A coalition of more than 60 donor and borrower governments agreed today to ratchet up the fight against extreme poverty with a record $75 billion commitment for the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank's fund for the poorest countries.

This is a pivotal step in the movement to end extreme poverty, World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim said. 

The commitments made by our partners, combined with IDAs innovations to crowd in the private sector and raise funds from capital markets, will transform the development trajectory of the world's poorest countries. We are grateful for our partners trust in IDA's ability to deliver results.

The funding will enable IDA to dramatically scale up development interventions to tackle conflict, fragility and violence, forced displacement, climate change, and gender inequality; and promote governance and institution building, as well as jobs and economic transformation areas of special focus over the next three years.

With this innovative package, the world's poorest countries, especially the most fragile and vulnerable, will get the support they need to grow, create opportunities for people, and make themselves more resilient to shocks and crises, said Kyle Peters, World Bank Group Interim Managing Director and Co-Chair of the IDA18 negotiations.

IDA is active in 39 countries in Africa, where it is the single largest source of donor funds for basic social services.

From FY06-16, IDA provided $83 billion in financing for more than 1,000 projects in Sub-Saharan Africa. Of this, more than $18 billion was invested in the development of institutions.

Nearly $13 billion supported the provision of critical health and social services. In FY16, the World Bank approved $8.7 billion for the region.

Efforts to stimulate private sector development in the most difficult environments, at the core of job creation and economic transformation, will receive a major push in the form of a new $2.5 billion Private Sector Window (PSW).

A total of 75 low-income countries are eligible to benefit from the IDA18 financing package.<p< p="">

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