Over the last year, the International Development Association (IDA), the arm of the World Bank that provides grants and concessional loans to the world’s poorest countries, has undergone its 21st replenishment (IDA21). This replenishment comes as the World Bank Group implements significant reforms aimed at becoming a “Better and Bigger Bank,” including by aligning IDA policy commitments with the new Corporate Scorecard. These priorities are reflected in the IDA21 Draft Replenishment Report, “Ending Poverty on a Living Planet: Delivering Impact with Urgency and Ambition,” released ahead of the final pledging session on December 5-6, 2024. This draft report details IDA’s policy commitments for the next three-year cycle, starting July 2025. BIC provided input on the draft report, emphasizing the importance of IDA in providing added value for the world’s poorest countries and the most marginalized groups within those countries.
As the world faces compounding crises, including climate change, economic downturns, and the rise of authoritarianism and conflict, IDA plays an essential role in addressing our most critical development challenges and setting high standards across the field. IDA21 should build on IDA20 to include specific, actional policy commitments, as detailed above, that prioritize supporting all countries to adapt to climate change, the inclusion of marginalized groups, and accountability and transparency for IDA-funded projects. Such commitments would maximize IDA’s value to the citizens of borrowing countries and help fulfill countries’ unique development goals. An oversimplification of the IDA21 policy package by duplicating the Corporate Scorecard and increased emphasis on scale and speed without proportional accountability measures puts this impact at risk.