Minister Donohoe Announces €106 million in Funding to Assist Developing Countries

The Minister for Finance and Ireland’s Governor at the World Bank, Paschal Donohoe, T.D., has pledged almost €106 million on behalf of Ireland to the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank’s fund for the world’s poorest countries. The commitment was made during the course of the concluding meeting of the 20th Replenishment round of IDA (IDA20) which was convened virtually on Tuesday 14th and Wednesday 15th December.

While the Fund is usually replenished every three years, IDA20 was brought forward by one year due to the Covid-19 pandemic in order to ensure extra funds were made available to meet the demands of some of the world’s most vulnerable countries.

The policy package agreed is IDA’s most ambitious to date and Ireland and other donor nations pledged a combined $23.5 billion in contributions which will be leveraged by IDA to deliver $93 billion in support.

Minister for Finance and Ireland’s Governor at the World Bank, Paschal Donohoe, T.D., commented,

“This pledge marks Ireland’s largest ever contribution to IDA and reinforces our commitment to support the world’s poorest and most vulnerable countries – who have been amongst those most badly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The IDA20 policy objectives closely align with Ireland’s international development priorities and climate action ambitions, and our strong support of this Replenishment reflects this. We are confident that the agreed package can help curtail and reverse some of the developmental losses suffered by IDA countries as a result of the crisis, recover lost ground toward the 2030 agenda and also focus on a green, resilient and inclusive future.”

Ireland’s IDA pledge of almost €106 million, which will be encashed over 9 years commencing in 2023, will be credited towards the Government’s commitment to increase development spending to 0.7 per cent of Gross National Income by 2030.

ENDS

Note to Editors:

The International Development Association (IDA) is the World Bank’s fund for the world’s poorest and least creditworthy countries. It provides financial support on concessional terms. It is one of the largest sources of assistance for the world’s 74 poorest countries, 39 of which are in Africa, and is the single largest donor for basic social services in these countries.

An IDA replenishment, during which contributors to IDA make their pledges, usually takes place every three years. However, to mitigate the pressures faced by IDA countries as a result of the Covid-19 Pandemic, it was agreed in February 2021 to significantly increase financial support to IDA countries in FY22 and FY23 by frontloading resources from the nineteenth replenishment of IDA (IDA19) from FY23 to FY22 and truncating the IDA19 implementation period from three to two years. This decision meant that the IDA20 replenishment was advanced by one year to cover the period from July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2025.

The overarching theme of IDA20 is “Building Back Better from the Crisis –Toward a Green, Resilient and Inclusive Future”. The IDA20 policy architecture builds on the strong foundation of IDA19, with enhancements to make IDA20 even more ambitious and fit for today’s challenges. The policy and financial package will help countries recoup their development losses due to the impact of COVID-19, and recover lost ground toward the 2030 agenda, with a focus on a green, resilient and inclusive future.

The Special Themes of IDA20, which include Climate Change; Jobs and Economic Transformation (JET); Gender and Development; Fragility, Conflict and Violence (FCV); and Human Capital, are closely aligned with the objectives of A Better World: Ireland’s Policy for International Development. IDA20 also reflects Ireland's priorities in relation to Africa, as outlined in Ireland's Strategy for Africa to 2025, and our efforts to support Small Island States, as articulated in Ireland’s Strategy for Partnership with Small Island Developing States.

In 2019 Ireland pledged €101.6 million to IDA19 having previously pledged €90million since 2007 to each IDA Replenishment since IDA15.