Building gender equity in skills and employment: Lessons from India’s Skill Impact Bond
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In this session we will explore the latest findings from the implementation of India's Skill Impact Bond the world’s largest development impact bond in the skills sector. The Skill Impact Bond is dedicated to skills training and job placement using private sector capital and expertise. Its objective is to benefit 50,000 young Indians over four years, with 60% of the beneficiaries being women, and it focuses on job placement and retention, rather than on just training and certification.
Engaging with Evidence is a series of interactive online convenings hosted by the Government Outcomes Lab (GO Lab) and designed to encourage a greater understanding of the latest evidence on the use of cross-sector partnerships focused on outcomes. The sessions are hosted monthly, and attract a diverse range of practitioners from different sectors, as well as researcher from across the world.
Building independent, high-quality evidence
At the GO Lab, we believe in the importance of building independent, high-quality evidence and disseminating it effectively to inform policy decisions and improve practice on the ground. As new evidence around the use of outcomes-based approaches is starting to emerge, we hope that with this series of online convenings we can continue to bridge the gap between evidence and practice, and help foster real dialogue between policymakers, practitioners and researchers in an honest, transparent and constructive way. Both veterans and explorers interested in better understanding the latest evidence around the use of outcomes-based approaches are welcome to join these sessions.
Throughout 2023, Engaging with Evidence will offer an open platform for policymakers, practitioners and researchers around the world to engage with key findings from the latest research and evaluation work in the field. They will have the opportunity to discuss new evidence directly with the authors of research and evaluation studies, hear the practical insights of the partners involved in the development and implementation of the projects under discussion, and reflect on the relevance of the evidence to their own work.
What to expect
Each session lasts 90 minutes and features contributions from a diverse panel of experts, as well as ample time for contributions and questions from all participants. Discussions at each session are grounded in the findings of a recent evaluation or research study, with additional practical insights brought in by stakeholders directly involved in the work or project under discussion. Each session follows a set format:
- Setting the context & presentation of the evaluation/ research findings
- Discussion with the panel and audience questions
- Closing remarks
If you’d like to suggest a topic or highlight a recent study that you’d like to see discussed on a future session, please contact our moderator Jessica Reedy
Session Overview
In this session we will explore the latest findings from the implementation of India's Skill Impact Bond, the world’s largest development impact bond in the skills sector. The Skill Impact Bond is dedicated to skills training and job placement using private sector capital and expertise. Its objective is to benefit 50,000 young Indians over four years, with 60% of the beneficiaries being women, and it focuses on job placement and retention, rather than on just training and certification.
In conversation with a diverse panel of experts, we will look at the impact that the programme has had and ask:
- How can we leverage the demographic dividend balancing equity, employability, and empowerment?
- How can we ensure that evidence generated is relevant, useful, and practical for concurrently improving programme performance?
- How can the lessons learned be mainstreamed to support scale-up and sustainability beyond the life of the results-based financing programme?
We are delighted to be bringing together on the session perspectives from key project stakeholders with direct experience working on the programme– the evaluator, the performance manager and the outcomes funder. We will be joined by: Divya Nambiar and Phalasha Nagpal from OPML who will provide the evaluator perspective, Anushree Parekh from the British Asian Trust who will provide the performance manager perspective, and Vandana Bahri from CIFF who will bring in the outcome funder perspective.
Together we will explore what it takes to create actionable, youth-centric evidence that drives programmatic improvements, strategies for scaling and sustaining impact beyond the life of the programme, and practical insights inot how to build effective partnerships for better skills and employment outcomes for youth, especially women and young girls. In doing so, we aim to provide valuable insights for stakeholders (particularly practitioners) interested in outcomes-based funding, youth skills, and livelihoods sectors.
Find more information about the Skill India Bond through the INDIO Impact Bond Dataset.