There are serious constraints to guaranteeing adequate housing in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region. The housing shortage problem is a result of (i) historically insufficient stock of available houses for the population - i.e. quantitative housing deficit; (ii) new demand (e.g. household formation); and (iii) inadequate condition of existing units, in terms of space, construction materials and access to public services – i.e. qualitative housing deficit.

As Latin American cities continue to evolve in their efforts to encourage more people to cycle through improved planning and design, authorities face challenges like weak stakeholder engagement that hinder their ability to implement cycling infrastructure. Promoting knowledge exchange and intersectoral cooperation among these cities is thus key to unlock the cycling benefits for most of the population.

Climate Action Peer Exchange (CAPE) is a forum for peer learning, knowledge sharing, and mutual advisory support. It brings together ministers and senior technical specialists from finance ministries across the world, as well as World Bank staff and other international experts, to discuss the fiscal challenges involved in implementing the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) established under the 2015 Paris Agreement.

Over 80% of worldwide new coal-fired power plants due to begin operating between now and 2020 will be in middle-income countries in Asia: China, India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines and Pakistan. Together with the existing plants in operation in these countries, this will lock-in 260 gigatons of carbon dioxide emissions over their remaining lifetimes, which would exceed the carbon budget available to the power sector to be consistent with limiting global warming within 2 degrees.

In the ongoing reforms of the education sector in Guatemala and Dominican Republic (DR), there have been challenges in achieving clarity and consensus on the role and responsibilities of school principals. Both Guatemala and DR also face challenges with capacity and technical knowledge needed to professionally develop school principals and school leaders in the face of learning crisis in the countries. Guatemala and DR are two of the lowest performers in the regional learning assessments in both primary and secondary education.

The Government of Argentina (GOA) launched in 2016 the first nation-wide demand-side housing supply program for first-home buyers (the Linea Solucion Casa Propia Program, SCP). The World Bank, as part of the Integrated Habitat and Housing Project (P159929), is supporting the SCP. The SCP provides a lump-sum subsidy to eligible households, which, together with a saving amount and a mortgage loan provided by the open market, is used for the acquisition of a housing unit.

Energy consumption is forecast to triple in Morocco as a result of its economic growth and fast urbanization. Especially given its very high reliance on imported energy, the Government of Morocco (GoM) has set ambitious goals to increase energy efficiency.  Cities use a great deal of energy, and as Morocco urbanizes, one area of clear need is for municipal authorities to lead efforts to upgrade public street lighting for better energy efficiency. Mexico is one of the countries that has successfully managed a similar program for cities.

Through this grant, Nicaraguan participants have increased their capacity and skills for designing and implementing policies to develop the IT-ITES sector, and as an ultimate objective, to implement one of the pillars of the National Development Plan. The exchange helped strengthen the collaboration between government, academia and private sector. Finally, it helped maintain momentum with the CARCIP Project and raised awareness to use CARCIP as a platform to catalyze the IT-ITES sector and to achieve the goals of the NDP.

The growing and suburbanizing Municipality of the Metropolitan District of Quito (MDMQ), Ecuador needs to improve its transportation systems to keep pace with demand and give poor and vulnerable groups better access to social and economic opportunities. To meet these transportation challenges, MDMQ must implement an Integrated Public Transport System (In Spanish, Sistema Integrado de Transporte Público, or SITP) and coordinate urban and mobility policies.

The Government of Nicaragua (GoN) supports indigenous communities in the Northern Atlantic and Southern Atlantic Autonomous Regions (RAAN and RAAS) in their efforts to take ownership and manage their own forest resources---a policy that helps reduce poverty in the communities while also fighting ecological degradation. Although the Nicaraguan authorities have created a community forestry strategy, sector and regional forestry institutions had little or no experience implementing such an ambitious model.