Will global community make good $75b commitment to end extreme poverty?
The global community has made what has been described as ‘record commitment’ of $75 billion to fight extreme poverty in the world.
The World Bank made the announcement in a press release copied to ghanabusinessnews.com, December 15, 2016.
According to the release a coalition of more than 60 donor and borrower governments agreed to ratchet up the fight against extreme poverty with a record $75 billion commitment for the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank’s fund for the poorest countries.
The funding, according to the Bank, will enable IDA to dramatically scale up development interventions to tackle conflict, fragility and violence, forced displacement, climate change, and gender inequality; and promote governance and institution building, as well as jobs and economic transformation—areas of special focus over the next three years.
“These efforts are underpinned by an overarching commitment to invest in growth, resilience and opportunity,” it said.
The World Bank Group President, Jim Yong Kim was quoted as saying, “This is a pivotal step in the movement to end extreme poverty. The commitments made by our partners, combined with IDA’s innovations to crowd in the private sector and raise funds from capital markets, will transform the development trajectory of the world’s poorest countries. We are grateful for our partners’ trust in IDA’s ability to deliver results.”
IDA is active in 39 countries in Africa, where it is the single largest source of donor funds for basic social services. From Fiscal Year 06-16, IDA provided $83 billion in financing for more than 1,000 projects in sub-Saharan Africa. Of this, more than $18 billion was invested in the development of institutions. Nearly $13 billion supported the provision of critical health and social services. In FY16, the World Bank approved $8.7 billion for the region, it added.
“With this innovative package, the world’s poorest countries – especially the most fragile and vulnerable – will get the support they need to grow, create opportunities for people, and make themselves more resilient to shocks and crises. IDA’s focus on issues like climate change, gender equality and preventing conflict and violence will also contribute to greater stability and progress around the world,” Kyle Peters, the World Bank Group Interim Managing Director and Co-Chair of the IDA18 negotiations said.
The global community have made similar commitments in the past, but failed to deliver. A case in point is the failure to keep to commitments to education, which led to a funding gap that affected education.
By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi
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