As global public debt reaches historic highs, one of the key solutions is increasing the amount of funding for “concessional” loans—or ones with very good terms. That is where the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) comes in.

According to the World Bank, the IDA is the world’s largest source of development finance for countries most in need. It provides low-income countries with grants and loans with little to no interest.

Every three years, the IDA has to raise funds from its members: donor countries. Its final replenishment meeting, where it will announce how much money it is able to raise, will take place on Dec. 5 and 6 in Seoul. The stakes are high as this critical deadline looms.

On today’s episode of the Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women, host Reena Ninan speaks with two experts who care deeply about the IDA and financing for the world’s poorest countries. Ninan talks to Gargee Ghosh, president of global policy and advocacy for the Gates Foundation, and Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi, president and CEO of the African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET), at the Atlantic Council’s International Monetary Fund recording studio. They share their deep expertise about what really works in supporting women and girls, as well as reducing poverty.

Guests and organizations: 

The Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women is a podcast from Foreign Policy, supported in part this season by the Gates Foundation, Northwestern University’s Roberta Buffett Institute for Global Affairs, and the Atlantic Council.

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