The Road to the SDGs

implementation of economic empowerment and access to finance for the SDGs related to poverty and the IsDB corporate direction set by the P5P and the 10YS. X The EEIP aligns with core IsDB policies such as: – Allocation of a maximum of 30% of the ISFD Waqf paid-in capital to be invested directly towards poverty alleviation – Economic empowerment initiatives utilising development Waqf resources to be made in line with the ISFD Poverty Alleviation Policy. POTENTIAL IMPACTS X IsDB is committed to taking several actions in line with the EEIP: – Providing toolkits that will help guide financial partners to engage their clients as business partners – Developing IT solutions (financial and non-financial) to reduce the high operating cost of channelling funds to the poor – Providing access to markets, fair prices and other value-added services. X IsDB will promote economic empowerment solutions through capacity-building platforms such as courses, workshops and seminars. These solutions will also be promoted through a website. X IsDB will establish and manage the economic empowerment funds initiated by it or proposed by different stakeholders. X IsDB may provide equity and other modes of financing to economic empowerment institutions created by IsDB or proposed by the different stakeholders. X Economic empowerment programmes will include a line of finance and capacity building in collaboration with internal and/or external stakeholders. X A business engineering mode of intervention will be implemented, with the aim of developing approaches, tools, manuals and IT/ fintech solutions in collaboration with partners. X Capacity building programmes will be carried out to promote the economic empowerment solutions as part of IsDB efforts to enhance the quality of its interventions. INVESTMENT X The EEIP has facilitated the mobilisation and design of several initiatives by the Economic Empowerment Department (EED). The EED successfully mobilised more than US$ 450 million, overachieving the 2020 target of US$ 50 million. Of this sum: – US$ 80 million was mobilised for the Economic Empowerment Fund for the Palestinian People – US$ 327 million was mobilised from partners under the Strengthening the Economic Resilience of Vulnerable Enterprises (SERVE) Programme (see page 92) – US$ 43 million was mobilised from other economic empowerment programmes. X The EEIP supports the SERVE Programme, designed to provide immediate and targeted cash-flow support to businesses that are adversely impacted by COVID-19 as well as to sustain their business operations beyond the crisis. IsDB Group contributed US$ 120 million of the US$ 327 million mobilised. I N I T I A T I V E M O B I L I S A T I O N The policy is expected to govern a portion of the 30% allocation of ISFD Waqf paid-in capital, estimated at about US$800 million [ 73 ] T H E R O A D T O T H E S D G s | P R O G R E S S A N D A C H I E V E M E N T S