Two Years Into The World’s First Development Impact Bond For Education

Educate Girls along with UBS Optimus Foundation (UBSOF) and Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) launched the world’s first Development Impact Bond (DIB) in education on June 16, 2014. It’s a 3-year pilot that began in the academic year of 2015. For all the tight timelines, challenges- old and new, and adapting to a new funding approach, the results look promising.

In this payment-by-results model, CIFF (as an outcome payer) promises to pay back the investor UBSOF the original investment amount plus extra returns as long as the agreed targets are delivered by Educate Girls (the service provider). The targets are focused on increased enrollment of marginalized girls and the children’s progress in literacy and numeracy outcomes, which will be assessed by an independent evaluator over the course of the three years tenure. Results-based financing consultancy, Instiglio, designed the DIB and provides performance management support to Educate Girls.

Year two results
The Educate Girls DIB program, with a budget of US$ 270,000, works with 166 schools across 140 villages in Bhilwara and aims to benefit 15,000 children, 9,000 of them girls. The program’s ultimate goal is to improve education with an 80% focus on learning gains and a 20% focus on enrollment of girls.

The program has been successful in achieving 87.7% of the 3-year enrollment target for out-of-school girls and 50.3% of the total target for learning progress.

Improving Learning Outcomes with Gyan Ka Pitara