Development Impact Bonds for Palestine

The Portland Trust has explored the potential for Development Impact Bonds (DIBs) to help tackle pressing social issues in Palestine. This innovative mechanism can help leverage previously untapped capital, foster innovation and social entrepreneurship and, more generally, help shift donors’ approach to development by focusing on outcomes.

In close cooperation with partners, and based on the SIB model designed by SFI, The Portland Trust prepared a programme design for a DIB to address the growing Type II Diabetes epidemic in Palestine by focusing on prevention through an intensive lifestyle intervention programme. A service provider was engaged and advisory board members identified and requisite institutional support received from the World Health Organisation to launch a 9-month pilot intervention in the West Bank which successfully completed in May 2017. The Portland Trust is now working with partners to scale up the intervention through a DIB targeting 300 pre-diabetic women in the West Bank.

Finally, as part of the Gaza Spatial Vision work, The Portland Trust is working on a project aimed at strengthening problem-solving and logical thinking skills amongst young students in Gaza through teaching computer programming, and embedding content into the curricula in elementary and primary schools. The project is aimed at building the human capital capabilities Gaza will need to participate and compete in the global economy over the years to come. The proposed model will follow one developed successfully at the Academia de Codigo in Portugal. It is proposed that this programme is financed through a Development Impact Bond.