New York, USA, 18 January 2024 — As the WEF Annual Meeting at Davos kicks off, the IRC’s Airbel Impact Lab has released a Partnerships Playbook “Advisory Model for Investor + Humanitarian Partnerships”, a pioneering new approach to scale the impact of multilateral development bank, development finance institution, or private sector investments for social impact projects in fragile and conflict affected contexts. Resources include the Advisory Model Partnership Playbook, a tool for investor and humanitarian partners, and a series of case studies and lessons learned from Airbel’s current pilot projects advising investors.
The “Advisory Model'' is an innovative finance concept developed by the IRC with the support of the Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations; a tool for investor and humanitarian partners to develop impactful cross-sector partnerships – allowing a “humanitarian in residence” to strengthen and support MDB, DFI, and private sector investments – from venture capital to private equity - in fragile/conflict settings. IRC is currently piloting several advisory partnerships, addressing challenges from wastewater and infrastructure to climate financing and economic development:
- The IRC shared lessons from its ongoing partnership with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), advising on a €65 million wastewater infrastructure investment in West Irbid, Jordan. The IRC provides enhanced technical assistance to the project, including oversight and advice on the project’s community engagement plan being led by Jordanian technical consultant the Royal Scientific Society. This work has ensured Syrians and local Jordanians are meaningfully engaged in the project, and created an inclusive process.
- With Flat6Labs, IRC is supporting an entrepreneurship platform to grow the startup ecosystem in the Middle East. In Jordan, IRC is working with AquaPoro, who are developing an innovative drinking water technology. The model is also being used to support refugee-lens businesses in Latin America, to investigate debt swaps for humanitarian aid, and to bring solar power to communities in need in Lebanon and Kenya.
“Increasingly, investors recognise the enormous value of, but also risk to, critical investments in fragile and conflict-affected settings,” said Ellen Brooks, Investment Lead for Innovative Finance at IRC's Airbel Impact Lab. “But bankers are not experienced in delivering projects in humanitarian settings to benefit and reach populations affected by displacement, conflict, or crisis. That’s where the Advisory Model comes in, transforming traditional ways of working and ensuring risk to investments are not only mitigated, but set a powerful and catalysing example of sustainable impact.”
In an op-ed for Devex, Brooks urged humanitarians and investors to go all-in on the Advisory Model, citing myriad benefits for investors and for fragile and conflict-affected communities. “By tapping humanitarians as consultants, cross-sector partnerships can bridge gaps between investors and the humanitarian sector. We can generate more funding to address priorities such as climate adaptation for communities on the frontline of the climate crisis. We can leverage private finance and public funding in innovative ways, and we can better inform community engagement and circumstances on the ground: humanitarians know how to reach fragile vulnerable communities and bring deep expertise balancing risk and social outcomes in conflict zones.”
- The Advisory Model Partnership Playbook, a “how to” for investor and humanitarian partners to develop their own cross-sector partnerships can be downloaded here.
- IRC has shared Lessons Learned: Reflections on “Advisory Model” partnership between IRC-EBRD, for download here.
- Additional case studies and more on the Advisory Model for Investor + Humanitarian Partnerships are here.