Join the Government Outcomes Lab team for an in-depth discussion of the implementation and results of the pioneering impact bond, launched by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in 2017.

Across the world, 90 million people have a physical disability and require a mobility device. However, only 10 per cent have access to adequate physical rehabilitation support. Without these services, living with a physical disability can put someone at greater risk of societal exclusion and act as a barriers to accessing education or employment.

Organisations such as the ICRC support provision of such services, yet funding challenges are significant and operations are stretched across dozens of countries. This makes innovating and scaling new management approaches difficult.

This webinar, part of GO Lab’s Engaging with Evidence webinar series, will explore the lessons learnt from the development and implementation of the International Red Cross Committee (ICRC) Humanitarian Impact Bond (HIB). We will be joined for this session by experts from the International Committee of the Red Cross, Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, the International Institute for Management Development, and the University of Oxford.

Participants will have the opportunity to:

• learn more about the implementation of the HIB programme and the results achieved
• hear from those involved in the programme as to their reflections on the impact, legacy, and lessons learnt from delivering the programme through an innovative funding model (impact bond), and
• explore with development and social finance experts how the experience of the ICRC HIB can help inform practice in the humanitarian sector more broadly.

The ICRC Humanitarian Impact Bond was launched in 2017 to help transform the way vital services for people with disabilities are financed in conflict-hit countries. This was a 5-year programme delivered by the International Committee of the Red Cross to build and operationalise three new physical rehabilitation centres in Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo and Mali. The initial funding was provided by social investors, such as Bank Lombard Odier and New Re, and ultimately reimbursed through a payment-by-result agreements by outcome funders, including the governments of Switzerland, Belgium, Italy, the United Kingdom and "La Caixa" Foundation.

Despite multiple setbacks the HIB implementers succeeded in opening all three centres. The final results of the programme showed that the centres are nearly 10 per cent more efficient than the benchmark centre in terms of time management, staff members skills, management of stock and resources. These criteria and essential elements such as the quality of care and the satisfaction of the patients were the key factors that helped determine the level of success of the HIB.

Visit the GO Lab website for further information, agenda and speaker details, and to register.

This is part of GO Lab’s Engaging with Evidence webinar series, which offers a platform for researchers, practitioners and policymakers interested in outcomes-based partnerships to engage with the latest findings/ insights from the field. If you would like to find out more about outcomes-focused partnerships, check out GO Lab’s Knowledge Hub