#18 What We Have Learned About the Labor Market Impacts of COVID-19 in four African countries

  Authors: Michael Weber, Amparo Palacios-Lopez and Ivette Contreras-González The first wave of empirical results from rapid phone surveys in Sub Saharan Africa (Ethiopia, Malawi, Nigeria and Uganda) confirm the devastating labor market impacts of the pandemic. But they also show that the jobs impacts are heterogeneous, with particularly severe impacts on the urban informal…

#17 What economists have learned about how lockdowns affect workers and economies

Photo credit: World Bank / Sambrian Mbaabu Author: Piotr Lewandowski The COVID-19 pandemic created a dual challenge of containing the spread of the virus, and preserving jobs and livelihoods as countries all over the world adopted restrictions in economic activity and mobility of people. At the Jobs and Development Conference 2020, we convened a special…

Broadband Access Spurs Jobs in Hard-to-Reach Areas

Internet cafe in the neighborhood of Nyamirambo in Kigali, Rwanda. (Sarah Farhat/ World Bank) By Aparna Krishnamurthy, Namita Datta, Georges V. Houngbonon, Todd Cotts Broadband (or high-speed) internet access plays a major role in economic growth and job creation. COVID-19 has accelerated the transition to home-based work, reinforcing the need for broadband connectivity. A recent World…

#15 COVID-19 can teach us a lot about social protection and jobs: Reflections based on the Greek experience

Photo by Courtney Hall on Unsplash Authors: Mauro Testaverde  and Gordon Betcherman The COVID-19 pandemic has affected labor markets everywhere. In some countries, like the US and Canada, unemployment skyrocketed to levels not seen in living memory. In others, including several in Europe, things have looked very different, with few layoffs and workers often remaining attached to their…

Youth-led solutions during COVID-19: Harnessing social media

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many young people around the globe have been working remotely, schools have moved to online platforms, and social distancing continues to be in effect. This means it’s essential that organizations maximize the use of social media as a platform to adapt to the crisis. Social media has been used by young people to raise awareness about coronavirus containment and suppression measures, to coordinate the logistics of relief efforts for people in isolation, and to raise funds for emergency workers.

Youth-led solutions during COVID-19: Health care

Authors: KAVELL JOSEPH Original post The World Bank Group has been helping countries reinforce their health infrastructure and bolster economic recovery during the pandemic. The Bank’s health response addresses emergency containment and mitigation needs for the coronavirus (COVID-19), including strengthening countries’ health systems to treat severe cases and save lives. Many members of the Bank-supported…