We are a diverse group of non-profit organizations with varying missions that collectively believe in the value of the international financial institutions (IFIs).

Find relevant reports from our members and the Congressional Research Service, publications from the IFIs, and other useful resources.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is in the process of a considerable transformation, designed to grow its operations and expand their development impact. By 2030, the Corporation has committed that 40 percent of annual own-account commitments will be in International Development Association (IDA) and fragile and conflict-affected states, requiring a quadrupling of annual program delivery in those countries. In addition, the corporation has promised to invest more heavily in climate-friendly projects, as well as focus more on projects with the potential for significant development outcomes.

IFC’s board and leadership understand that meeting these goals requires a change in the way that the corporation operates, and a number of recent reforms will help it to deliver. But while these reforms are a welcome start, the IFC will have to change further if it is to meet its targets and reach its development potential. This paper discusses the rationale and elements of that change agenda, focused on ensuring the IFC best serves its ultimate clients.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is in the process of a considerable transformation, designed to grow its operations and expand their development impact. By 2030, the Corporation has committed that 40 percent of annual own-account commitments will be in International Development Association (IDA) and fragile and conflict-affected states, requiring a quadrupling of annual program delivery in those countries. In addition, the corporation has promised to invest more heavily in climate-friendly projects, as well as focus more on projects with the potential for significant development outcomes. 

ifc-three-point-one.pdf

World Bank budget support projects throughout the COVID-19 global health emergency contain significant policy conditionality. On average, each operation required the recipient government to implement 8 policy reforms to secure funding—a reasonable constraint in “normal” times but at odds with the twin imperatives of speed and flexibility in crisis times. In addition, over two-thirds of the World Bank budget support reform conditions were not directly relevant to the COVID-19 crisis. Instead, they focused on a longer-term reform agenda. This puts the World Bank out of step with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which has routed a significant portion of its COVID-19 financing through programs with little to no conditionality. It may also help explain the absence of a surge in budget support since the onset of the global pandemic since onerous reform conditions might discourage governments from requesting the instrument. Crucially, it also raises questions around the effectiveness of how the World Bank is using budget support operations as a crisis response tool. With the COVID-19 emergency far from over for most of the world, the World Bank should focus on providing fast-disbursing programs with lighter policy conditions that are concentrated on mitigating the crisis at hand.

World-Bank-Budget-Support-Time-Of-COVID.pdf

World Bank Budget Support in the Time of COVID: Crisis Finance… with Strings Attached

This note presents estimates of Finance for International Development (FID) in 2018. FID is a grant equivalent measure of cross-border, concessional finance publicly provided for development. We introduced FID last year to better compare development finance provided by both DAC (OECD Development Assistance Committee) and non-DAC countries, the latter having gained importance as development actors in recent decades. We produced estimates of FID for 40 of the world’s major economies, which accounted for around 90 percent of global GDP in 2018. FID attempts to measure all cross-border assistance given for the purpose of development—including grants, technical assistance, and the grant equivalent of all concessional loans and contributions to multilateral organisations—but excludes various in-donor costs (such as spending on scholarships) that are part of the DAC’s own measure of development assistance, official development assistance (ODA).

Finance-international-development-update.pdf

Finance For International Development Update

Oxfam welcomed the World Bank’s effort to frontload resources from IDA19 in order to respond to the COVID-19 crisis and understands the need and urgency of replenishing IDA coffers earlier than expected. Given the tremendous financing needs, Oxfam supports a strong IDA20 replenishment. Oxfam also hopes to see a robust policy package attached to IDA20 that is appropriately ambitious for the next three years--aimed at supporting an end to this pandemic as quickly as possible, and propelling IDA countries forward towards a just economy after COVID-19 that is more equal and inclusive, that protects the planet, and that ends poverty.

Oxfam IDA20 Position Paper June 2021.pdf

Oxfam Position Paper on IDA20 Replenishment

The Quality of Official Development Assistance (QuODA) measures and compares providers of official development assistance (ODA) on quantitative indicators that matter most to development effectiveness and quality. It aims to encourage improvements to the quality of ODA by highlighting and assessing providers’ performance. 

Visit QuODA.CGDev.org to explore the latest QuODA results. CGD's interactive tool lets you compare countries and agencies to answer the question, “How are development cooperation providers performing on their commitments and the indicators that matter to improving the quality of official development assistance?"

The Quality of Official Development Assistance (QuODA) measures and compares providers of official development assistance (ODA) on quantitative indicators that matter most to development effectiveness and quality. It aims to encourage improvements to the quality of ODA by highlighting and assessing providers’ performance.

QuODA-brief-2021.pdf

The Quality of Offical Development Assistance

With the support of their respective member countries, international financial institutions (IFIs) provide financial and technical assistance to lower-income countries to support economic growth and improve living standards. IFIs provide support through grants as well as through loans at favorable, below-market rates.

The IFIs are the largest source of international financing for many low- and middle-income countries, making these institutions key partners in national development agendas. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, they have mobilized unprecedented levels of financial resources to support countries in responding to the health and economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, including devastating worldwide surges in hunger and malnutrition.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, IFIs have mobilized unprecedented levels of financial resources to support countries in responding to the health and economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, including devastating worldwide surges in hunger and malnutrition.

IFI hunger COVID responses FINAL.pdf

The International Financial Institutions (IFIs) Working Group is a diverse coalition of non-profit organizations. We collectively believe in the value of IFIs in addressing global development challenges, advancing multilateralism, and setting high standards across the development finance landscape.

Handout IFIs Working Group Overview 12.17.2020.pdf

This factsheet details appropriations from FY2016-FY2021 for eight major IFI accounts: IDA, AfDF, AsDF, IFAD, IBRD, AfDB, ADB, and IDB.  

International financial institutions (IFIs) or multilateral development banks (MDBs), so-called because they are funded by multiple countries and partners, provide financial assistance to developing countries to promote economic and social development.

Key IFI Appropriations Accounts.pdf

An effective, global response to COVID-19 requires unprecedented coordination at a multilateral level. The IFIs provide both international as well as regional platforms for such coordination, as well as critical resources for data collection and knowledge sharing that the international community relies on to understand the scope and severity of the crisis. Congress should strongly encourage Treasury to utilize all available facilities and tools to maximize U.S. support for developing countries through the IFIs at this critical moment. 

An effective, global response to COVID-19 requires unprecedented coordination at a multilateral level. The IFIs provide both international as well as regional platforms for such coordination, as well as critical resources for data collection and knowledge sharing that the international community relies on to understand the scope and severity of the crisis.

IFI COVID Statement.pdf

Support for IFIs Needed in U.S. International Assistance for COVID-19

That is why, for the 11th year in a row, InterAction has prepared Choose to Invest as a public resource for understanding the accounts that fund development, health, humanitarian action, climate, and democracy. The Multilateral Assistance accounts are featured here, please follow the link above to see all accounts.

This resource attempts to demystify what and how the U.S. Government funds overseas by providing information across 52 accounts funded through the annual appropriations process, primarily in the State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Bill. 

Each account includes its funding history and a recommended funding level for this year based on the experience and expertise of InterAction’s coalition—the voice of nearly 200 humanitarian and development non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

The funding recommendations made here do not represent the actual amount required to address the world’s hardships—those numbers would be far higher, even before accounting for losses and increased need resulting from COVID-19 and climate change. However, the numbers provided are an attempt to strike a balance between global need and responsible American spending.

As the pandemic made clear, other countries’ ability to manage and respond to threats directly impacts the health and prosperity of the United States. Choose to Invest’s recommendations represent a down payment toward long-term impacts on development progress and reflect the need to build resilience against the next global shock.

The world is more interconnected than ever. It’s time to think of foreign aid as one of several tools that promote vital development abroad for the benefit of all, here and overseas.

Aid programs deliver results for the American people and demonstrate American leadership around the globe.

CTI-2022_International-Fund-for-Agricultural-Development.pdf

CTI-2022_Climate-Investment-Funds.pdf

CTI-2022_Green-Climate-Fund.pdf

CTI-2022_International-Development-Association.pdf

CTI-2022_African-Development-Fund.pdf

CTI-2022_Global-Environment-Facility.pdf

Choose to Invest 2022: Multilateral Assistance

The Covid-19 pandemic created an unprecedented combination of challenges: government-ordered lockdowns, dramatic economic downturns, instability in various markets and industries, and an historic surge in government spending on health and social needs. These events precipitated an urgent need for liquidity among emerging market economies and an increase in their debt burdens. Today, the earlier fear of a dangerous lack of liquidity has been replaced in large part by concerns about the ability of the international financial architecture to support countries with increasing levels of debt and uncertain access to capital. One worrisome aspect seems clear: Many countries will require debt relief in the next few years if they are to maintain or restore access to financial flows. Higher interest rates in advanced economies, and the United States in particular, could compound the difficulties of emerging market countries in servicing existing debt and refinancing maturing debt.

Sovereign_Debt_A_Critical_Challenge_Website.pdf

While the incoming Biden administration faces remarkable challenges globally, the ONE Campaign is optimistic that between a renewed commitment to American global leadership and the advent of effective COVID-19 vaccines, we can make measurable and impactful progress in ending end extreme poverty and preventable disease. The ONE Campaign has six proposals for the Biden administration, three of which can be acted upon immediately and three of which will require additional time and commitment.

While the incoming Biden administration faces remarkable challenges globally, the ONE Campaign is optimistic that between a renewed commitment to American global leadership and the advent of effective COVID-19 vaccines, we can make measurable and impactful progress in ending end extreme poverty and preventable disease.

Transition_Doc_v1.pdf

The IMF has the ability to issue what are called Special Drawing Rights (SDRs). These were designed to help countries respond to global crises.

Swift and orderly action on international debt is a moral, political, economic, and security imperative for the United States. A series of disorderly and protracted debt crises would be catastrophic for the world’s poorest countries. The Center for Global Development proposes these three key recommendations for the Biden Administration: 

Expand liquidity and fiscal space for poor countries. The Biden administration should take immediate action to avert defaults in low-income countries through large and immediate provisions of liquidity and measures to help countries manage rollover risk on sovereign bonds.

Expand official bilateral debt relief to poor countries. The administration should work with the international financial institutions, China, and the Paris Club to implement guiding principles for a COVID-19 common framework for debt treatment.

Reform the sovereign debt system. The Treasury Department should lay the groundwork for a series of updates to the international financial sovereign debt restructuring architecture.

Swift and orderly action on international debt is a moral, political, economic, and security imperative for the United States. A series of disorderly and protracted debt crises would be catastrophic for the world’s poorest countries. 

plan-address-covid-19-debt-crises-poor-countries-and-build-better-sovereign-debt-system.pdf

A Plan to Address the COVID-19 Debt Crises in Poor Countries and Build a Better Sovereign Debt System

In the attached report and its accompanying policy brief, we draw on evidence from past vaccine rollouts and lessons-learned from Mercy Corps programming during COVID-19 to document and analyze the ways in which mistrust of vaccines and vaccine providers poses significant barriers to vaccine uptake, especially in fragile and conflict-affected settings. To overcome vaccine hesitancy, we emphasize the need to close gaps in government accountability and we call for deep, inclusive, and sustained local community engagement to generate trust. We argue that this will be critical to preventing future disease spread and addressing the second-order impacts of the pandemic on inequality and insecurity.

We also offer a set of targeted recommendations to the Biden-Harris administration and the U.S. Congress, including: 

Fund local civil society organizations and locally-trusted INGOs to conduct comprehensive community engagement before and during vaccination programs; 

Rely on evidence-based approaches to improve effectiveness of vaccine rollouts; 

Increase investments in humanitarian assistance as well as long-term economic recovery, conflict prevention, and peacebuilding; 

Coordinate with multilateral institutions and ministries of health to ensure equitable and efficient vaccine distribution and uptake. 

Community Engagement for Effective COVID-19 Vaccination 

Overcoming-The-Trust-Deficit_Vaccine-Community-Engagement-Report.pdf

Vaccine-Community-Engagement-Policy-Brief.pdf

Overcoming the Trust Deficit - Vaccine Community Engagement Report and Policy Brief

Publish What You Fund's Aid Transparency Index is the only independent measure of aid transparency among the world’s major development agencies. 

The transparency of international aid is more important than ever. As countries and international organizations quickly reallocate large quantities of aid to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, the decisions and actions they take should be open to public scrutiny. With resources stretched, they must target and spend aid as accurately as possible. Aid transparency facilitates information sharing among donors and with partner governments. It is key to improve the efficiency of resource allocation, coordination of the response, and for donors to learn from one another’s interventions. Proactive, timely, comprehensive, and open data on aid flows is also critical for public oversight and accountability. 

View the interactive Aid Transparency Index chart here. 

We produced the 2020 Aid Transparency Index in the midst of the most serious and devastating pandemic in living memory. The implications of the coronavirus pandemic for the aid sector include major impacts in both donor and partner countries. Bilateral, multilateral, philanthropic donors, and the private sector are pledging, committing, and disbursing billions of dollars in aid.

2020-Aid-Transparency-Index-report.pdf

In this article, Global Citizen breaks down what SDRs are, how they can boost the global economy, and whose support is needed to tap into this crucial funding, which could be used for medical supplies, vaccines, food, and further debt relief to prevent low-income countries from sliding deeper into poverty.    

This financing source can help countries recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Special Drawing Rights: What Are SDRs and How Can They Boost the Global COVID-19 Recovery?

Special drawing rights are reserves, spendable money at essentially zero interest rates, available to countries basically by a decision of the Board of the IMF. 

Economist Jeff Sachs Explains IMF Special Drawing Rights

This report shows in tabular form how much the Administration requested and how much Congress appropriated for U.S. payments to the multilateral development banks since 2000.

CRS MDB contributions.pdf

CRS Report: Multilateral Development Banks: U.S. Contributions FY2000-FY2020

Resources

IFC 3.1?

World Bank Budget Support in the Time of COVID: Crisis Finance… with Strings Attached

Finance For International Development Update

Oxfam Position Paper on IDA20 Replenishment

The Quality of Offical Development Assistance

IFIs Respond to Global Hunger Crisis

What is the IFIs Working Group?

Key IFI Appropriations Accounts

Support for IFIs Needed in U.S. International Assistance for COVID-19

Choose to Invest 2022: Multilateral Assistance

Sovereign Debt: A Critical Challenge

Vision for US Leadership

What exactly are Special Drawing Rights?

A Plan to Address the COVID-19 Debt Crises in Poor Countries and Build a Better Sovereign Debt System

Overcoming the Trust Deficit - Vaccine Community Engagement Report and Policy Brief

Aid Transparency Index 2020

Special Drawing Rights: What Are SDRs and How Can They Boost the Global COVID-19 Recovery?

Economist Jeff Sachs Explains IMF Special Drawing Rights

CRS Report: Multilateral Development Banks: U.S. Contributions FY2000-FY2020