Can development impact bonds transform education?
Development impact bonds are gathering momentum in the global education sector, with four launched so far. Devex gathered a panel of three experts to find out more about the opportunities and challenges of DIBS for education outcomes in low- and middle-income countries.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Development impact bonds — an innovative results-based financing mechanism — are gathering momentum in the global education sector with four having been launched so far. To find out more about the opportunities and challenges of using DIBs to improve education outcomes in low- and middle-income countries, Devex gathered a panel of three experts during last weekend’s Global Education & Skills Forum in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Safeena Husain, founder and executive director of Educate Girls, the India NGO, which successfully implemented the first education DIB, provided an implementer’s perspective. The three-year Educate Girls DIB, which was backed by the UBS Optimus Foundation and the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, finished last year and surpassed its targets. Richard Hawkes, chief executive of the British Asian Trust, was on the panel to talk about a new $11 million education DIB, also in India, that British Asian Trust is supporting alongside a coalition of other donors. The Quality Education India Development Impact Bond launched last year. The panel also included Jared Lee, lead principal at the Education Outcomes Fund for Africa and the Middle East, who spoke about the proposed $1 billion Education Outcomes Fund to back a number of results-based programs, including DIBs, across Africa and the Middle East.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Development impact bonds — an innovative results-based financing mechanism — are gathering momentum in the global education sector with four having been launched so far.
To find out more about the opportunities and challenges of using DIBs to improve education outcomes in low- and middle-income countries, Devex gathered a panel of three experts during last weekend’s Global Education & Skills Forum in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Safeena Husain, founder and executive director of Educate Girls, the India NGO, which successfully implemented the first education DIB, provided an implementer’s perspective. The three-year Educate Girls DIB, which was backed by the UBS Optimus Foundation and the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, finished last year and surpassed its targets.
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Sophie Edwards is a Devex Contributing Reporter covering global education, water and sanitation, and innovative financing, along with other topics. She has previously worked for NGOs, and the World Bank, and spent a number of years as a journalist for a regional newspaper in the U.K. She has a master's degree from the Institute of Development Studies and a bachelor's from Cambridge University.
