Expanding the Dimensions of Global Development

If trust funds and financial intermediary funds (FIFs) didn’t exist, they would need to be invented. In a world where development needs far outstrip available resources, trust funds and financial intermediary funds (FIFs) offer unique partnerships. The 2024 Trust Funds Annual Report vividly illustrates how these financial instruments expand the dimensions of global development by bringing partners together to address the challenges of our time—from public health to energy access and food security.

Commitment and Consolidation

Each trust fund managed by the World Bank Group complements its core financing to support low and middle-income countries in nearly every area of development worldwide. Trust funds vary in size and scope, but all uphold the World Bank Group’s mission to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity on a livable planet.

The 229 standalone trust funds and 67 large, multi-donor “umbrella” trust funds hold substantial resources contributed by development partners: in the 2024 fiscal year, trust funds received $7.2 billion in contributions from over 100 donors and disbursed $10.1 billion. They hold $18.9 billion in trust, with 40 percent of this amount already committed and pending disbursement.

FIFs are large-scale, independently governed funds that pool funding from multiple sources to address large-scale global development challenges. For example, the new Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage, to be housed in the World Bank for the next four years, will provide vulnerable countries with support to respond to the material consequences of climate change.

The independent governing body of each FIF determines its strategic direction, makes funding decisions, and choose “implementing entities”—the organizations that execute approved activities in line with their own rules, policies, and procedures.

The World Bank is a trustee to 27 FIFs—meaning it holds and invests contributed funds, which it transfers to implementing entities upon instruction from the governing body—and an implementing entity for 20 FIFs. In 2024, FIFs received $10.6 billion in contributions and transferred a total of $10.1 billion to implementing entities (including $1.1 billion to the World Bank Group). FIFs hold $37.2 billion in trust, half of which is committed and pending disbursement.

Fostering Innovative Solutions

Trust funds and FIFs reduce the risks of experimentation, fostering innovative solutions that can be scaled across the World Bank Group. The Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) exemplifies this approach, enabling 47 countries to implement mechanisms for reducing emissions from deforestation. Fifteen of these countries are now benefiting financially from their forest protection efforts through emission reductions payment agreements with the FCPF. In March 2024, Viet Nam received $51.5 million—the largest payment yet—for verified emission reductions. Building on this success, the Scaling Climate Action by Lowering Emissions (SCALE) umbrella trust fund uses concessional resources to encourage decarbonization and support countries to create high-integrity, inclusive carbon credits.

First Responders in FCV Countries

Trust funds have the flexibility to extend support to places that World Bank Group lending instruments cannot reach. And this funding fills a critical gap: 83% of World Bank trust fund recipient-executed disbursements between fiscal year 2020-2024 went to FCV settings.

In Somalia, for example, trust fund financing was vital to support the country’s efforts to rebuild and rejoin the global community following decades of instability. Funding and support from the Somalia Multi-Partner Fund helped the country reach the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative completion point in December 2023, paving the way to the signature of a five-year country partnership framework with the World Bank in February 2024.

As the World Bank continues to roll out reforms to become simpler and more impactful, trust funds and FIFs are unique instruments that demonstrate how collaboration, flexibility, and innovation can solve global challenges. They truly are partnerships in action.