Inter-American Development Bank 'EYE' (Education, Youth & Employment) Bond

Inter-American Development Bank 'EYE' (Education, Youth & Employment) Bond

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Primary impact area  Impact area Geographic location of impact Investment commencement  SDG alignment
Social Education & Employment Latin America and the Caribbean 2016,2019 SDG 

Poverty and inequality are major challenges in many countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. Changing the lifetime outcomes for children and young people in the region requires a focus on the long-term accumulation of human capital and life skills to improve education and employment outcomes. 

The Fund invests aims to address pressing social and humanitarian issues for children.

Established in 1959, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) works to improve lives in Latin America and the Caribbean by providing financial and technical support for countries to promote sustainable growth, poverty reduction and social equity in Latin America and the Caribbean.

IDB is the largest government-owned regional source of development finance for Latin America and the Caribbean and is the main source of multilateral financing in the region. 

The IDB Bond ‘EYE’ (Education, Youth, Employment) proceeds are used to finance eligible projects in Latin America  and the Caribbean.  

To improve long-term education and employment outcomes for young people, IDB focus on a ‘life cycle’ approach which coordinates investments in human capital over the course of a lifetime. 

Projects financed through the bond promote the accumulation of human capital and life skills, from early childhood care and education, through formal primary and secondary education, as well as programs that facilitate labour market placement by improving the transition from school to work through vocational training. The result is to increase productivity and improve social inclusion for young people in the region, and positive economic growth for the region.

 

Case study:  Belize: Education Quality Improvement Program (EQIP) II

Education is a sector that has been severely hit by the global pandemic. School closures have created an unprecedented disruption to education systems. Prior to the pandemic, Belize had no distance education experience or resources. 

As the government has moved towards an at-home learning modality, many students in vulnerable conditions are disadvantaged as they experience uneven access to distance learning and hybrid education resources, online learning opportunities and hardware. Already pre-pandemic, Belize struggled with some of the lowest attendance rates at the primary level of education within the region It is likely that these rates will drop further because of pandemic-related school closures, particularly among students from the lowest socioeconomic groups. 

In order to address the challenges, IADB broadened the scope of the Education Quality Improvement Program II (EQIP) to improve the quality of education in primary and secondary schools. The objectives of EQIP II are to improve the quality and gender equity of education at the primary and secondary levels, with a special focus on innovation in Science Technology Engineering Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) education. This general objective is pursued by achieving the following objectives: (i) improve the quality of primary school teachers by expanding the Inquiry- and Problem-based Pedagogy (IPP) learning approach; (ii) improve the quality of secondary education teachers by improving teaching practices with a focus on student-centered science and mathematics learning; and (iii) promote gender-sensitive STEAM teaching.  

Source: Premiums4Good Investment Impact Report 2020-2021