Dialogue Session: Innovative Financing Approaches to End Harmful Practices

This presentation is a dialogue session on innovative financing approaches to end harmful practices, such as female genital mutilation (FGM) and child marriage (CM). The session was held on 19 April 2023 and involved speakers from SIDA, UNICEF, UNFPA, and Burkina Faso. The main points are:

• The global context and challenges: The document highlights the urgency and complexity of addressing harmful practices in a world affected by megatrends and polycrisis, such as climate change, COVID-19, poverty, and gender inequality. It also shows the progress and gaps in achieving SDG 5.3 on eliminating harmful practices.

• The programmatic strategies and cost of inaction: The document outlines the multi-sectoral approach of UNICEF and UNFPA to prevent and respond to harmful practices, by focusing on six key areas: laws and policies, girls’ agency and assets, social and gender norms, services and systems, poverty drivers, and data and evidence. It also presents the economic and social costs of not ending harmful practices, such as reduced growth, health spending, and human rights.

• The innovative financing opportunities and examples: The document explores promising new funding models that can mobilize new resources, unlock private sector investment, and enhance the impact and sustainability of efforts to end harmful practices. It introduces four potential instruments: revolving donor fund, catalytic funding, cause related marketing, and development impact bond. It also provides examples of how these instruments have been or can be applied in different contexts and sectors.