World Bank/URTF
Organization: World Bank Group – Ukraine Relief, Recovery, Reconstruction and Reform Trust Fund
About
The World Bank Group was established in 1944 and provides loans, grants, guarantees, and technical assistance to developing countries for economic development and poverty reduction. In crisis settings, the Bank increasingly operates trust funds and other financing vehicles that allow donor governments to pool resources for rapid disbursement. The URTF was established shortly after the February 2022 invasion as a rapid-response mechanism.
The URTF channels pooled donor grants to the Ukrainian government to cover critical public expenditures — including civil servant salaries, social protection payments, health system operating costs, and infrastructure repair — that cannot be financed from domestic revenues alone due to the wartime fiscal deficit. It complements the Bank’s own lending operations in Ukraine, which have exceeded $30 billion since 2022. For NGO implementers, URTF is most relevant as a signal of overall fiscal support to the Ukrainian government, which in turn affects the availability of co-funding and government counterpart resources for health system strengthening programmes.
The World Bank Group manages the Ukraine Relief, Recovery, Reconstruction and Reform Trust Fund (URTF), a multi-donor mechanism channelling grants and technical assistance for Ukraine’s immediate recovery and long-term reconstruction. URTF finances public expenditures, social protection, and infrastructure repair through the Ukrainian government.
Ukraine Commitment
The URTF has mobilized over $1 billion from donor governments since 2022 to finance critical Ukrainian government expenditures in health, education, social protection, and infrastructure, complementing broader World Bank lending operations in Ukraine exceeding $30 billion.