Innovative Financing for Humanitarian Aid: Can Impact Bonds Help Bridge the Humanitarian Funding Gap?

联合国估计，2021年全球有2.35亿人需要人道主义援助，比2019年的1.68亿人大幅增加（UNOCHA, 2021）。这一增长不仅是持续的冲突和流离失所的结果，也是COVID-19大流行和气候变化的破坏性影响的结果，这些影响使更多人陷入饥饿和极端贫困。与此同时，用于人道主义援助的资金并没有相应增加，以满足日益增长的需求。2021年，全球人道主义援助呼吁的48%得到了资助，这是自联合国开始追踪这一数据以来的最低比例（UNOCHA, 2022）。这需要以创新的方式为人道主义援助提供资金，并更有效和高效地提供援助。我的研究将检验影响债券是否是人道主义行动的合适融资工具。影响债券是一种基于结果的融资，其中私人投资者向服务提供商提供前期资金以交付社会项目，结果资助者在成功实现预定结果时以投资回报偿还投资者。如果项目未能达到预期结果，投资者承担全部或部分成本。

The UN estimates 235 million people worldwide needed humanitarian assistance in 2021, a stark increase from 168 million people in 2019 (UNOCHA, 2021). This increase is a result of not only continuing conflicts and displacement, but also the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change that have pushed more people into hunger and extreme poverty. Meanwhile, funding for humanitarian assistance has not increased proportionately to address rising needs. In 2021, 48% of the global appeal for humanitarian assistance was funded, the lowest ratio since the UN started tracking this data (UNOCHA, 2022). This requires innovative ways to finance humanitarian assistance and deliver aid more effectively and efficiently. My research will examine whether impact bond is a suitable financing instrument for humanitarian action. Impact bond is a type of results-based financing, in which a private investor provides upfront capital to a service provider to deliver a social project, and an outcome funder repays the investor with a return on their investment upon the successful achievement of pre-determined outcomes. The investor bears the cost fully or partially if the project fails to achieve the desired outcomes.