Calls On US Congress To Authorize 3,7 Billion dollar IDA Replenishment
The International Development Association (IDA), the World Banks multilateral arm for providing interest-free loans, grants and debt relief to the worlds poorest countries, is the most effective way for the US to invest in fighting global poverty, a US Treasury official said Wednesday.
In testimony before the Committee on Financial Services in the House of Representatives, Treasury Assistant Secretary for International Affairs Clay Lowery called on Congress to authorize 3,705 billion US dollar in funding over three years for the fifteenth replenishment (genopfyldning) of the IDA.
That represents a 30 percent increase over funding provided by the US for the IDAs fourteenth replenishment, which expires at the end of fiscal year 2008.
Lawry noted that the IDA was the first Multilateral Development Bank (MDB) to introduce a results measurement system to monitor progress by tracking individual country outcomes on indicators such as school completion rates and HIV prevalence rates.
Lowery also said that the World Bank arm (IDA) has committed more than 1 billion dollar for dozens of reconstruction projects in Afghanistan that helped rehabilitate schools, for example.
He touted the IDA as one of the most effective institutions for fighting poverty, which he described as “one of the biggest challenges of our time”.
More specifically, he said the George Bush administrations full funding request is necessary for the US to meet its financial obligations to the costs of debt relief under the presidents Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative, which provides 100 percent debt relief to 21 indebted poor nations.
Tilføjelse u-landsnyt.dk:
VK-regeringen har skåret Danmarks bidragsandel til IDA ned med, hvad der samlet løber op i flere hundrede millioner kr. IDA betragtes som den største yder af hjælp til u-landenes fattigdomsbekæmpelse.
Kilde: www.worldbank.org
