As global public debt reaches historic highs, one of the key solutions is increasing the amount of funding for “concessional” loans – or ones with very good terms. That is where the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) comes in.
According to the World Bank, IDA is the world’s largest source of development finance for countries most in need. The International Development Association provides grants and no-interest or low-interest loans to low-income countries. 
Every three years, it has to raise funds from its members: donor countries. Its final meeting, where they will announce how much money they are able to raise, will take place on Thursday and Friday in Seoul, South Korea. The stakes are high as this critical deadline looms. 
On today’s episode of the Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women, host Reena Ninan speaks with two experts who care deeply about IDA and financing towards the world’s poorest countries. Ninan talks to Gargee Ghosh, President of Global Policy and Advocacy for the Gates Foundation, and Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi, President and CEO of the African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET) at the Atlantic Council’s IMF recording studio. They shared their deep expertise about what really works in supporting women and girls as well as reducing poverty. 
Guests and organizations: 


Gargee Ghosh, President of Global Policy and Advocacy for the Gates Foundation



Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi, President and CEO of the African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET)



The Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women is a podcast from Foreign Policy, supported in part this season by the Gates Foundation, Northwestern University’s Roberta Buffett Institute for Global Affairs, and the Atlantic Council. 
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