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2023 Annual Report: Mobilizing for Systemic Change
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Introducing: WE Finance Code

GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE

We-Fi is a collaborative partnership among 14 governments, eight multilateral development banks (MDBs), and other public and private sector stakeholders, hosted by the World Bank Group.

We seek to address financial and non-financial constraints faced by women-owned/led small and medium enterprises in developing countries.

The founding financial contributors are: Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Republic of Korea, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States. These governments have committed $354 million to date.

We-Fi finances projects, programs, and activities that are aligned with its objectives and principles. Program/project implementation is led by Implementing Partners that are accredited by the We-Fi Governing Committee.

Under the first and second calls for proposals, the following MDBs were eligible to apply as Implementing Partners: the African Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Inter-American Development Bank, IDB Invest, the International Finance Corporation, Islamic Development Bank Group, and the World Bank (the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the International Development Association). MDBs are encouraged to partner with UN agencies, international financial institutions, civil society organizations, business groups, and/or other entities currently working in this field to help implement activities.

For more information on past calls for proposals, including funding principles and eligibility, please see the Guidance for Accredited MDBs page.

Governance Structure

We-Fi is overseen by a Governing Committee comprising representatives from the governments of the 14 founding contributors as decision-makers, with other key stakeholders participating as observers. The Governing Committee is chaired by an elected member serving for a term of one year.

The Governing Committee oversees strategic planning and programming, fund management, work planning and budgeting, development of operational policies and procedures, and results monitoring.

Secretariat

The Secretariat, housed at the World Bank, supports the Governing Committee in all of its work. It manages day-to-day operations, prepares policies and procedures, and manages partner relations and stakeholder engagement.

Trustee
Receives funds from contributors and transfers resources to the implementing partners consistent with the allocations made by the approval of the Governing Committee. The Trustee also provides regular reports on We-Fi’s financial status to the Governing Committee.