Impact Investment Exchange (IIX) has launched the Orange Bond Initiative to empower 100 million women and girls to achieve the United Nations’ 17 SDGs. Orange is the colour of UN’s SDG 5: Gender Equality – and the Orange Bonds are expected to unlock $10 billion for gender-lens investing by 2030.
IIX will also partner with other Steering Committee members to design a Sovereign Orange Bond for Africa.
Founder and CEO of IIX, Durreen Shahnaz, said: “We will not stop innovating finance until the world recognises the power of investing in women as the greatest untapped economic and social accelerator of our time. The Orange Bond Initiative™ will lay the foundation for a gender-equal financial system that includes the 99 per cent and the Global South.
Despite important progress, the COVID-19 pandemic and climate crisis have jointly exacerbated the regressive effects on gender equality, and the eradication of the global gender gap is still set back by a century.
This year, IIX will address these issues head-on by issuing the first ‘Orange Bond’ based on the award-winning IIX Women’s Livelihood Bond™ Series structure.”
Australia’s Ambassador for Women and Girls, Christine Clarke, said: “As we look to a future economic recovery from the pandemic, women must not be an afterthought. Inclusive growth builds on leadership from emerging markets, and innovative financial instruments can put women at the centre. Australia commends IIX for bringing together the Orange Bond Initiative to realise our shared vision of economic growth and women’s empowerment.”
