Innovative Development Finance – What’s next for Canada?

June 20-21 Delegation of the Ismaili Imamat 199 Sussex Drive, Ottawa

In partnership with the Aga Khan Foundation Canada

Day 1

Day 1 will build your understanding of the tools, features, benefits and challenges of non-grant and grant based funding models for development in the context of innovative finance.

Day 2

Day 2 unpacks opportunities for civil society organizations to harness innovative finance for social change. It will also offer an opportunity for program staff to learn how CCIC members have harnessed innovative finance to realize development results.

BACKGROUND

Achieving the ambitions of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its intersecting Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will require a collective global investment of trillions of dollars annually. Official Development Assistance from major Northern donors in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development represents approximately $150 billion dollars per year. To reach the levels of financing needed to leave no one behind in global development – and to ensure that development is sustainable economically, socially, and environmentally – states, civil society, the private sector, and other partners in development cooperation will need to jointly leverage significant additional investments. Accordingly, growing attention is being paid to innovative financing for development. Civil society organizations (CSOs) working in global development cooperation and humanitarian assistance will need to become familiar with the innovative finance agenda in order to maximize their own contribution to making the SDGs a reality.  

But what is “innovative” financing really? How is it different from business as usual? How can this approach be aligned with the human rights, gender equality, and inclusion at the heart of effective development cooperation, and with humanitarian principles? How can civil society organizations harness opportunities presented by innovative financing? 

In Canada, Budget 2018 included a commitment of $1.5 billion for innovative financing mechanisms, including new delivery systems for sovereign loans and announced the imminent launch of a range of other modes of financing – including the increased use of private sector instruments such as equity and guarantees as well as repayable instruments. The Budget Implementation Act of Autumn 2018, and the International Financial Assistance Act therein, provided the regulatory and legislative structures to implement these commitments. In early 2019, Global Affairs Canada consulted civil society partners and other stakeholders on a draft guidance note for the implementation of innovative financing mechanisms for development programming by the Government of Canada. Yet a great deal of uncertainty remains in terms of what mechanisms will be adopted in which circumstances, and how civil society will be expected and empowered to engage with these new forms of leveraged finance. 

AGENDA

Day 1

Participants will receive a resource document of key terms as part of their conference package.  

Day 1: June 20, 2019   
Time  Agenda  
8:30 – 9:00  Arrival and coffee 
9:00 – 9:15 

Welcome and introduction 

Nicolas Moyer, President-CEO, CCIC and Khalil Shariff, CEO, AKFC 

 Welcome and overview of the objectives for the day.  

9:15 – 10:30  

Innovative finance in development co-operation 101: Understanding the tools 

Aniket Bhushan, Lead Analyst and Principal Investigator, Canadian International Development Platform 

Overview of the range of tools involved in innovative finance.

10:30 – 11:00  Coffee Break  
11:00 – 12:30 

Global Affairs Canada’s Approach to Innovative Finance

Presentation by GAC policy team, Elissa Golberg, ADM Strategic Policy 

Overview of GAC’s innovative finance framework. Identification of opportunities for civil society. 

 Discussion to follow facilitated by Shannon Kindornay, Director, Research, Policy and Practice, CCIC  

  • Christian Novak, Managing Partner, Frontier Markets Advisors 
  • Marisol Quirion, Senior Director Investments and Special Projects, Développement international Desjardins 
  • Janet Longmore, Founder and CEO, Digital Opportunity Trust  
12:30 – 13:30  Lunch  
13:30 – 14:30 

Results-based financing – 101 

David O’Leary, World Vision  

Understanding what RBF entails, rationale for its use, skills needed and how civil society organizations can harness opportunities presented by RBF.  

14:30 – 15:30  

Blended finance 

Justice Johnston, Senior Associate, Convergence  

Understanding how private sector instruments are being harnessed to leverage private capital and solutions for sustainable development. Use, tools and approaches. 

15:30 – 16:00  Coffee Break  
16:00 – 17:00  

Gender-lens investing 

Joy Anderson, President and Founder, Criterion Institute  

Understanding the logic of finance and the opportunities presented by gender-lens investing to realize the Feminist International Assistance Policy and sustainable development results. Understanding how civil society organizations can achieve gender equality outcomes using innovative financing tools in line with the FIAP.  

17:00 – 17:10 

Wrap Up 

Nicolas Moyer, President-CEO, CCIC 

Day 2

  

Day 2: June 21, 2019   
Time  Agenda  
8:30 – 9:00  Arrival and coffee 
9:00 – 9:05 

Session 1: Welcome back and transition to first panel 

Nicolas Moyer, President-CEO, CCIC 

 Welcome and overview of the objectives for the day.  

9:05 – 9:30  

Understanding Canada’s innovative development finance program 

Ryan Clark, Director, Impact and Innovative Finance Bureau, Global Issues and Development Branch. GAC 

Overview of Canada’s innovative finance programming with questions and answers from the audience.   

9:30 – 10:15 

Learning from civil society experiences with innovative finance 

 Facilitated conversation with GAC and civil society organizations.  

 Facilitator: Shannon Kindornay, Director, Research, Policy and Practice, CCIC 

 Speakers: 

  • Ryan Clark, Director, Impact and Innovative Finance Bureau, Global Issues and Development Branch, GAC 
  • Jessica Villanueva, Technical Director – Investment, MEDA 
  • Sam Landon, Director of Programs, World University Service of Canada (WUSC)  
  • Alain Plouffe, Director of International Programs, SOCODEVI 
  • David O’Leary, Director of Impact Investing, World Vision  
10:15 – 10:30 

Coffee break and transition to streams 

  • Stream agendas below 
10:30 – 15:00  Participation in stream agendas (BELOW) 
15:00 – 15:30  Coffee break and transition to main room 
15:30 – 16:45  

Canada’s approach to innovative finance: Dialogue and next steps 

  • Deirdre Kent, Director General, International Assistance Policy, Strategic Policy 
  • Ryan Clark, Director, Impact and Innovative Finance Bureau, Global Issues and Development Branch 
  • Joshua Tabah, Director General, Inclusive growth, governance, and innovation partnerships, Partnerships for Development Innovation  
  • Yolanda Banks, Principal Advisor, FinDev 
  • Two  participants – one from each stream 

 Facilitated conversation by Nicolas Moyer with senior GAC representatives on how they interface with innovative financing and key considerations for GAC and civil society partnership.  Two participants will from the breakout groups will join the conversation and bring questions that arose from their participation in the event.  

16:45 – 17:00  

Wrap up  

Nicolas Moyer, President-CEO, CCIC and Khalil Shariff, CEO, AKFC 

Evaluation of the event, selection of priorities for future training and final words. 

  

STREAM 1: LESSONS FROM EXPERIENCED ORGANIZATIONS ON INNOVATIVE FINANCING PROGRAMMING

LESSONS FROM CCIC MEMBERS

The session will be structured in the World Café style. Participants will rotate through small group sessions to learn about the experiences from CCIC members and other organizations on how to prepare their organization to take advantage of innovative financing opportunities, experiences in developing programming, monitoring and evaluation and overall lessons learned.  

Facilitators: 

  • Jessica Villanueva, Technical Director – Investment, MEDA: Presentation of what funders look for in proposals and determining factors for partnership.
  • David O’Leary, Director of Impact Investing, World Vision: Organizational change to harness innovative financing – lessons learned in taking risks and building momentum.   
  • Alain Plouffe, Director of International Programs, SOCODEVI: Designing blended finance solutions with a focus on monitoring and evaluation.
  • Emily Measures, NLIFT Portfolio Director, Nutrition International: The trials and successes of launching a development impact bond.

Day 2: June 21, 2019 

 

Time 

Agenda  

10:30 – 11:10

Small Group Session 1 

11:10 – 11:50  

Small Group Session 2 

11:50 – 12:30 

Small Group Session 3 

12:30 – 13:30 

Lunch 

13:30 – 14:10 

Small Group Session 4 

14:10 – 14:20 

Transition to group discussion

14:20 – 15:00 

 

Harnessing opportunities and addressing challenges: Tour de Table 

Participants will have an opportunity to feedback to the broader group on what they have learned from the smaller group discussion and identify areas for capacity development and training going forward.  

STREAM 2: DESIGNING APPROACHES TO HARNESSING FINANCE FOR DEVELOPMENT OUTCOMES 

USING FINANCE FOR SOCIAL CHANGE

Facilitated by Joy Anderson, President and Founder of Criterion Institute, participants will work through the Criterion Institute’s Toolkit for Finance as a Strategy for Social Change. 

  

Day 2: June 21, 2019 

  

Time 

Agenda  

11:00 – 11:30 

Finance for social change  

Overview of strategies civil society organizations can use to harness innovative finance in line with the Feminist International Assistance Policy. 

11:30-12:00 

Small group exercise 

Review assets of civil society organizations that can be leveraged in strategies using finance to create social change. 

12:00-12:30 

First interactive design session 

Advocating to shift how finance assigns value. 

12:30 – 13:30  

Lunch  

13:30-14:00 

Second interactive design session 

Channel resources to enterprises and investment opportunities that contribute to transformative social change. 

14:00-14:30 

Third interactive design session 

Shift what expertise is trusted and what processes are seen as valid. 

14:30 – 15:00 

A path forward 

How can your organization can design strategies to leverage finance for social change.