20 August 2015: The US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to enhance their cooperation in capacity development.

Noting that the MOU comes “at a very important time,” in the wake of the third International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD3) and ahead of the follow-up conferences on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and on climate change, Carla Grasso, Deputy Managing Director, IMF, said the Memorandum “is an important contribution to the international effort to put in place a framework that will support sustainable development over the next 15 years.” Charles North, USAID, stressed that he looks forward to channeling USAID and IMF’s collective efforts toward sustainable development.

Grasso noted that the MOU will allow the IMF to expand its reach in capacity development with greater engagement of USAID staff in capacity development activities through a variety of capacity development vehicles, such as the global network of Regional Technical Assistance Centers. She further explained that, alongside with technical assistance, capacity development is currently the largest service the IMF provides to its members, absorbing over a quarter of IMF’s budget. The MOU was signed on 20 August 2015 in Washington DC, US.

FfD3 took place from 13-16 July 2015 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The UN Summit for the Adoption of the Post-2015 Development Agenda will be held from 25-27 September 2015 in New York, US. The 21st session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 21) to the UNFCCC will take place from 30 December – 11 November 2015, in Paris, France. [IMF Press Release] [Carla Grasso Speech]