2 upbeat stories while in NZ issues have arisen which appear grist to the mill of the aggressive health unions seeking to stop any form of PFS or other improvement… Not quite sure what has gone wrong with that programme but it requires clear-headed investigation and understanding.
A Look Inside The Educate Girls Development Impact Bond & The First-Year Results
Adva Saldinger – Devex
Development impact bonds have generated a great deal of buzz in recent months, but until now, there has been little evidence of if and how well they work. Today, one of the first DIBs is releasing data from its first year that points to signs of success.
The Educate Girls bond is a results-based financing mechanism, through which the UBS Optimus Foundation provides upfront funding for a program angling to get more girls in school and improve overall educational attainment in 140 communities in Rajasthan, India. If the project succeeds in reaching 18,000 children, then the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation — as the outcome payor — will repay UBS’ investment, plus a return depending on performance.
When the Educate Girls bond was first discussed more than two years ago, those involved knew they would be trailblazing, trying to learn about and define a new financing instrument for the industry. The pressure was on, and the journey has not been easy.
Development Impact Bonds: Fad Or The Future?
Phyllis Costanza – The Hill
Safeena Husain is a remarkable woman. As head of the award-winning Indian NGO Educate Girls, her vision is for India to become a country where girls enjoy equal opportunities. It was this vision and her desire to deepen her organization’s impact that led us into conversations about partnering to trial a new financing model, the Development Impact Bond.
This new instrument is still in its infancy, but builds on the experience of Social Impact Bonds or SIBs being used by governments to fund social programs in a handful of countries. It is different from traditional forms of development assistance as it is 100 percent focused on the outcomes of a program – and upfront investors only get their money back if the results are achieved. If DIBs work, it could unlock new revenue streams from the private sector to fund high quality global development projects around the world.
Social Impact Bonds Not The Answer To Anything
Scoop
Last year the New Zealand Nurses Organisation’s Mental Health Nurses Section raised the concern that social impact bonds were a “solution looking for a problem”.
Chair of the Section, Gina Soanes says, “Today’s announcement that this government’s first social bond has collapsed, with negotiations breaking down and the provider walking away comes as no surprise to us.”
“Privatising mental health services and reducing people to “targets” and “outcomes” is not the way to create a nation where people with mental illness are supported to recover. We agree that people with mental health issues should be supported to find employment. The support they need should be funded properly by the Government.”
“The Mental Health Nurses Section believes services for those experiencing mental illness are best provided by the public health system and social sector services, and that effective prevention programmes over many sectors is the way to save health dollars in the long term.”
“We’re hopeful this will be the last we hear of social impact bonds.”