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VPU Context:
The World Bank Group serves 33 client countries in Latin America and the Caribbean Region (LCR). Clients range from large rapidly growing sophisticated middle-income clients to IDA countries to small Caribbean states to one fragile state, and to varying degrees face three key challenges – low productivity and growth, low quality jobs and low resilience to shocks. The region is tackling these challenges with a strong WBG approach, underpinned by selectivity and complementarity between the value added of public and private arms, and in strong partnership with relevant regional development partners.
A. The challenge of low growth. After recovering lost output, the region is returning to pre-pandemic low growth and productivity scenario. After a solid post-pandemic rebound in economic activity (7.2% and 3.9% growth in 2021 and 2022 respectively), GDP growth returned to the pre-pandemic low growth around 2.2% in 2023 and 2024, with a medium-term outlook of 2.5%. With an average Gini co-efficient of [0.52] LAC remains also one of the most unequal regions in the world. It is a region where the bottom 50% earn 27 times less than the top 10%. It also represents stark differences in opportunity, a child born today in the poorest 20% quintile in LAC will on average be 17 percentage points less productive than a child born in the richest 20%.
B. The challenge of quality jobs: the need for better quality jobs is paramount, with 6.2% unemployment rates, these low levels mask a deeper issue of job quality. Reflecting stagnating living standards, labor earnings have only grown by 1% or less per year in most countries over the past decade, and some 19% of workers in the region are earning incomes below the poverty line.
• Investing in foundational infrastructure critical to job creation, LAC needs to invest at least 3.1% of GDP in infrastructure investments per year, yet it only invests 2%, which is significantly lower than the world average of 5.4% of GDP. This underinvestment in physical infrastructure, including in key infrastructure sectors (including resilient transport, water, energy etc.) is holding back potential for better jobs. The region is supporting clients by supporting selective transformative infrastructure projects (e.g. urban mobility, regional transport and connectivity). On human infrastructure challenge, firms in the region continue to cite skills shortages (55% of firms in LAC vs 45% in MIC regions) as a key barrier to growth and job creation. A child born in LAC is expected to reach only 56 percent of their productive potential. Three out of four 15-year olds fail basic math proficiency and cannot read adequately the soft side involves supporting clients revamp their education and health sectors. The region is supporting clients to revamp their education and health care sectors.
• The LAC region also needs to foster a predictable, business-enabling policy and regulatory environment. These include ensuring macro stability, eliminating restrictive business regulations in product and factor markets, and improving access to finance, especially long-term capital. Labor market regulations in LAC are noted to be on par with the most restrictive labor market regimes among OECD countries. Further, enforcement of competition policy needs to be supported due to high levels of market concentration in LAC markets: the 50 largest firms in Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, Chile have revenues greater than 30% of GDP. At 55% of GDP, domestic credit to the private sector remains much lower than EAP (178%).
• Private capital needs to be appropriately incentivized to support the provision of public goods and investments in key sectors, especially those that have the highest potential to enable and/or create better quality jobs. However, at only 19.8% of GDP, gross capital formation remains lowest among all regions (EAP is at 38% and South Asia at 30%). Private capital mobilization in the region is being held back by shallow capital markets, lack of long-term finance, high cost of capital, regulatory and institutional barriers (including in PPP frameworks). Based on country contexts, the WBG will support investments in productive clusters (energy/mining, value added manufacturing, agribusiness, tourism, etc) across the public-private spectrum.
C. The challenge of vulnerability to shocks. Building resilience of the countries to shocks, including natural disasters, through contingent financing and other innovative risk management platforms at country and regional levels is critical given the high exposure to climate–related disasters and natural hazards. The Central America and the Caribbean have recurrent hurricanes that have impacts on GDP significantly higher than the regional average of 1.7%. Several countries are experiencing deep, long droughts, increasingly intense storms, and floods that disrupt economic activities and affect livelihoods, with impacts on the most vulnerable populations.
Country Context:
On September 6, 2017, Hurricane Irma hit the Caribbean Island of Sint Maarten, an autonomous country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, with catastrophic effects. Hurricane Irma made landfall as a Category 5 storm, packing winds of more than 180 mph (290km/h) and leaving a trail of devastation. The country begun the reconstruction and recovery efforts in 2018, though with limited financial and human resources. The Netherlands made available EUR 550 million (partially through funding and partially through in-kind support provided by the Netherlands to Sint Maarten) to support the country’s recovery and reconstruction efforts. Given the government’s limited capacity to manage the massive reconstruction effort and the World Bank’s extensive experience, the Netherlands requested the World Bank’s support as its Trustee and Manager. The World Bank brought global expertise and resources by establishing a single-donor trust fund (SDTF) to help Sint Maarten manage this complex recovery, reconstruction and resilience building program. The Netherlands and the Bank signed the EUR 470 million (US$533 million) Administration Arrangement on April 16, 2018.
Sint Maarten Recovery, Reconstruction and Resilience Program
The Sint Maarten Reconstruction, Recovery, and Resilience Trust Fund program finances and provides technical support for implementing selected activities under the Government’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan, prepared with the World Bank’s support. The NRRP outlines the Government’s vision, principles, and a proposed approach for rebuilding a “better and stronger Sint Maarten” following Hurricane Irma.
Roles & Responsibilities:
Office Assistant responsibilities:
The Office Assistant is responsible for providing support services by receiving visitors and guests, maintaining the office and its environs, preparing refreshments and conference rooms for meetings and events, managing office supply inventory and stock, and facilitating the movement of records/mail.
The Office Assistant's duties are as follows:
Key Responsibilities
Technical/Professional:
• Sanitizes workstations
• Washes and sanitizes utensils/coffee Machine and kitchenette
• Prepares meeting rooms and serves refreshments at meetings
• Circulates and delivers files, mail and newspapers
• Maintains an inventory of office supplies and replenishes supplies when necessary
• Makes photocopies of and shreds documents
• Run errands as needed
• Any other functions related to the role (may be given administration tasks if s/he demonstrates the necessary competencies)
