Number: RL33969
Title: The World Bank's International Development Association (IDA)
Authors: Martin A. Weiss, Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division 
Abstract: On March 5, 2007, donor nations began to discuss a possible fifteenth replenishment of funds for IDA. This is the first replenishment since the G8 summit at the Gleneagles Resort in Scotland in 2005 where world leaders proposed the creation of the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI). The MDRI cancels the remaining debt of the world's poorest countries and pledges to double the amount of aid to Sub-Saharan Africa between 2004 and 2010, primarily in the form of grantbased assistance. Donor governments selected three themes for IDA-15: (1) IDA's role in the international foreign aid system, (2) the role of the World Bank in post-conflict reconstruction and fragile states, and (3) the need to improve the effectiveness of IDA assistance. This report provides brief background material on the World Bank's IDA, the U.S. role at the institution, and information on the status of the current IDA-14 replenishment. It then examines the negotiations for IDA-15, and analyzes the three core themes identified for IDA-15.
Pages: 17
Date: April 1, 2008