Special Initiatives
In partnership with select donors and funders, Convergence hosts various special initiatives to advance the field of blended finance.
Current
The SDG Impact Finance Initiative
The SDG Impact Finance Initiative aims to advance measurable progress in developing countries towards the achievement of the SDGs by mobilizing new capital through innovative finance solutions and collaboration between public and private partners. Launched by Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), UBS Optimus Foundation, Credit Suisse Foundation, and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the Initiative seeks to raise CHF 100 million in donations to unlock up to CHF 1 billion in capital towards the SDGs by 2030.
Scale Blended Finance
USAID and Convergence have convened a group of development-focused organizations to collaborate on “scale” blended finance vehicles. The Working Group will seek to identify and support a series of blended finance vehicles that can achieve scale. The Working Group will comprise Ministries, development agencies, and philanthropic foundations prepared to consider allocating catalytic (i.e., concessional) capital to blended finance solutions across a range of sectors.
Past
Tri Hita Karana Roadmap for Blended Finance
The Tri Hita Karana (THK) Roadmap for Blended Finance is an international unifying framework for mobilizing additional investment for the SDGs in developing countries, launched by the Organization for Economic Co-operation & Development (OECD) along with partners such as Convergence, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), and many others. For more information on the THK Roadmap for Blended Finance, please visit the OECD website here.
Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WaSH) Blended Finance
The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and Convergence, as part of the Tri Hita Karana Mobilization Working Group, have convened impact investors, donors, implementing agencies, social enterprises, financial intermediaries, development banks and investors to explore the use of blended finance in two areas: (1) Repair and maintenance of water infrastructure in rural areas, focusing on projects and business cases for repairing water pumps timely and cost effectively; and (2) Faecal sludge management, comprising emptying, transport, treatment, and re-use of faecal sludge, with particular attention to nature-based solutions.