The International Development Association (IDA, World Bank Group)

The International Development Association (IDA) is the part of the World Bank Group (WBG) that helps the world's poorest countries end extreme poverty and build shared prosperity in a sustainable manner. It aims to reduce poverty by providing loans and grants for programs that boost economic growth, reduce inequalities, and improve people's living conditions.

Switzerland has been a member of IDA since 1992, and has contributed to the fund since 1967. Switzerland once again played an active role in the replenishment negotiations for the period 2022-2025 (known as IDA20), which defined five priority areas: climate change; gender; fragility, conflict, and violence (FCV); jobs and economic transformation; and human capital. These Special Themes are complemented by four Crosscutting Issues: debt, governance and institutions, crisis preparedness, and technology.

Switzerland's commitment of USD 725 million to IDA20 represents its largest financial contribution to a multilateral organization, reflecting the importance and global relevance of IDA and the WBG in helping Switzerland achieve its development goals:

Role of IDA/WBG in the international aid architecture:

The WBG, which is owned by 189 member countries, is a global thought leader on development principles and standards, as well as a leading producer of globally relevant knowledge products. With regard to development finance, it is the most influential multilateral organization. IDA's comparative advantage is rooted in a strong and effective business model that leverages resources and delivers value for money. The IDA20 replenishment assembled a record USD 93 billion financing package, building on IDA’s financial model that allows it to use its donor capital base to issue bonds on international financial markets. This allows a significant leverage effect for every donor dollar given to IDA.

IDA20 replenishment

Coherence with Swiss priorities:

The WBG (including IDA) is one of Switzerland's 23 priority multilateral organizations according to the International Cooperation Strategy 2021-2024. The five special themes of IDA20 correspond closely to Switzerland's development priorities. During the IDA20 negotiations, Switzerland pushed successfully for IDA to set ambitious targets across its priority themes, improve conditions for the private sector, and cooperate more closely with other development and humanitarian actors, such as the UN, especially in fragile contexts.