Recommendations to operationalize the Enhanced IF adopted on 1 May 2007 – from transition to implementation:

At their meetings on 1 May 2007, the Integrated Framework Working Group (IFWG) and the Integrated Framework Steering Committee (IFSC) - the IF governing bodies - adopted a package of recommendations to start the implementation phase of the enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF).  The package was the fruit of 19 months of intense work in the Transition Team and its three clusters, which were set up to operationalize the recommendations of the Task Force on an enhanced IF - WT/IFSC/W/15 (please see the links to the English and French versions of the document below).  It may be recalled that Ministers at the WTO Hong Kong Ministerial Conference in December 2005 were encouraged by the endorsement by the Development Committee of the World Bank and the IMF at its autumn 2005 meeting of an enhanced IF.  At the Hong Kong Conference, WTO Ministers welcomed the establishment of a Task Force by the IFWG and IFSC as well as an agreement on the three elements, which together constitute an enhanced IF: 

• increased, additional, predictable financial resources to implement Action Matrices;
• strengthened in-country capacities to manage, implement and monitor the IF process; and
• enhanced IF governance.

The package of recommendations (EIF Consolidated Documents) English Version (pdf - 600k) | French version (pdf - 538k) adopted by the IF governing bodies on 1 May 2007 contains a compilation of working documents setting out the terms of reference and procedures to access funding and of the bodies that constitute the EIF.  The recommendations also include, inter alia, a road map outlining the next steps in order to ensure a smooth transition from the current IF to its enhanced phase. 

WT/IFSC/W/15 - English version (pdf - 120k) | French version (pdf - 124k)

Corr 1 - English version (pdf - 17k) | French version (pdf - 17k)

This report also contains the recommendations of the Task Force and the indicative costing for the enhanced IF.

English version (pdf - 62k)  |  French version (pdf - 66k)

Since 1 May 2007, the IF interim Board has taken up the work from the IFWG and driven the enhancement of the IF forward.  In September 2007, a pledging conference was held for the enhanced IF Trust Fund, and 22 donors present in Stockholm pledged US$170 million for the five-year tenure of the EIF. Since then, a further US$3 million has been pledged.

Further work of the IF interim Board includes the selection of a Trust Fund Manager (TFM) for the Enhanced IF Trust Fund (EIFTF).  A call for proposals was issued in December 2007, and a TFM was selected in March 2008. Currently, provisions for the operationalization of the TFM are under way with a view to have the EIF operational launch by the end of July 2008.

Finally, the IF interim Board has now selected an IF Executive Director (ED) to head the IF Executive Secretariat (ES), which is be administratively housed by the WTO.  Once the ED is on board, the IF ES will be recruited, and the EIF can be formally launched.

Page last updated on 25 July 2008