WASHINGTON, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- The World Bank's fund for 79 poorest countries has delivered record support during the global economic crisis, the international financial agency said Friday.

    In a statement, the World Bank said during the 15th replenishment period of the International Development Association (IDA15) from July 2008 to October 2009 , IDA commitments reached a record level of 16.9 billion U.S. dollars, a 50 percent increase over the comparable period of IDA14.

    The World Bank made the statement after its management and representatives of 45 donor and 12 borrowing countries concluded a three-day review on the performance of the IDA.

    The three-day review of the 15th replenishment period included discussions on the IDA's policy and financial framework, the impact of the crisis on low-income countries, and measures to ensure swifter and more effective support to countries affected by the crisis.

    Africa continued to be the IDA's largest recipient, with 55 percent of total commitments and 46 percent of total disbursements. South Asia came in second, accounting for about a third of commitments and disbursements.

    "We are very encouraged by donors' and partners' recognition of the IDA's overall performance and effective response to the global economic crisis," said World Bank Group President Robert B. Zoellick.

    "Although the IDA operates under a fixed, three-year financial envelope, we have leaned forward, including through front-loaded and fast-tracked assistance, to scale up support to poor countries severely hit by the crisis," said the World Bank chief. "As a result, the IDA's lending commitments in the course of IDA15 have hit record levels."

    Following recent calls from the G-20 and the Development Committee, the Mid-Term Review of IDA15 advanced a proposal for the creation of a dedicated crisis response window in the IDA to assist low income countries in mitigating the impact of the global economic crisis.

    "The financial gap created by the global crisis not only jeopardizes the progress made by countries, such as Rwanda, whose governments have been working hard to implement important reforms, it also reduces our chances of achieving the Millennium Development Goals by 2015," said James Musoni, Rwanda's finance and economic planning minister, who participated in the discussions about the impact of the crisis on low-income countries.

    "A crisis response window in IDA15 will help us mitigate the short-term impacts of crises without sacrificing long-term efforts," he added.

    "While there are signs of recovery in developed countries, the risk of deepening poverty remains real in IDA countries," said Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, World Bank Managing Director and Chair of theIDA15 Mid-Term Review.

    The crisis response window in IDA15 would provide additional funding for the protection of core spending on health, education, safety nets, infrastructure and agriculture in IDA-only countries, according to the World Bank.