1 October 2013: During a lecture in Washington DC, US, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim suggested that an increase of about 50% of core financing for International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank Group’s fund for the poorest, should occur in the next three years. He also provided a preview of the new World Bank Group Strategy.

Noting that IDA financing will only be determined once countries make their pledges later in 2013, he also announced that the International Finance Corporation (IFC) expects to increase funding to more than US$800 million over three years.

During the event at the George Washington University, President Kim declared that extreme poverty was “the defining moral issue of our time” and highlighted key aspects of the World Bank Group strategy to help end poverty by 2030 and foster shared prosperity with the bottom 40%, including: partnerships with the private sector; greater commitments to fragile and conflict-affected states; and more ambitious goals involving gender and climate change issues. [World Bank Press Release] [IDA Website]