PN Bulletin - June 2018 Edition
Content
- News from the Network
- Unrealized Potential: The High Cost of Gender Inequality in Earnings
- The Human Capital Gap: Getting Governments to Invest in People
- Elections from around the world
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News from the Network
- Parliamentary Breakfast at the National Assembly
On Thursday June 28, 2018, the representatives of the Parliamentary Network and the World Bank Group met with parliamentarians from Foreign affairs, European affairs, Law, and Culture committees of the French National Assembly to present the work of the two organizations and discuss the opportunities for collaboration and engagement with the French Parliament.
Read more
- Global Young MPs Initiative - Steering Committee Meeting in Paris
On Monday June 18, 2018 the Parliamentary Network on the World Bank & IMF, represented by its Vice-Chair Olfa Soukri Cherif, Member of the Tunisian Parliament, participated to the first meeting of the Global Young MPs Initiative, launched by the World Bank Group. 10 parliamentarians under 45 years old from all regions participated in the meeting that aimed to set in place this new initiative and define its objectives: unemployment, education, empowering youth and youth budgeting, capacity building amongst young MPs, entrepreneurship and innovation, human capital, gender equality, inclusive growth and SDG Agenda.
Discover the event summary
- Joint Vienna Institute development workshop for parliamentarians
In June 2018, the IMF and the Joint Vienna Institute have partnered to help members of parliament from Central and Eastern Europe (MPs) build their knowledge and understanding in areas that are critical to economic stability and growth. MPs who sit on the finance, economy, or budget committees often deal with some of the most complex and difficult issues facing their countries, and welcome the opportunity to participate in the joint IMF-JVI workshops, which help build knowledge and allow for exchanges with peers from other countries on best legislative practices.
Summary coming soon
The OECD Forum 2018 took place on May 29-30, 2018 at the OECD headquarters in Paris (France). The event focused on exploring possible solutions to increase international cooperation and achieve sustainable development. The Forum focused on three main themes:
- International Co-operation
- Inclusive Growth
- Digitalization
The Parliamentary Network on the World Bank & IMF was represented at the event by its Board Member, Honorable Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin, Member of the Parliament of Malaysia.
Discover the event summary
Discover the OECD Forum website
- Launch of the Liberia Chapter
The Parliamentary Network on the World Bank & IMF is proud to announce the launch of its Liberia Chapter.
On March 21, 2018, fourteen parliamentarians from the Liberia House of Representatives were inducted into office by the Deputy Speaker of the House, Hon. Prince K. Moye. The ceremony took place at the Royal Grand Hotel in Monrovia and brought together representatives of the Liberian Government, of the World Bank Group and of the International Monetary Fund. Honorable Munah E. Pelham – Youngblood was appointed Chairperson of the new Liberia Chapter.
Read the article
- NEW! The Parliamentary Network on the World Bank & IMF on Facebook
- Conference at the National Assembly - What future for official development assistance in Sahel?
On May 31, 2018 the French NGO Action contre la Faim organized a Conference at the French National Assembly focusing on the future for official development assistance in the G5 Sahel countries: Mauritania, Mali, Burkina-Faso, Niger and Chad). This conference represented the occasion to address development issues regarding the Sahel countries with French decision-makers through various sessions. Research institutes, NGOs and actors from the South testified the needs and portrayed the situation of the Sahel countries, in order to make a statement but also to identify the means to improve the French development policy in the Sahel.
Discover the conference programme
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World Bank Announces Support for Bangladesh to Help Rohingya
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Washington, June 28, 2018 - The World Bank announced close to half-a-billion dollars in grant-based support to help Bangladesh address the needs of Rohingya refugees in areas such as health, education, water and sanitation, disaster risk management, and social protection.
Reflecting the increasingly protracted nature of the Rohingya crisis, the World Bank Board of Directors approved a $50 million additional grant to an existing Health Sector Support Project in Bangladesh that is the first in a series that could total as much as $480 million.
Read the press release
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Euro 2.0: Past, Present, and Future of Euro Area Integration
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On June 25, 2018, Christine Lagarde, IMF Managing Director, delivered a speech at "The Euro at 20" Conference, co-organized by the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the IMF Economic Review. Since its launch in January 1999, the euro project has received much praise as well as criticism. As the currency is about to turn twenty, the conference took stock of the euro’s performance. The conference was hosted by Central Bank of Ireland and took place in Dublin, Ireland.
Read the whole speech
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Unrealized Potential: The High Cost of Gender Inequality in Earnings
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On May 30, 2018 the World Bank published a press release presenting the report Unrealized Potential: The High Cost of Gender Inequality in Earnings by Quentin T. Wodon and Benedicte Leroy de la Briere.
Globally, countries are losing $160 trillion in wealth because of differences in lifetime earnings between women and men. This amounts to an average of $23,620 for each person in the 141 countries studied by the World Bank Group in a new report.
The study, Unrealized Potential: The High Cost of Gender Inequality in Earnings, examines the economic cost of gender inequality in lost human capital. It came before the meeting of the G7, recently held in Canada, which committed to ensuring gender equality and women’s empowerment are integrated across al G7 themes, activities and initiatives during its Presidency.
Read the press release
Download the report
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The Human Capital Gap: Getting Governments to Invest in People
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The July/August 2018 edition of the Foreign Affairs magazine, published by the Council on Foreign Relations, featured an article The Human Capital Gap: Getting Governments to Invest in People by Dr. Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank Group.
Governments in pursuit of economic growth love to invest in physical capital—new roads, beautiful bridges, gleaming airports, and other infrastructure. But they are typically far less interested in investing in human capital, which is the sum total of a population’s health, skills, knowledge, experience, and habits. That’s a mistake, because neglecting investments in human capital can dramatically weaken a country’s competitiveness in a rapidly changing world, one in which economies need ever-increasing amounts of talent to sustain growth.
Throughout the World Bank Group’s history, our development experts have studied every aspect of what makes economies grow, what helps people lift themselves out of poverty, and how developing countries can invest in prosperity. In 2003, the bank published the first annual Doing Business report, which ranked countries on everything from taxation levels to contract enforcement. The findings proved hard to ignore: heads of state and finance ministers faced the possibility that foreign direct investment could go down as companies chose to invest in countries with a better business climate. In the 15 years since, Doing Business has inspired more than 3,180 regulatory reforms.
Read the whole article
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Elections from around the world
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Turkey
General Elections
24/06/2018
On June 24, 2018 General elections took place in Turkey. Originally scheduled for November 3, 2019, elections were held early following the decision of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to “overcome uncertainty” in the country, due to ongoing military operations in Syria and Iraq.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been re-elected with 295 seats. His People’s Alliance collected a total of 344 seats and represents the vast majority in the Parliament. The opposition is represented by the National Alliance (189 seats) and by the People’s Democratic Party (67 seats).
Mr. Erdoğan’s victory means he will now have those executive powers that voters narrowly approved in a constitutional referendum last year, including the power to issue decrees with the force of law, appoint the cabinet and vice-presidents as well as senior judges.
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Recent legislative elections
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Malaysia
Parliament
09/05/2018
Pakatan Harapan - 113 seats
Barisan Nasional - 79 seats
Gagasan Sejahtera - 18 seats
Sabah Heritage Party (Pakatan Harapan ally) - 8 seats
United Sabah Alliance - 1 seat
Independents - 3 seats
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Iraq
Parliament
12/05/2018
Saairun Alliance - 54 seats
Fatah Alliance - 47 seats
Victory Coalition - 42 seats
Kurdistan Democratic Party - 25 seats
State of Law Coalition - 25 seats
National Coalition - 21 seats
National Wisdom Movement - 19 seats
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan - 18 seats
Arab Decision Alliance - 14 seats
National Movement for Development and Reform - 6 seats
Gorran Movement - 5 seats
Others - 53 seats
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East Timor
Parliament
12/05/2018
Alliance for Change and Progress - 34 seats
Fretilin - 23 seats
Democratic Party - 5 seats
Democratic Development Forum - 3 seats
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Barbados
General Elections
24/05/2018
Barbados Labor Party - 30 seats
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Slovenia
Parliament
03/06/2018
Slovenian Democratic Party - 25 seats
List of Marjan Šarec - 13 seats
Social Democrats - 10 seats
Modern Centre Party - 10 seats
The Left - 9 seats
New Slovenia - Christian Democrats - 7 seats
Party of Alenka Bratušek - 5 seats
Democratic Party of Pensioners of Slovenia - 5 seats
Slovenian National Party - 4 seats
Italian and Hungarian national minorities - 2 seats
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Cook Islands
General Elections
14/06/2018
Democratic Party - 11 seats
Cook Islands Party - 10 seats
One Cook Islands Movement - 1 seat
Independents - 2 seats
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Turkey
General Elections
24/06/2018
People's Alliance - 344 seats
Nation Alliance - 189 seats
People's Democratic Party - 67 seats
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