Innovative Finance for Peacebuilding: Key Resources
By Paige Arthur and Liran Braude

Overview
Financing the sustaining peace agenda, the Sustainable Development Goals, and the prevention of conflict requires innovative thinking about new methods of generating resources. There is an emerging conversation in the peacebuilding field—drawing on work already being done in the development sector, as well as ideas in the humanitarian sector—about innovative ways to increase resources and foster collaboration with new partners.
This page provides a comprehensive resource on these emerging ideas and practices. Where possible, we have linked to specific instances of implementation of these ideas in peacebuilding contexts. As these remain rare, however, we have identified some of the most promising examples in non-conflict-affected contexts. We will update the resource continuously as new ideas and practices emerge.
The resource is organized first by types of innovative financing solutions, followed by a list of the most relevant actors working in the innovative financing space. For the latter, we have again tried to identify organizations working in peacebuiding contexts, but have also included others that may have relevant and adaptable solutions.
Scroll down to see the full resource, or click on these links to go directly to the section you are interested in:
Types: Bonds — Revenue Generation — Risk Management/Insurance — Investment Strategies — Marketing — Philanthropy — Other
Organizations: Private Sector — Multilaterals — NGOs — Philanthropies
[ Read: Innovative Financing to Sustain Peace: An Explainer ]
Bonds
Social Impact Bonds
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Social Finance—White paper on social impact bonds (report)
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Brookings—Impact bonds in developing countries: early learnings from the field (report)
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Stanford Social Innovation Review—A critical reflection on social impact bonds (article)
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Goldman Sachs—Social impact bonds (background)
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Center for Global Development—Development impact bonds (background)
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Brookings—The first social impact bond in a developing country (Colombia example)
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International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)—The first humanitarian impact bond; ICRC's humanitarian impact bond (Africa regional example + video)
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Social Finance—Pay for success model in the U.S. criminal justice system (U.S. example)
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IIX Global—Women’s Livelihood Bond (Southeast Asia example)
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USAID—The first health impact bond (India example)
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Brookings—World's first development impact bond for education (India example)
Diaspora bonds
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Brookings—Debt by diaspora: the ties that bind (Nigeria, Ethiopia examples)
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London School of Economics—The potential of diaspora bonds in Africa (example)
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World Bank—Diaspora bonds for education (India, Israel examples)
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Investopedia—Overview of diaspora bonds (background)
Community bonds
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Senscot—The Community Bond (Scotland example)
Taxes: micro-levies, solidarity taxes, import taxes, and financial transaction taxes
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Foreign Affairs—No Pain Big Gain: How Micro-levies Save Lives (background)
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GSDRC—Micro levies for global public goods (report)
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UNITAID—Airline solidarity tax (example)
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GBCHealth—Micro-levy on extractive industries to fund UNITLIFE health initiatives (Africa regional example)
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UN Under-Secretary-General Philippe Douste-Blazy—Op-ed on financial transaction taxes (background)
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African Union Peace Fund—Import levy funding AU peace operations (example)
National Postcode Lotteries
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Novamedia—Dutch national postcode lottery (example)
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People’s Postcode Lottery—UK national postcode lottery (example)
Risk management/insurance
Mutualization of Risk Schemes / Insurance Funds
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African Risk Capacity—African Union natural disaster insurance fund (example)
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USG Mark Lowcock—Towards a better system for humanitarian financing (background)
Catastrophe bonds
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Investopedia—Catastrophe bonds (background)
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ActionAid—Ten concerns about climate and disaster insurance schemes (background)
Investment strategies
Advance Market Commitments (AMC)
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Center for Global Development (CGD)—Creating a market for advance market commitments (background + link to report)
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Global Alliance for Vaccines Immunization (GAVI)—Successful implementation of advance market commitments (Vaccine example)
Blended Finance
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World Economic Forum (WEF)—“A How-To Guide for Blended Finance” (background)
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International Finance Corporation (IFC)—Blended finance initiatives (IFC example)
Impact Investing
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Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN)—Impact investing 101 (background)
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Forbes—Top 28 impact investing funds of 2017 (fund examples)
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GIIRS Funds—Impact investment fund ratings (resource)
Outcome Funds
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Brookings Institution—Social impact bonds and outcome funds (background)
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University of Oxford—UK government outcome funds (UK examples)
Small and Medium-Sized Businesses (SMBs)
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Acumen—The “patient capital” investment approach (example)
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International Finance Corporation (IFC)—The Global SME Finance Facility (IFC example)
Social Entrepreneurship
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Skoll Foundation—Social entrepreneurship sectors that Skoll invests in and the portfolios within them (investment examples)
Marketing
Cause Marketing
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Brandwatch.com—A guide to cause marketing (background)
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FEED—Products of a community to benefit the community (example)
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Amazon Smile—Portion of online purchases go towards a cause (example)
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TOMS—Matching product sales with social causes (example)
Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs)
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World Bank—Paper on “Promoting Foreign Investment in “FCS” (report)
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Siteselection.com—Selection of highly regarded IPAs (examples)
Prize-Linked Savings (PLS) / Prize-Linked Savings Accounts (PLSA)
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Forbes – Using prizes to incentivize low-income people to save (background)
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World Bank – Savings lotteries to build financial capability (report)
Philanthropy
Fundraising Tournaments / Competitions
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Soccer Aid—A biennial charity soccer event in England that raises money for UNICEF UK (example)
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Liberty Mutual Invitational—Charity golfing event (example)
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IDF Widows and Orphans Organization—Charity soccer quiz event raises funds for orphans of soldiers (example)
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Adidas Run for the Oceans—Sporting event to raise funds to prevent flow of plastic into our oceans (example)
Government Matching Fund for Public Donations
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Canadian Government—Matching humanitarian fund campaign for Africa (example)
Voluntary Donations with Purchase/Service
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Forbes—Donations at store checkouts (background)
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Texas—DMV donations towards funding rape kit tests (example)
Other
Blockchain
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Stanford Social Innovation Review—Digital currencies and blockchain in the social sector (background)
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World Economic Forum—Blockchain application for refugees (background)
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World Economic Forum—Video illustration of blockchain usage to deliver aid at a refugee camp (video)
Diaspora Remittances
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McKinsey—The potential of diaspora financing (background)
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UNDP—Diaspora remittances and other funding options (background)
Private Sector
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The Innovative Finance for Sustainable Peace Initiative is a 5-year initiative led by IIX Foundation that will use innovative financial mechanisms to unlock $1 billion, impacting 100 million lives, to drive forward sustainable peacebuilding efforts across the globe – in post-conflict countries, countries with high-risk of conflict and countries seeking to mitigate rising threats of violence by creating systemic social-economic resilience.