Christian Bodewig is the Practice Manager for Social Protection & Jobs for Western and Central Africa where he leads a team of 40 staff delivering lending, analytical and advisory services on social protection and jobs policies. He is based in Dakar, Senegal.

Prior to this assignment, he served as Lead Economist and Program Manager of the Sahel Adaptive Social Protection Program (SASPP) which supports programs and policies to help poor and vulnerable households in the Sahel adapt to the impacts of climate change. Previously, he was the Program Manager for Southern Europe at the World Bank in Brussels overseeing the Bank’s operational, advisory and analytical programs in Greece, Cyprus, Italy and Portugal. Between 2013 and 2018 he served as program leader for inclusive growth in the European Union where he coordinated the World Bank’s lending and advisory projects in education, health, poverty and social protection and labor in EU Member States. Between 2009 and 2013 Mr. Bodewig worked in the East Asia and Pacific department where he led the Bank’s human development program in Vietnam. He started his World Bank career working on operational and analytical projects in education and social protection in South-Eastern Europe, based in Washington DC, Sarajevo and Sofia. 

Mr Bodewig is the co-author of the 2018 World Bank study "Growing United: Upgrading Europe's Convergence Machine" as well as the 2014 Vietnam Development Report and has published on education, skills, social protection and labor market issues in Europe and Asia. 

Before joining the World Bank, Mr. Bodewig was one of the founders of the German youth NGO “Schüler Helfen Leben” focused on promoting learning opportunities for youth in South-Eastern Europe.  

Mr. Bodewig holds degrees in economics and political economy from University College London and the London School of Economics. He is fluent in English, German, and French.