- Trust funds are important tools to help the World Bank Group adapt to a fast-changing development finance landscape. Trust funds are used to engage non-governmental and private sector partners and link their knowledge and financing to the Bank Group’s capacity to deliver solutions in client countries. Trust funds serve as a complement to IDA and IBRD financing.
- DFi is responsible for creating and disseminating the policies and business processes of trust funds. The unit helps develop and manage the Bank’s partnership and trust fund business operations by serving as a liaison between external and internal clients on strategy, policy, program management, and best practices. DFi also facilitates the establishment of trust funds.
- DFi acts as trustee of large multilateral financial mechanisms to support global development initiatives and partnerships, known as financial intermediary funds (FIFs). As FIF trustee, DFi provides financial services, including receiving, holding and investing contributed funds, and transferring them when instructed by the FIF governing body. Under some FIFs, the Bank also provides customized treasury management or other agreed financial services. FIF trusteeship does not involve overseeing or supervising the use of funds.
- DFi serves as trustee for close to 30 FIFs, including the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the Climate Investment Funds (CIF), the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), the International Finance Facility for Immunisation (IFFIm), the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM), the Pandemic Fund, and the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi).
- DFi oversees the World Bank’s Trust Fund Policy and the Trust Fund Reform, the World Bank’s latest reform to transition the IBRD/IDA trust fund portfolio into fewer and larger Umbrella 2.0 Programs. Umbrella 2.0 Programs promote impact at scale by strengthening the link between funding and the strategic priorities of the World Bank, its clients, and Development Partners.
- The unit is also responsible for cross-sectoral programmatic trust funds, including the Policy and Human Resource Development (PHRD), the Japan Social Development Funds (JSDF), the Korea-WBG Partnership Facility (KWPF), and the China World Bank Group Partnership Facility (CWPF).
- In addition, DFi is responsible for the development of investment strategies for funds held in trust and reporting and analysis of the concessional portfolio (See 2021 Investment Management of Trust Funds and Financial Intermediary Funds).
- In the area of partner relations, DFi helps maximize resources mobilized from traditional and new development partners. The unit leads high-level strategic consultations between the World Bank Group and its development partners. Through these consultations, DFi supports identification of shared development priorities and understanding of the opportunities presented by various World Bank Group funding channels. DFi also facilitates coordination among World Bank business units by providing early and regular reporting on fundraising activities.
- The unit also oversees, in collaboration with other corporate units, policies and procedures of co-financing arrangements, under which IBRD/IDA funds or guarantees are associated with funds provided by third parties for a particular project or program. The co-financing team supports operational teams to bring direct co-financing into their operations and more structured approach to co-financing.
- In the area of aid architecture, the unit leads the research, and preparation of materials to facilitate DFi’s discussions with both internal and external stakeholders on the aid flows agenda.
Last Updated: Mar 03, 2023
