International Development Association (IDA)17 – Core Contribution 2014-2017

IDA is the part of the World Bank Group (WBG) that helps the world’s poorest countries. The WBG is owned by 188 member countries and has a high legitimation for working globally. Through its internal organisation, its skilled staff and high professionalism, it can make available a large knowledge base on development priorities and data. The newly approved WBG strategy aims to further reinforce the global relevance of the WBG by the pursuit of two goals: ending extreme poverty by 2030 and building shared prosperity. IDA’s comparative advantage is rooted in a strong and effective business model that leverages resources and delivers value for money. IDA will play a critical roIe in relation to the post-2015 agenda. IDA17 will provide increased funding to tackle the toughest issues in fragile and conflict-affected states (FCS). IDA will also see an increased involvement on climate change and gender equality. A strong commitment to more inclusive growth underpins these efforts.

For Switzerland, the Bretton Woods Institutions are of great importance for its foreign policy. The World Bank, and with it IDA, is among the 13 priority multilateral organizations, according to the Dispatch on International Cooperation 2013-2016. Today, IDA is recognised as a highly relevant global fund and is an effective platform for development assistance, providing grants and subsidized loans to the poorest countries. This was evident in the latest negotiations, which were highly satisfactory for Switzerland. In this context, Switzerland worked towards a strengthening of its position among the World Bank Group, also with regards to the upcoming reform of voting rights in 2015. Under the overarching theme of maximizing development impact, four special themes guided the negotiations: 1) Inclusive growth, 2) Gender equality, 3) Climate change, 4) Fragile and conflict affected states (FCS). These special themes correspond directly with thematic priorities of SDC and SECO as defined in the Bill 2013-2016. With this contribution to IDA, Switzerland is also contributing to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and the goals to be set out in the post 2015 development agenda.

Delivering for results was the over-arching theme for IDA16. The Bank has markedly intensified efforts to enhance monitoring, measurement, and communication on results. IDA16 special themes all made significant progress, achieving most of the fixed targets. Already in June 2013, the Gender-related commitments under IDA16 were achieved at 100%; high level commitment towards gender equality facilitated the mainstreaming of gender at corporate level and in IDA operations. Substantial progress has been made in mainstreaming climate change: 100% of the Country strategies in 2012 included a discussion of country vulnerability to climate change and climate change operations and dedicated resources also increased. A number of innovative and analytical tools are available to respond to client demand. IDA has also made an impressive progress in enhancing support to FCSs and improving its FCS portfolio, in line with the findings of the 2011 World Development Report (WDR) on conflict, security and development. To this effect, increased staffing and budgets for preparation and supervision for FCS programmes were instrumental. A revised resource allocation framework has been designed and agreed for IDA17 to reflect the new understanding on fragility and conflict while preserving the principle of performance orientation of the allocation system. IDA’s long-term financial sustainability has been reinforced, thanks to the introduction of specific measures into IDA17, such as the concessional partner loans.

The achievements at the Swiss level are very satisfactory, especially in relation to the thematic follow-up. Switzerland was actively engaged in the discussions of the IDA 16 mid/term review and IDA17 negotiations on the special themes (Climate change, Gender and FCS) and the result measurement framework. Our concerns were largely taken into account. Switzerland, with other donors, managed to increase climate resilience and advocacy for a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Higher emphasis on gender related outcomes was also achieved. Synergies with other Swiss financed organizations were fostered, especially with UN-Women. The recommendations of the WDR 2011 were pursued in the Country partnership strategies/interim strategy notes in fragile contexts. The UN/WB partnership Trust Fund financed by Switzerland started to deliver good practices, and to become a reference on partnership. The partnership dimension between the UN and the WB has been taken increasingly into account and recognized as a key dimension to ensure results in fragile contexts. At the institutional level, Switzerland has been strongly engaged in the discussion on the financial sustainability of IDA, and positioned itself for the introduction of the innovative concessional partner loans.

One overarching theme and four special themes were selected for the next three years in the IDA Deputies Report with the following outcomes:

• Ending extreme poverty and building shared prosperity: IDA contributes to ending extreme poverty and building shared prosperity by aligning IDA activities towards WBG goals, leveraging private and public resources and knowledge, and strengthening IDA’s focus on results, efficiency and effectiveness.
• Inclusive growth: IDA fosters inclusive growth by addressing country specific impediments to productive jobs, addressing impediments to financial inclusion, improving the quality and efficiency of public service delivery, and fostering good governance of natural resources wealth.
• Gender equality: IDA promotes gender equality by deepening integration of gender equality considerations in country strategies and operations, and strengthening feedback loops and reporting to enhance results and impact on gender equality.
• Climate Change: IDA addresses climate change and enhances resilience by fully integrating climate change and disaster risk management into Country Partnership Frameworks, supporting efforts to achieve Sustainable Energy for All objectives, and strengthening monitoring and reporting of IDA resources used for climate change mitigation and adaptation.
• Fragile and conflict affected states: IDA supports FCSs by addressing drivers of fragility and conflict and respond to opportunities to support turnaround countries and build resilience in FCSs, enhancing feedback from implementation experience and ensure more agile operational policies and practices, and enhancing FCSs financing.

With the increase of the Swiss burden share to 2.3%, Switzerland will be in the top 10 donors, ranking at 9^th place. 

Core contribution ranking: 1.United Kingdom, 2.USA, 3. Japan, 4. Germany, 5. France, and 9. Switzerland out of 46 donors. 

Switzerland built alliances with other donors around the special themes, such as climate change and fragile states, which allowed bringing our issues to the IDA/WB management.

Phase 7 01.07.2014 - 31.12.2023   (Completed)