IDB and World Bank join forces to protect the Amazon and make the Caribbean resilient

He Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the World Bank (WB) signed this Thursday a memorandum of understanding to work in the fight against deforestation of the Amazonthe strengthening of the Caribbean in the face of natural disasters and the reduction of the digital divide in Latin America.

The agreement was signed at the IDB headquarters in Washington DC and the signing was attended by the President of the IDB, Ilan Goldfajn, and the President of the World Bank, Ajay Banga, who highlighted the need for both development banks to work together to multiply their impact in the development.

“We need to work harder and do it together”affirmed Goldfajn, since the world is in a moment in which “We have billions, but we need billions.”

The pandemic, Banga maintained, “it has multiplied and exacerbated fragility, violence and food insecurity” and has caused “a perfect storm” that has increased the global challenges.

“In our opinion, one cannot overcome them by oneself. We must join forces not only among multilateral banks, but also with civil society, philanthropy and the private sector,” stressed.

The alliance presented today will last for four years and also contains an agreement between IDB Invest, the private sector arm of the IDB Group, and MIGA, the World Bank’s political risk insurance arm, whereby they commit to mitigate the political risk in the region.

The two agencies will work together with the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) to attract more private sector investment to the region thanks to these insurances that will try to curb some of the reluctance that the private sector has to invest in the region.

Banga and Goldfajn, who took up their positions in recent months, carried out a trip to Latin America in June in which they laid the foundations to seal this collaboration agreement that seeks to help fight poverty, create jobs and address the climate crisis.

Both presidents are convinced of the need for a reform in the multilateral banks and that, for example, they bet more on measuring the effects that the programs they carry out in Latin America have on the population.

Thanks to the pact signed today, the organizations will combine their experience in the Amazon to support countries in their transition towards a “zero-net-deforestation” and they will also contribute to people obtaining a better livelihood, while preserving the ecosystem.

“The agreement is about deforestation, but we are actually addressing it as an ecosystem that includes the people who live in the Amazon. If we do not take them into account, we would be putting a band-aid on an open wound.Banga explained.

In the Caribbean, it seeks to give countries greater support to manage disasters and climate crises and develop financial protection mechanisms for when catastrophes occur.

Likewise, the IDB and the WB committed to work together to promote digital development in the region with an action plan that seeks to promote connectivity and improve digital infrastructure to accelerate socioeconomic development.

One of the programs that will be implemented is the Connected Schools for All initiative, through which both institutions will develop plans to close the digital divide in education.

Source: EFE