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Press Release
14 December 2007
UK to give record level of support to fight global poverty
International Development Secretary, Douglas Alexander, today announced the
UK’s largest ever contribution in support of the World Bank’s efforts to reduce
poverty around the globe.
The UK’s cash injection of £2.134 billion over the next three years will be
channelled through the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA)
and provide millions of people in the developing world with education,
healthcare, clean water and access to energy, as well as boosting their economic
opportunities.
The UK contribution is 49% higher than during the last round of IDA funding
in 2005 and comes as the final meeting of the fifteenth replenishment of IDA in
Berlin comes to an end. IDA will provide about £20bn in funding to the world’s
poorest countries in 2008-2011, over half of which will go to Sub-Saharan
Africa.
In the last six years, IDA helped provide at least 25 million people with
access to water and sanitation and since the mid-1990s IDA funds have helped
triple the number of girls in secondary schools in Bangladesh and rebuild over
8,500 miles (13,000 km) of roads in Ethiopia.
Douglas Alexander, International Development Secretary said:
- "The UK plays a leading role in fighting world poverty and our contribution
to IDA demonstrates our commitment to increase aid to the world’s poorest
countries.
"The World Bank is the most effective multilateral development institution and plays a critical role in helping accelerate progress towards the Millennium Development Goals.
"The UK’s resources will be used to improve health services and environmental standards, increase access to food, education and water, and strengthen infrastructure and government administrations in 81 countries, including many fragile states.
Bob Zoellick, President of the World Bank, said:
- "I warmly welcome this announcement and applaud the UK’s leadership on
international development issues. These funds will help the Bank to provide more
support to the poorest countries, particularly those in Africa. This very
substantial pledge will also help assist the Bank to play a stronger role in
helping developing countries deal with the impact of climate change. I am
grateful to the UK for its commitment to IDA and to aid effectiveness – an
objective to which we at the World Bank Group are equally committed"
The UK’s funding announcement follows nine months of negotiations on IDA 15. The UK used the negotiations to secure agreement from the Bank to provide more funding and staff in Fragile States, to increase its focus on climate change and to continue to improve and monitor its performance on conditionality including the use of economic policy conditions.
Notes to Editors:
- The International Development Association (IDA) is the part of the World Bank that helps the world’s poorest countries reduce poverty by providing interest-free loans and some grants for programmes aimed at boosting economic growth and improving living conditions. IDA funds help these countries deal with the complex challenges they face in striving to meet the Millennium Development Goals. More on the fifteenth replenishment of IDA resources (IDA15) can be found on theWorld Bank’s website. There are81 borrower countries.
- The IDA15 Report sets out the Participants’ conclusions and recommendations for the IDA15 period, which covers the three years between July 1, 2008, and June 30, 2011. The report was open for public review and comment until November 30, 2007 and comments received were submitted to Participants for review at the last meeting in Berlin and some will be incorporated into the final document which will be formally approved by the Bank’s Board of Governors early next year.
- Representatives of donor countries ("IDA Deputies") and representatives from IDA borrower countries have met 4 times to discuss IDA15; the first meeting was held in March 2007 in Paris, France; the second in June in Maputo, Mozambique; the third in October in Washington, DC, USA; and the fourth in November in Dublin, Ireland. The 5th and final meeting is in Berlin, Germany on 13-14 December 2007. The meetings are also attended by representatives from the Asian and African Development Banks. The meeting in Maputo, Mozambique involved a one-day consultation with African Civil Society and opinion leaders. Papers discussed at, and summaries of each these meetings are available on the Bank website.
- Issues that have been on the agenda at these meetings include how to improve the effectiveness of the Bank at the country level including decentralisation and conditionality, how IDA should help countries deal with climate change, IDA’s effectiveness and financing to fragile states, IDA’s role in the global aid architecture and the level of resources needed to meet low-income country needs during the three-year IDA15 period.
- Many IDA projects address basic needs, such as primary education, basic health services, and clean water and sanitation. IDA also funds projects that safeguard the environment, improve conditions for private business, build infrastructure and strengthen public administrations. All these projects pave the way toward economic growth, job creation, higher incomes and better living conditions.
- IDA is the single largest source of donor funds for basic social services in the poorest countries. In the 12 months to June 30, 2007, IDA’s support for projects was targeted at human development (education, health, water and sanitation) (39%); law, justice and public administration (23%); infrastructure (22%) and agriculture, fishing and forestry (7%).
- IDA funding has helped 65 million additional children attend and complete primary school - one of the largest school expansions in history. Child mortality in IDA countries has declined from 132 deaths per 1000 children under the age of 5 in 1995 to 117 deaths in 2005. But 80% of IDA countries will not reach their child mortality targets by 2015. Between Bank Fiscal Years 2004-06, IDA projects trained 78,000 health professionals, de-wormed 67,000 children and helped produce 10 million insecticide-treated bed nets. Some 37,500 miles (60,000 km) of rural roads have been built, rehabilitated or maintained in poor countries thanks to IDA-funded programmes in the last 5 years. IDA provided at least 25 million people with access to water and sanitation in 2000-06.
- The largest source of IDA resources is new contributions from donor countries. The second largest source is internal resources, mainly repayments from graduated and current IDA borrowers. An additional source of funds is transfers from the net incomes of other parts of the World Bank Group - the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and International Finance Cooperation (IFC), which will be $3.5bn (around £1.75 bn) in IDA15, more than double the pledged amount in IDA14.
- The World Bank remains the leading global development institution. It plays a central and effective role in efforts to reduce poverty. Its expertise on global debates on development issues and the high quality of its staff are well known and valued. The Bank’s comparative advantages mean it is well placed to tackle global challenges such as climate change. For more information on how the UK is assessing the effectiveness of the World Bank and other multilateral institutions see the DFID website.
For further information, contact Rhyddid Carter on 020 7023 0849 or 020 7023 0600, e-mail pressoffice@dfid.gov.uk or call our Public Enquiries Point on 0845 300 4100.
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