A winning proposal: Pakistan Employment Impact Bond

We're thrilled to announce that our Pakistan Employment Impact Bond has been selected as one of the winning proposals at the prestigious Outcome Financial Alliance Summit held in Zurich in March 2024. This means we've secured $200k to kickstart the design of an employment outcomes fund with our partners PSDF - Punjab Skills Development Fund, to address the urgent challenge of youth unemployment in Pakistan.

The Outcome Financial Alliance Summit, developed by the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office, the State Secretariate for Economic Affairs, and UBS, is dedicated to supporting organisations like the British Asian Trust that leverage outcomes-based finance to address critical global challenges. For its second cohort, the focus is on promoting decent work and economic growth (Sustainable Development Goal 8) and climate action (Sustainable Development Goal 13).

Out of a highly competitive pool of over 60 applications from 37 countries, our project stood out among the rest. Alongside eight other outstanding initiatives worldwide, we have been selected to begin shaping our vision and making a tangible difference in Pakistan.

With this initial funding, we're gearing up to launch a project that aims to improve employment outcomes for thousands of young people in Pakistan, around 50% of whom will be women. Additionally, we're committed to collaborating closely with local stakeholders and government bodies to transform the skilling sector to be more market-led and focused on achieving employment outcomes.  

This support for design allows us to initiate the fundraising process, for which we have set an ambitious target of $8-10 million to design and launch the ambitious and meaningful programme that will make a sustainable impact in the lives of thousands of young people in Pakistan.

This is a first important milestone for Pakistan and a huge achievement for the British Asian Trust and its ambition for building the market for social finance in the country.

By Shameen Bashir, Senior Manager Social Finance (Pakistan)