THE World Bank launched an early 20th replenishment process of the International Development Association (IDA), its fund to support the poorest nations in their recovery from the COVID-19 crisis and transition to green, resilient, and inclusive development.

The IDA is one of the largest sources of funding for fighting extreme poverty by providing zero- or low-interest loans and grants to struggling nations. In February, 2021, IDA donor and borrower country representatives agreed to advance IDA20 by one year due to pressures of the COVID-19 crisis.

The IDA20 replenishment will conclude in December, 2021 with a policy and financial package to support 74 countries between July, 2022 and June, 2025.

"IDA accelerated its financing commitments in 2020 to help the world's poorest countries contain the impacts of the pandemic and lay the groundwork for recovery," said World Bank Group President Mr David Malpass. "IDA is a uniquely effective platform, consolidating global resources from donors and capital markets to support well-focused country programs and development spending."

The IDA19 three-year cycle started in July, 2020 with USD 23.5 billion of donor contributions aiming to enable a total of USD 82 billion financing to IDA countries. Almost half of this amount has been committed to the world's poorest countries in the first year of the IDA19 cycle, necessitating advancing IDA20 so that additional financial resources can be available for countries to meet their urgent development needs.

Under the theme 'Building Back Better from the Crisis: Towards a Green, Resilient and Inclusive Future,' the IDA20 policy framework will follow the special themes of climate change; fragility, conflict and violence; gender; and jobs and economic transformation; and introduce human capital as the fifth special theme.

It will also deepen recovery efforts by focusing on four cross-cutting issues of crisis preparedness, debt sustainability and transparency, governance and institutions, and technology. 

Negotiations on the policy commitments and financing framework will continue through meetings in June and October, concluding with donors pledging their contributions on December 13-14, 2021. The negotiation process will be co-chaired by Mr Axel van Trotsenburg, World Bank Managing Director of Operations, and Mr Denny Kalyalya, an independent co-chair selected by IDA donor and borrower representatives.