This is somewhat “insider” news, but it’s so exciting I wanted to be sure to share it right away. As you may know, the MIF is funded by
39 donors—26 in Latin America and the Caribbean, and 13 from other parts of the world–who entrust us with their money to carry out innovative projects in the region. We are getting close to the point when we will exhaust our current funding, and so the time has come to negotiate what we call a “replenishment” with our donors. Ever since I arrived at the MIF in January,
this has been at the top of my agenda! We have been working closely with our donors, with our partners throughout the IDB and IIC, and with the MIF staff in headquarters and in the region all year on revising our current business plan and looking ahead to what the MIF could and should look like in the medium and longer term.
This Thursday,
we held a meeting with our Board of Governors—senior government representatives from all our donor countries, who were in Washington this week for the World Bank annual meetings—so they could review the work we’ve done to date and formally open our replenishment negotiations. It was incredibly heartening to hear such positive comments from the ministers in the room about the work we have done in the region, both over the past two decades and now in our new areas of focus. The next big step in this process comes in the spring, at the
IDB-IIC annual meeting in Asunción, Paraguay, when we will hold another governors’ meeting at which, we hope, we will come to a formal agreement and receive commitments for the MIF III replenishment. There will be a lot of work to do between now and then, but I know my colleagues and I are up to the task. Please allow me a moment of celebration and pride over this milestone, and please wish us well for the future!