On June 20, we celebrated World Refugee Day. This was an opportune time for us all to pay attention to the challenge of forced displacement today. Strikingly, the world is facing the largest forced displacement crisis since World War II, with nearly 80 million people having fled their countries...
The World Bank Group’s Mahmoud Mohieldin believes innovative financing and partnerships are needed to meet the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Countries that have invested in human capital, infrastructure and decent systems of social protection have made more progress than others in...
Providing better opportunities for Arab women to succeed as entrepreneurs will benefit the Middle East and North Africa. The economic and business roles of Arab women have been discussed for more than two decades, and initiatives have been launched on the consensus that their participation is...
Shaping the future is a daunting challenge for girls and women in the Middle East and North Africa. There is so much attention over what women can’t do in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) that it is hard to imagine how their societies would function with at least some greater degree of...
Investing in women creates the sustainable change that the Middle East and North Africa urgently need. BACKGROUND When visiting a home in the Middle East or North Africa (MENA), it is the women who always appear to welcome the guest with a streaming cup of tea or coffee. While outsiders might...
It is time to include women and marginalized groups in efforts to combat extremism. In June, President Barack Obama joined over 1,200 promising entrepreneurs and venture capitalists from 78 countries at Stanford University for the annual Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) to discuss how...
A new generation of entrepreneurs are aiming to prove that creativity is alive and kicking in Afghanistan. The idea first started in New York City’s Soho district and arrived in Kabul’s Karte Seh—a recently rebuilt residential area. “ few years ago, I had the opportunity to visit...
The commodification of water supplies around the world reflects a growing trend of the privatization of natural resources. Coca-Cola’s iconic red and white logo is one of the world’s most recognizable brands. Its signature beverage, for which the company is named, is the world’s most...
In order to make its current growth sustainable, Africa must rethink its economic focus. In 2013, a major policy discourse within and between the supranational bodies that influence policymakers in sub-Saharan Africa was the industrialization of the continent. These bodies include, but are not...
"Anyone who has ever struggled with poverty knows how extremely expensive it is to be poor" (James A. Baldwin). Poverty and hunger remain a global challenge. However, fewer people live in extreme poverty in the 21st century compared to previous generations. According to the World Bank,...
