Saudi-based Islamic Development Bank and its development partners - the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development (ISFD) - have announced the launch of the second phase of the Lives and Livelihoods Fund (LLF 2.0).

 

Since its creation in 2016, the Fund has invested over $1.4 billion in 22 IsDB member countries. Its financing is benefitting over 3 million smallholder farmers to improve their productivity and livelihoods, providing access to quality healthcare for 12.5 million women and children.

 

It is also set to provide over 7.5 million people with better water and sanitation facilities.

 

The launch event, held on the sidelines of the IsDB Annual Meetings 2023 was attended by the principals of the Fund’s founding partners, including Mohamed Saif Al Suwaidi, Director General of ADFD, Dr Chris Elias, President Global Development, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and Dr Hiba Ahmed, Director General, Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development (ISFD).

 

According to IsDB, the next phase of the Fund mobilizes resources from the IsDB and from donors such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development (ISFD) for the next five years. 

 

The committed resources are aimed at supporting 32 member countries of the Bank to achieve 10 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it stated. 

 

The Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development committed $150 million ($50 million as highly concessional loans and $00 million as temporary cash waqf, whereby, the investment returns are earmarked to LLF 2.0. 

 

Similarly, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced its commitment to pledge 20% of the total granted by donors to the LLF, up to $100 million.

 

Referring to LLF 2.0 as ‘the Fund of Tomorrow’, Dr Muhammad Al Jasser, President IsDB, said: "We all know that long-term food security is not benchmarked by crop yields and strong markets alone. It is also gauged by the survival of a child, the health of a mother, and the resilience of a community."

 

"Your continued support and commitment will make it possible for millions of people to pave their way out of poverty.” He also highlighted the establishment of enhanced operational and monitoring systems under LLF 2.0 to drive more investments in ending the devastating consequences of hunger, poverty, and disease," stated Dr Al Jasser.

 

"It’s great to see founding partners to the Lives and Livelihoods Fund committed to ensure that together we help drive economic growth across 32 IsDB member countries," said Dr. Chris Elias, President for Global Development at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. 

 

"ISFD’s new contributions to the fund show their engagement to sustainable development across the world and kickstart the LLF’s new round of funding. I hope their commitment will encourage our other partners to further support the LLF’s critical efforts," he added.

 

LLF 2.0 is a flexible and efficient way to finance government social development projects to deliver on the SDGs. The second phase of LLF will continue to promote equitable expansion of the fund investments and assist lower-income and lower-middle income countries to optimize their existing financial, human, and other resources for high-impact sectors. 

 

This is expected to mobilize additional in-country resources along the way and attract more co-financing. The LLF recognizes that grant funding alone isn’t sufficient to meet the $2.4 trillion SDG financing gap. Hence, the blended finance approach multiplies available concessional financing.

 

Dr Hiba Ahmed, the Director General of the ISFD, said the evaluation of ISFD’s participation in the LLF phase 1 shows that the original objectives set for its contributions are all met in a satisfactory manner. 

 

"The objective of scaling-up the availability of concessional resources for poverty-focused projects in member countries, especially LDMCs, has been met through the provision of a total financing of $1,433 million under LLF 1.0, almost doubling the concessional resources for the LDMCs from IsDB Group," remarked Dr Ahmed.

 

The ISFD’s contribution in LLF2 reflects “the success of LLF1.0, in terms of the results and impact in member countries, scaling up of the concessional resources of the ISFD, the performance of the portfolio, and the refinements being introduced in LLF2.0 for better portfolio performance and visibility, it stated. 

 

The LLF2.0 maintains its focus on primary healthcare, agriculture, and basic infrastructure, while women empowerment, and climate change adaptation are being introduced as cross-cutting themes, which will be addressed in all the LLF2.0 projects, it added.-TradeArabia News Service