The Educate Girls Development Impact Bonds (DIB) project of 2015, has been developed usign the IXO platform. It is about funding a three-year education program implemented by Indian NGO Educate Girls in a remote rural district of Rajasthan. The project measures progress against agreed targets (attendance and learning results) for the number of out-of-school girls enrolled into primary education and the progress of girls and boys in English, Hindi and mathematics. The mechanism of the DIB works like this: a socially-motivated investor – in this case the UBS Optimus Foundation (UBSOF) - puts in the working capital so the service provider – Educate Girls - can carry out its work on the ground. An outcome payer, in this case the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, promises to pay back the investor (UBSOF) the original amount plus extra returns as long as agreed enrolment, literacy and numeracy targets are met. The targets are assessed regularly by an independent evaluator over the course of the program. Actually, the program has reached the second (out of three) year, and results are considered good. Reportedly, Phyllis Costanza, CEO of the UBS Optimus Foundation said: “Progress has been strong, particularly against enrolment targets, and, just as important, the DIB is demonstrating its potential to attract much need funding as donors are increasingly seeing that they can achieve real social impact and results-based financial returns. And we at the UBS Optimus Foundation are working on the next generation of DIBs, which will be announced later this year.” ( from https://www.ubs.com/microsites/optimus-foundation/en/stories/development-impact-bond-in-education.html ) Also: “The Educate Girls Development Impact Bond (DIB) is a pioneering new way to encourage private investors to fund international development projects that is 100% focused on the outcomes achieved. It aims to help improve education for 18,000 children in Rajasthan, India. But more than this, this first-ever development impact bond aims to create a ‘proof of concept’, showing potential donors and investors how DIBs could contribute to societal gains while also offering financial returns”. (from http://instiglio.org/educategirlsdib/ ) At the end of the DIB program, if all the targets are met, the initial investment will be paid back to UBS Optimus Foundation by the outcome payer, with interests up to 15 per cent, depending on how far the children’s learning targets are reached. Educate Girls will also receive part of this payment if it achieves its targets.
- Second year assessments: http://instiglio.org/educategirlsdib/educate-girls-development-impact-bond-delivers-robust-second-year-results-valuable-lessons/
- Final results: http://instiglio.org/educategirlsdib/
- Final report: http://instiglio.org/educategirlsdib/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Educate-Girls-DIB_results_brochure_final-2.pdf