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international

health and wellness. A specialist in public-private you invest over 20–25 years, but you don’t wait
partnerships, he now leads the mission of IFFEd that long to see if it’s working. We develop
(the International Finance Facility for Education), intermediate indicators to ensure students are
which nances education and improve investment on the right track early on.
outcomes (learning and earning) in low- and
middle-income countries with the goal of improving Lastly, a key aspect of IFFEd is transparency
learning and earning outcomes. and e ciency: 100% of donor funds go directly
into educational investments in low- and
And now, we’ll hand over the oor to Mr. Krishnan, middle-income countries. We do not charge
who will share more about this compelling new administrative fees—every dollar goes where it’s
vision being developed by IFFEd. e oor is needed most. In short, we’re building a system
yours, Mr. Krishnan. that not only increases the available funding for
education but also ensures it’s used in the most
Could you be so kind as to tell us a bit more about impactful way possible.
what your organization actually does?
Certainly. At the International Finance Facility How is your organization funded?
for Education (IFFEd), we focus on two key areas: at’s a great question. We’re fortunate to receive
creating a nancial multiplier and an education seed funding from various foundations, which
multiplier. Let me explain what that means. helps support our operations. In addition,
through our guarantee model, we gain access
In most cases, if you have one dollar to invest in to what’s called paid-in capital. is capital
a project, that dollar creates about one dollar’s generates interest income, which we can use to
worth of value. But through nancial innovation, fund our day-to-day operations. is structure
we’re able to take that one dollar and generate up enables us to aim for 100% operational
to seven dollars’ worth of educational projects. e ciency—a rare but important goal, especially
We do this using what’s called a blended nance in today’s environment where smart, impactful
instrument, which combines guarantees with aid is more critical than ever.
grants. is allows sovereign states to invest
through our platform and achieve a 7x leverage— Our model is designed to deliver value for
that’s what we call the nancial multiplier. both donor and recipient countries. From the
donor’s perspective, we o er a high return in
e second part of our work focuses on how to impact: fewer resources generate a much larger
invest that money e ectively. It’s not just about development e ect. On the recipient side, we
funding—it’s about investing in the right projects provide concessional nancing and provide
that truly move people along the path from concessional nancing to make education
learning, to earning, to thriving. at’s the goal: and skills project attractive to lower-middle-
ensuring education funding translates into real, income countries—home to nearly 50% of the
measurable human outcomes. world’s youngest population, of which 80% are
considered at risk.
To unlock the education multiplier, we concentrate
on four key pillars. If we don’t invest in these populations before
1. Policy and Evidence – We support governments they turn 20 or 25, they risk becoming long-
in developing policies that are grounded in solid term burdens on both their national and the
research and proven practices. global economy. Remember, most of us are now
2. Project Design – We help design projects living well into our 70s or 80s. So the window
based on what has worked before, making sure for impactful investment is narrow—but
the interventions are both relevant and well- incredibly crucial.
sequenced.
3. Implementation Support – We recognize that Another key challenge we address is the “missing
what works in one country might not work in middle” problem in development nance. Low-
another. So we support e ective implementation income countries receive grant-based aid, but
tailored to each local context. once they transition to lower-middle-income
4. Measurement and Data Collection – Education status, they lose that access and must borrow on
has long-term impacts. Like raising children, the open market, o en at high interest rates.

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