World Bank Announces $700 Million in Financing to Achieve MDGs

Monday, September 23, 2013

Washington, D.C. — Today the World Bank announced it projects at least $700 million in financing to achieve the Millennium Development Goals for women and children’s health. The funding will be provided through the International Development Association (IDA) arm of the World Bank and builds on investments made through the Health Results Innovation Trust Fund (HRTIF).

Joanne Carter, executive director of RESULTS and RESULTS Educational Fund, released the following statement in response to the announcement:

We welcome today’s announcement that the World Bank will invest at least $700 million through 2015 in maternal and child health programs in poor countries. In our final collective push to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, this financing will be critical for accelerating progress toward reducing and ultimately ending preventable child and maternal deaths, as well as building effective, responsive health care delivery systems. Jim Kim’s leadership on this issue was evident in his announcement last year to increase funding for child and maternal health, and the Bank’s scaled-up commitments to address child undernutrition announced this spring. These investments are key building blocks in ending extreme poverty, and I applaud this follow-up announcement today.

Today’s announcement reflects not only the Bank’s leadership but, importantly, commitment and demand from countries with a high burden of child and maternal mortality to make faster progress to save lives and protect the health of the most vulnerable women and children. Other donors and the global community must respond to this demand with scaled up resources and political leadership.