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STORY OF THE MONTH
An Interview with Jeremy Lefroy: Life-Long Champion of Development
PARIS, December 16, 2019 – In an exclusive interview, Jeremy Lefroy shared his views on the World Bank, how the development context is evolving, and parliamentarians’ role in contributing to meaningful development results on the ground. Mr. Lefroy is a former British Member of Parliament who served as the Chair of the Parliamentary Network on the World Bank and IMF (PN) from 2013-2019. In his role as MP, he founded the All-Party Parliamentary Group on the World Bank and IMF in the House of Commons and was the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Ethiopia. He strongly supported human rights, health and social services issues. Under his leadership, the PN placed a strong focus on youth unemployment, publishing a policy primer on Youth Job Creation in collaboration with Peace Child International and ensuring the issue received due attention from legislators and experts at the Network’s key events and in its publications. He is a champion of the One Last Push campaign to eradicate polio worldwide. He remains active in his commitment to youth jobs creation.
Read the Full Interview
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SAVE THE DATE
2020 Global Parliamentary Conference
April 13-14 - Washington D.C.
WASHINGTON D.C., October 17, 2019 - The sixth edition of the Global Parliamentary Conference, the flagship parliamentary event of the World Bank, co-organized by the International Monetary Fund and the Parliamentary Network on the World Bank and IMF, will take place on April 13-14, 2020 in Washington D.C. The conference presents a unique occasion for some 150 parliamentarians from around the world to engage for the first time with World Bank President David Malpass alongside Kristalina Georgieva in her capacity as IMF Managing Director regarding today’s most pressing development challenges. With only a decade remaining in the countdown to achieve the World Bank twin goals to eliminate extreme poverty and promote shared prosperity, as well as to reach the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, it is more urgent than ever for parliamentarians to help translate these global goals into country results.
Registration opens in January.
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PARLIAMENTARY ENGAGEMENT
Germany: World Development Report 2020 Presentation
BERLIN, November 28, 2019 - The World Bank Group Caucus, an informal group for German MPs interested in the organization, hosted a presentation of the new World Development Report 2020: Trading for Development in the Age of Global Value Chains (WDR 2020). Daria Taglioni, Manager of the WDR 2020 outlined the main findings and recommendations of the report, followed by an open discussion. The MPs and staffers present, who came from across party lines, underscored the value of the new WDR and the Bank’s role as a knowledge hub. Their questions focused on global value chains in services, the future of the rules-based trading system, and Germany’s bilateral trade agreements. The presentation was preceded by a discussion with Mario Sander, World Bank Special Representative and Director for Europe, on Germany’s engagement in the World Bank and the World Bank’s priorities.
The World Bank in Western Europe
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PARLIAMENTARY ENGAGEMENT
Kyrgyz Republic: ECA Strategy and Operations Director Meets Parliamentarians
BISHKEK, November 19, 2019 – World Bank Europe and Central Asia Strategy and Operations Director Mariam Sherman met with Members of the Parliament of the Kyrgyz Republic, on the sidelines of the High-Level Development Forum in Bishkek. She updated the participants of the meeting on the main focus areas of cooperation in the coming year – education, development of statistical system, and modernization of tax service. Sherman noted that the ratification process of certain international credit and grant agreements takes up to a year and requested assistance in shortening the process. The MPs representing various parliamentary factions and committees shared ongoing efforts on behalf of the government and the parliament to streamline and expedite ratification. They also noted that a number of development challenges facing the country require the World Bank’s expert knowledge and financial support.
The World Bank in the Kyrgyz Republic
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PARLIAMENTARY ENGAGEMENT
Vietnam: Close Engagement between National Assembly and the World Bank
HANOI, November 11, 2019 - The World Bank team in Vietnam had an audience with Madame Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, Chairwoman of Vietnam’s National Assembly, to explore ways the Bank could support the legislation process further on critical development issues. Issues discussed included capital market development; private sector participation in public infrastructure and services; financing for the power sector and sustainable development of Mekong Delta; and disbursement of public investment. This meeting came on the heels of a presentation by the team to more than 100 deputies of the latest analysis on human capital development and poverty reduction among ethnic minorities.
The World Bank in Vietnam
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PUBLICATION
Doing Business 2020: Comparing Business Regulation in 190 Economies
The Doing Business report is an annual publication that tracks regulations that promote business activity and those that impede it across 190 economies based on 12 indicators. Governments can use the objective data to inform better business regulatory policies to enhance the regulatory environment in their country. The 2020 edition tracked 294 reforms across 115 economies that eased business, while 26 economies became less business-friendly. Countries that score well tend to benefit from higher levels of entrepreneurial activity and lower corruption.
Press Release | Website | PDF
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DATA
International Debt Statistics 2020
The World Bank took stock of several major financial indicators in low- and middle-income countries to promote debt transparency through data on their external debt in support of debt management and policy decisions. Debt rose 5.3% in 2018 to $7.8 trillion with net debt flows falling 28% to $529 billion.
“Transparency is a critical part of attracting more investment and building an efficient allocation of capital, and these are essential in our work to improve development outcomes,” World Bank President David Malpass.
Website | Press Release | Publication
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MULTIMEDIA
Why Climate Change is an Urgent Priority: IDA works to mitigate the impact of climate change
Climate change presents a clear, near-term threat to efforts to end poverty. Ending poverty and addressing climate change cannot be considered in isolation. Without rapid, inclusive and climate informed development, climate change could result in more than 100 million additional people living in poverty by 2030. IDA countries tend to have high exposure and sensitivity to climate shocks, while also exhibiting low adaptive capacity to buffer their economies and communities from climate and disaster risks. For these reasons, climate change is an urgent priority for IDA. IDA helps countries cope with climate change by bringing new solutions—such as better weather data and forecasting, drought resistant crops, pioneering disaster insurance, and cyclone-resistant houses and warning systems.
Watch video | IDA and Climate Change
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PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS WATCH
November 7, 2019
Mauritius
The ruling Militant Socialist Movement (MSM) from outgoing Prime Minister of Mauritius, Pravind Jugnauth’s center-right coalition won a comfortable majority with 38 out of 62 seats in the parliamentary election held in November 2019, enough to secure an outright majority and form a government. The National Alliance party won 14 seats in total, while the Mauritian Militant Movement took 8 seats, and the Organization of the People of Rodrigues (OPR) won 2 seats. Turnout for the election was 76.84%, a 2% increase from the 2014 elections.
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November 10, 2019
Spain
Given inconclusive results from elections in April, the Spanish people returned to the polls for parliamentary elections on November 10. The Spanish Socialist Workers’ party (PSOE) won 120 out of 350 seats, representing a loss of 3 seats from the previous elections. The People’s Party won 88 seats, and the right-wing Vox party gained 28 seats from Aprils’ election for a total of 52 parliamentary seats. In fourth place with 35 seats came the Unidas Podemos (UP) party. On November 12, PSOE and UP announced a coalition agreement, creating a 155-strong coalition between them, just short of the 176 seats needed for a majority. Negotiations are still ongoing to reach a majority.
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November 17, 2019
Belarus
No opponents of President Lukashenko were elected to the Council of the Republic or the House Representatives. Voter turn-out for this year was officially reported at 77%.
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November 27, 2019
Namibia
Parliamentary elections were held in parallel with the presidential elections, where Namibian President Hage Geingob was re-elected for a second term, and his party, the South West Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO), won 63 out of 96 elected seats. The Independent party came in second with 17 seats or 29.4%. The main opposition party, the Popular Democratic Movement, won 16 seats and 16.6% of the parliamentary ballot, an increase of 11 seats compared to the 2014 elections. The remaining eight places in the 104-seat parliament are appointed by the President.
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December 6, 2019
Dominica
The Dominica Labour Party won 18 of the Caribbean country’s 21 parliamentary seats, while the opposition United Workers Party won the remaining three seats. Regional Security personnel was deployed to Dominica to ensure a safe and secure environment during the election given a series of protests beforehand.
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December 8, 2019
San Marino
Sammarinese parliamentary elections determined 60 Members of Parliament elected by proportional representation in San Marino, with runoff elections held in the case of no majority party seats. This election did not see a majority and will therefore see such a runoff 30 days after the election date. The most votes were received by the Sammarinese Christian Democratic Party with 21 seats. In second was a coalition named “Tomorrow in Motion” for a total of 15 seats. Third came the Libera party with 10 seats, and the Noi per la Repubblica party not far behind with 8 seats.
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December 12, 2019
United Kingdom
Prime Minister Boris Johnson led the Conservatives to a decisive victory, winning 365 out of 650 seats in the House of Commons (43.6% of the vote) - their biggest majority since the 1980s. Jeremy Corbyn will resign as Labour leader after losing 60 MPs (to reach a new total of 202 seats), losing to the Conservatives in traditionally Labour heartlands, particularly seats in Wales, the midlands and northern England that voted ‘leave’ in the EU referendum. Jo Swinson, Liberal Democrat leader, will step down after losing her seat and two mandates for the party and the Brexit party did not win any seats. The Scottish National Party made huge gains, winning 48 out of 59 seats in Scotland, reviving calls for a second Scottish Independence referendum.
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