVID-19 on Firms in South Asia

By Arlan Zandro Ilagan Brucal, Arti Goswami Grover and Santiago Reyes Ortega

WPS9603

Links between Growth, Inequality, and Poverty: A Survey

By Alen Mulabdic and Lorenzo Rotunno

WPS9601

The Effectiveness of Environmental Provisions in Regional Trade Agreements

By Ryan Michael Abman, Clark Christopher Lundberg and Michele Ruta

WPS9600

The Value of Deep Trade Agreements in the Presence of Pricing-to-Market

By Meredith A Crowley, Lu Han and Thomas Prayer

WPS9599

Deep Integration in Trade Agreements: Labor Clauses, Tariffs, and Trade Flows

By Raymond Robertson WPS9598

Global Value Chains and Deep Integration

By Leonardo Baccini, Matteo Fiorini, Bernard M. Hoekman and et.al.

WPS9597

New Evidence on Learning Trajectories in a Low-Income Setting

By Natalie Bau, Jishnu Das, Andres Yi Chang

WPS9596

Regulating Personal Data: Data Models and Digital Services Trade

By Martina Francesca Ferracane and Erik Leendert Van Der Marel

By Valerie Cerra, Ruy Lama and Norman V. Loayza

23

WPS9595

WPS9589

The Effect of Information and Subsidy Measures on Adoption of Solar Lanterns: An Application of the BDM Bidding Mechanism in Rural Ethiopia

Projecting the Economic Consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic

By Alemu Mekonnen, Sied Hassen, Marcela Jaime and et.al.

WPS9594

Will Every Child Be Able to Read by 2030?

Defining Learning Poverty and Mapping the Dimensions of the Challenge

Achieving Privacy: Costs of Compliance and Enforcement of Data Protection Regulation

By Joao Pedro Wagner De Azevedo, Diana Goldemberg, Silvia Montoya and et.al.

By Anupam Chander, Meaza Abraham, Sandeep Chandy and et.al.

WPS9587

WPS9593

Meta-Analysis Assessing the Effects of Virtual Reality Training on Student Learning and Skills Development

Poor Expectations: Experimental Evidence on Teachers' Stereotypes and Student Assessment

By Diego Angel-Urdinola, Catalina Castillo Castro and Angela Hoyos

By Maria Gabriela Farfan Bertran, Alaka Holla and Renos Vakis

WPS9586

WPS9592

Aspirations and Financial Decisions: Experimental Evidence from the Philippines

Bridging Bangladesh and India: CrossBorder Trade and the Motor Vehicles Agreement

By David J. Mckenzie, Aakash Mohpal and Dean Yang

By Matias Herrera Dappe, Mathilde Sylvie Maria Lebrand and Diana Van Patten

WPS9585

WPS9591

Trends and Determinants of Female Labor Force Participation in Morocco: An Initial Exploratory Analysis

By Gladys C. Lopez-Acevedo, Florencia Devoto, Matías Morales and et. al.

WPS9590

A Demand-Side View of Mobile Internet Adoption in the Global South

By Rong Chen

24

By Justin Damien Guenette and Takefumi Yamazaki WPS9588

Power Market Sophistication and Sector Outcomes: A Focus on Social Performance, Electricity Reliability, and Renewable Energy Penetration

By Djeneba Doumbia

WPS9584

Workers at Risk: Panel Data Evidence on the COVID-19 Labor Market Crisis in India

By Maurizio Bussolo, Ananya Kotia and Siddharth Sharma

World Bank in India

WPS9583

WPS9577

The Convergence of Sovereign Environmental, Social and Governance Ratings

Invoicing Currency and Symmetric PassThrough of Exchange Rates and Tariffs: Evidence from Malawian Imports from the EU

By Eric Bouye and Diane Dorothy Menville

By Angella Faith Lapukeni Montfaucon

WPS9582

The Short-Term Impacts of COVID-19 on Households in Developing Countries: An Overview Based on a Harmonized Data Set of High-Frequency Surveys

WPS9576

By Tom Bundervoet, Maria Eugenia Davalos and Natalia Garcia

By Carlos Rodriguez Castelan, Samantha Lach, Takaaki Masaki and et. al.

WPS9581

WPS9575

Living Standards of Tunisian Households in the Midst of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Using Twitter to Evaluate the Perception of Service Delivery in Data-Poor Environments

By Federica Alfani, Dorra Dhrif, Vasco Molini and et.al.

WPS9580

Titling and Beyond: Evidence from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

By Alexandra Patricia Panman and Nancy Lozano Gracia

How Do Digital Technologies Affect Household Welfare in Developing Countries? Evidence from Senegal

By Alia Anne Braley, Samuel Paul Fraiberge and Emcet Oktay Tas

WPS9574

Saving the American Dream? Education Policies in Spatial General Equilibrium

By Fabian Eckert and Tatjana Karina Kleineberg

WPS9579

Making Room for Renters: Understanding and Supporting Rental Markets in the Global South — Evidence from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

WPS9573

By Alexandra Patricia Panman and Nancy Lozano Gracia

By İzak Atiyas and Mark Andrew Dutz

Digital Technology Uses among Informal Micro-Sized Firms: Productivity and Jobs Outcomes in Senegal

WPS9572 WPS9578

The Cost of a Nutritious Diet in Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Nepal

By Felipe Jr Fadullon Dizon, Zetianyu Wang and Prajula Mulmi

Optimal Taxation with Multiple Dimensions of Heterogeneity

By Katy Ann Bergstrom and William Dodds

25

WPS9571

WPS9567

COVID-19, Poverty, and Social Safety Net Response in Zambia

Firm-Level Technology Adoption in Vietnam

By Boban Varghese Paul, Arden Jeremy Finn, Sarang Chaudhary and et.al.

By Xavier Cirera, Diego Adolfo Comin, Marcio Jose Vargas Da Cruz and et.al.

WPS9570

WPS9566

Statistical Performance Indicators and Index: A New Tool to Measure Country Statistical Capacity

The Silenced Women: Can Public Activism Stimulate Reporting of Violence against Women?

By Hai-Anh H. Dang, John James Pullinger, Umar Serajuddin and et.al.

By Abhilasha Sahay

WPS9569

Closing the Gap: Gender, Transport, and Employment in Mumbai

By Muneeza Mehmood Alam, Maureen L. Cropper, Matias Herrera Dappe and et.al.

WPS9568

Firm-Level Technology Adoption in the State of Ceara in Brazil

By Xavier Cirera, Diego Adolfo Comin, Marcio Jose Vargas Da Cruz and et.al.

26

WPS9565

The Covid-19 Vaccine Production Club: Will Value Chains Temper Nationalism?

By Simon J. Evenett, Bernard M. Hoekman, Nadia Rocha and et. al.

World Bank in India Publications and Knowledge Resource Center The World Bank The Hindustan Times House (Press Block) 18-20, Kasturba Gandhi Marg New Delhi - 110 001, India

Media Inquiries

For more Information

The World Bank 70, Lodi Estate New Delhi - 110 003

Global: www.worldbank.org India: www.worldbank.org/in Facebook: WorldBankIndia Twitter: @worldbankindia

Contact: Nandita Roy Email: mediaindia@worldbank.org Tel: +91-11-4147 9220

Contact: Sunita Malhotra Email: smalhotra@worldbank.org Tel: +91-11-49247753

Rights and Permissions: The material in this work is copyrighted. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or inclusion in any information storage and retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the World Bank. The World Bank encourages dissemination of its work and will normally grant permission promptly.