Money laundering and the financing of terrorism are global problems that not only threaten a country s security, but also compromise the stability, transparency, and efficiency of its financial system, consequently undermining its economic prosperity. The annual global estimate for money laundering is more than $1 trillion, valued in U.S. dollars. Efforts to counter these activities are known as anti money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) programs. The 'Combating Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism' training program was developed by the World Bank s...

This evaluation assesses the performance of IFC s energy efficiency finance program in China aimed at stimulating energy efficiency investments through bank guarantees and technical assistance. The difference made by the program is traced along the chain of interventions: (i) at the level of banks, the program is narrowly based on one of the two partner banks, which, with the help of the program, expanded its energy efficiency lending as a new business line; (ii) at the level of energy management companies, the program s technical assistance improved the program participants access to...

One of a series of pocket-sized books that provide a quick reference to development data on different topics, 'The Little Data Book on Private Sector Development 2014' provides data for more than 20 key indicators on the business environment and private sector development in a single page for each of the World Bank member countries and other economies with populations of more than 30,000. The 200 country pages are supplemented by aggregate data tables by regional and income groupings.

Since the end of the Second World War, the international community has been focusing on reducing the number and the proportion of people who suffer from hunger. Over time it became clear that no single indicator would provide a comprehensive picture of the food security situation. Rather, a suite of indicators is necessary to describe food insecurity in all its dimensions. The demand for evidence-based policies, which brings together providers such as statistical offices and users of food security indicators including policy makers and researchers, has also been increasing. The stand-alone...

Entrepreneurship has attracted global interest for its potential to catalyze economic and social development. Research suggesting that certain entrepreneurial mindsets and skills can be learned has given rise to the field of entrepreneurship education and training (EET). Despite the growth of EET, global knowledge about these programs and their impact remains thin. In response, this study surveys the available literature and program evaluations to propose a Conceptual Framework for understanding the EET program landscape. The study finds that EET today consists of a heterogeneous mix of...

World Development Indicators 2014 provides a compilation of relevant, high-quality, and internationally comparable statistics about global development and the fight against poverty. It is intended to help users of all kinds policymakers, students, analysts, professors, program managers, and citizens find and use data related to all aspects of development, including those that help monitor and understand progress toward the two goals. Six themes are used to organize indicators world view, people, environment, economy, states and markets, and global links. As in past editions, World view...

"This report documents the dynamics of violence against women in South Asia across the life cycle, from early childhood to old age. It explores the different types of violence that women may face throughout their lives, as well as the associated perpetrators (male and female), risk and protective factors for both victims and perpetrators, and interventions to address violence across all life cycle stages. The report also analyzes the societal factors that drive the primarily male - but also female - perpetrators to commit violence against women in the region. For each stage and type of...

"The seven million teachers of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) are the critical actors in the region's efforts to improve education quality and raise student learning levels, which lag far behind those of OECD countries and East Asian countries such as China. This book documents the high economic stakes around teacher quality, benchmarks the current performance of LAC's teachers, and delineates the key issues. These include low standards for entry into teacher training, poor quality training programs that are detached from the realities of the classroom, unattractive career incentives,...

The Little Data Book 2014 is a pocket edition of World Development Indicators 2014. It is intended as a quick reference for users of the World Development Indicators database, book, and mobile app. The database covers more than 1,200 indicators and spans more than 50 years. The 214 country tables present the latest available data for World Bank member countries and other economies with populations of more than 30,000. The 14 summary tables cover regional and income group aggregates.

The Global Monitoring Report 2014/2015: Ending Poverty and Sharing Prosperity was written jointly by the World Bank Group (WBG) and the International Monetary Fund, with substantive inputs from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. This year's report details, for the first time, progress toward the WBG's twin goals of ending extreme poverty by 2030 and promoting shared prosperity and assesses the state of policies and institutions that are important for achieving them. The report continues to monitor progress on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Also for the first...