Educate Girls' delivers promising outcomes on innovative financing instrument
Development Impact Bonds (DIB) aim to provide new sources of financing to achieve improved social outcomes in developing country contexts. Investors provide external financing and only receive a return if pre-agreed outcomes are achieved. Funds to remunerate investors would come from outcome payers, usually a government agency or a multi/bi-lateral aid agency or a private donor. Financial returns to investors are intended to be commensurate with the level of success.
The Educate Girls Development Impact Bond, launched in June 2015, funded an education program in the rural district of Bhilwara in Rajasthan. Educate Girls’ DIB had a project budget of US$ 270,000. It reached 7,300 children, covering 166 schools across 140 villages in Bhilwara, Rajasthan and had an 80% focus on achieving learning gains and a 20% focus on achieving enrolment of girls.
Final-Year Results
The final results were announced at an event hosted by The Brookings Institution in Washington D.C. on July 13, 2018. Watch the recorded panel here.
Educate Girls' DIB surpassed both its target outcomes:
160% of the final learning target achieved
In the final year, learning levels for students in program schools grew 79% more than their peers in other schools – almost the difference of an entire additional year of instruction.
116% of the final enrolment target achieved
768 eligible out-of-school girls identified in the program area were enrolled in school (against a target of 662).
The 3-year (2015-2018) project tied funds to pure outcomes and was intended to be a proof-of-concept.
Find a more comprehensive outcome analysis here.