IFI Strategy: Systematic Plan for UNFPA’s Engagement with the World Bank and IMF

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is the UN agency dedicated to sexual and reproductive health and rights, working globally to advance safe childbirth, gender equality, and youth empowerment. As UNFPA shifts toward a new financing strategy, it seeks to strengthen its partnerships with the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund, two institutions that shape development priorities, policy frameworks, and large-scale financial flows.

The central policy challenge is that UNFPA’s expertise in population dynamics, gender-based violence, reproductive health, and human capital often sits outside the core economic decision-making arenas where the World Bank and IMF operate. Stronger alignment is essential for embedding UNFPA priorities within influential financing instruments such as policy-based lending, human capital programs, and macroeconomic assessments. Understanding how these institutions function internally, where their priorities intersect with UNFPA’s mandate, and how other UN agencies have successfully positioned themselves is crucial for building a more systematic and impactful engagement model.

The SIPA team will map institutional structures, strategic priorities, and decision-making channels within both the World Bank and IMF. Through document analysis and interviews with key staff across the three institutions, the team will identify concrete entry points where UNFPA can meaningfully contribute, highlight underutilized opportunities, and assess the current depth of engagement. The final output will be a practical strategy outlining how UNFPA can expand collaboration through joint analytical work, policy dialogues, technical support, and integration into major financing operations. The goal is to provide UNFPA with a clear roadmap for leveraging IFI partnerships to scale its impact on global development outcomes.