Weekly wire: The global forum

The World Bank
Roxanne Bauer



These are some of the views and reports relevant to our readers that caught our attention this week.

Global Financial Development Report 2017/2018: Bankers without Borders
World Bank
Successful international integration has underpinned most experiences of rapid growth, shared prosperity, and reduced poverty. Perhaps no sector of the economy better illustrates the potential benefits--but also the perils--of deeper integration than banking. International banking may contribute to faster growth in two important ways: first, by making available much needed capital, expertise, and new technologies; and second, by enabling risk-sharing and diversification.

But international banking is not without risks. The global financial crisis vividly demonstrated how international banks can transmit shocks across the globe. The Global Financial Development Report 2017/2018 brings to bear new evidence on the debate on the benefits and costs of international banks, particularly for developing countries. It provides evidence-based policy guidance on a range of issues that developing countries face. Countries that are open to international banking can benefit from global flows of funds, knowledge, and opportunity, but the regulatory challenges are complex and, at times, daunting.

A Familiar Face: Violence in the lives of children and adolescents
UNICEF
This report presents the most current data on four specific forms of violence – violent discipline and exposure to domestic abuse during early childhood; violence at school; violent deaths among adolescents; and sexual violence in childhood and adolescence. The statistics reveal that children experience violence across all stages of childhood, in diverse settings, and often at the hands of the trusted individuals with whom they interact daily. The report concludes with specific national actions and strategies that UNICEF has embraced to prevent and respond to violence against children.


Measuring the Information Society Report
International Telecommunication Union
The 9th edition of the Measuring the Information Society Report, an annual report published by ITU since 2009, features key ICT data and benchmarking tool to measure the information society, the ICT Development Index (IDI). The report presents a quantitative analysis of the information society and highlight new and emerging trends and measurement issues. The MISR 2017 assesses IDI findings at the regional level and highlight countries that rank at the top of the IDI and those that have improved their position in the overall IDI rankings most dynamically since 2016. It also uses the findings of the IDI to analyze trends and developments in the digital divide. It includes for the first time individual country profiles providing a snapshot of the latest ICT landscape and efforts made to increase the ICT access, use and proficiency of their citizens. The analytical report is complemented by a series of statistical tables providing country-level data for the indicators included in the IDI.

Terrorism makes it harder to get aid money to people in crisis
The Guardian
In a crisis, money matters: for water, food and shelter, for people fleeing war or famine, or for medical supplies in dealing with an epidemic. Yet getting money to the frontline when people are suffering is becoming harder.

The Littler Fire Engine That Could Make Cities Safer
Wired
In theory, creating a safer street should be easy: Make life harder for cars and easier for people. That means lowering the speed limit, building speed bumps, traffic circles, and bulb-outs, which narrow roads and force drivers to be more cautious, and creating special, separated spaces in the street for drivers, cyclists, and walkers. Firefighters, though—they just want to get where they're going, fast.