This report refers to four fundamental tensions holding back education in the MENA region: Credentials and skills, discipline and inquiry, control and autonomy, and tradition and modernity. If not addressed, MENA will continue to operate below its potential.
This report presents the findings from the second phase of the Research for Results (R4R) program. The R4R’s primary objective is to generate quantitative evidence on student and teacher performance, school environment and management, and qualitative evidence related to vulnerable youth at risk of dropping out. This evidence-based analysis is supported by policy recommendations and featured in the new government's five-year general education strategy (2021-2025).
This World Bank report argues that the lack of market contestability in the MENA region makes it hard for new firms to start up and expand—so employment cannot grow fast enough to keep up with the growth of the working-age population. In addition, the report underlines the limited market dynamism and stunted job creation that continues to depress MENA's private sector. Finally, the report highlights the importance of understanding the policies and regulations hindering market contestability.
This DOT report provides an overview of DOT’s achievements and learnings in Lebanon during 2021. The report also provides a visual presentation of DOT’s achievements: more than 5,672 beneficiaries, more than 456 people with disabilities became digitally abled and more than 3,500 young girls and women entered productive employment. It concludes that while digitalization poses some challenges, it also creates opportunities to promote more inclusive and sustainable solutions to empower vulnerable youth.
This Note builds on research covering the three countries with the highest concentration of Syrian refugees displaced since 2011: Turkey, Jordan, and Lebanon. It is intended to inform policymakers and practitioners on the barriers that Syrian refugees, especially women, face in securing work to earn a livelihood. This Note highlights initiatives designed to address those barriers, but does not enumerate all of them.
This brief examines how the World Bank’s ‘E-Commerce for Women-Led SMEs’ project addresses the constraints faced by small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) run or managed by women operating in Algeria; Djibouti, the Arab Republic of Egypt; Jordan; Lebanon; Morocco; and Tunisia. It highlights how the World Bank seeks to support women-led SMEs (WSMEs) in the Middle East North Africa region (MENA) in accessing global markets through e-commerce platforms, and the strategies used to help WSMEs access financial resources, develop capacity, and increase sales.
This brief examines how the World Bank’s ‘Gaza Emergency Cash for Work and Self-Employment Support’ project supports NGOs that are connecting unemployed youth with online work opportunities. The project will help fund skills training and digital job support to 750 youth (including 375 young women). The brief highlights challenges facing young women in the West Bank and Gaza – who experience high unemployment rates – and the strategies used to encourage their program participation and empower them to engage in e-work.
The blog highlights the World Bank's strategy aims at creating economic opportunities for MENA’s youth by opening-up business environments for young entrepreneurs to compete in free and fair markets for the provision of goods and services.
This study presents novel evidence from Lebanon on the impact of offering a volunteering program that consisted of inter-community volunteering activities and soft skills training on self-reported social cohesion values in the short term.
This report highlights the results of the Felestineya Mini-MBA, an innovative solution to advance businesswomen’s management and strategic planning skills through training and coaching with local and international experts, and a host of Bank of Palestine employees.
