The assignment is clear. During this year’s Annual Meetings of the IMF and World Bank, shareholders instructed the World Bank to develop a work program for its own evolution (“to identify gaps in the Bank’s current institutional and operational framework…”) by the end of the year. Secretary Yellen l...

We are living in a time when many countries face heightened debt vulnerabilities. There is no international bankruptcy mechanism for countries that default on their external obligations. The objective of the international financial architecture—historically overseen by the IMF and its shareholders— ...

Multilateral development bank policy-based guarantees (PBGs) have long been an instrument in search of demand. First introduced in 1999 at the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development to help governments access market borrowing at attractive rates, their track-record has been uneven, an...

This working paper aims to synthesise existing research and thinking on how antimicrobials are procured and ways to improve the current purchasing system.

As one of the only truly global institutions, the World Bank is uniquely positioned to be the world’s premier source funding for global public goods. But despite its global coverage, the World Bank has never truly been oriented towards global challenges. Its mission has been defined primarily by ind...

The stakes are high for the African Development Fund (AfDF) as it kicks off its replenishment fundraising exercise this spring. Countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are still grappling with the health and economic fallout of the COVID-19 crisis, with over 30 million of their citizens pushed into po...

This note takes a quick look at the lessons learned and the existing landscape of MCM manufacturing in the context of the current pandemic response and suggests eight areas for action along with near-term recommendations to the global community to both prepare and respond to future pandemic risks.