Project: Menstrual Health and Hygiene DIB (Second Tranche)
State of development: Current
Stage of development: Late stage
Stage notes: First tranche launched in Ethiopia in February 2022. Second tranche to be launched upon commitments of outcome funders and investors (e.g., in other regions in Ethiopia, in Niger, structuring has been done).
Type of instrument — Impact Bond: Yes; Outcomes Fund: No; Social Impact Incentives (SIINC): No; Social Impact Guarantee: No; Payment-by-results (no pre-financing): No; Technical Assistance and Market-building program: No; Other: 
Part of a larger outcomes-based financing program: No 
Expected launch date: Q2 - 2023 or later
Total expected project development time: 6-12 months
Expected length of project (years): 3
Project design process began: 2019
Rationale for using outcome-based finance: (1) Experiment a comprehensive intervention to address menstrual health and hygiene challenges
(2) Build evidence of the impacts of such intervention
(3) Develop a dialogue with policy makers to replicate and scale the intervention
(4) Risk transfer from providers and donors to social investors
Key challenges to launch: (1) Hard to secure outcome funding
(2) Complexities around the financial structure for the pre-financing of the Ethiopian DIB
(3) Measurability of outcomes given undocumented sector and no track record of interventions
(4) Fragmented ecosystems of service providers
Role of the domestic government — Outcomes funder: No; Service provider: No; Member of project committee: Yes; No formal role: No; Other: 
Service providers identified and selected — Request-for-proposals: Yes; Direct contracting by outcome funder/investor/intermediary: No; Provider-led deal development: No; Other: 
Feasibility study: Yes
Proposed financing instruments — Debt: Yes; Equity: No; Guarantee: No; Grant: No; Other: 
Technical assistance grant: Yes — AFD financed the feasibility, the structuring, and the preparation of the NGO pre-signing
Estimated maximum potential outcome payment: 16200000 EUR
Overall project finance notes: Up to EUR 5-15m per new geography/country (1st tranche in Ethiopia: EUR 3million)
Social/developmental challenge: Menstruation is a key component of a woman’s life. Yet it remains a taboo in many cultures, including in Africa and India. In these countries, the issue has been consistently overlooked, underestimated, and underfunded. For instance, 70% of adolescent girls in Ethiopia and over 52% in India learn about menstruation after menarche from an older sister or peers at school. Due to lack of awareness, many girls adopt unhygienic practices, which can have negative impacts on their health. Girls also feel less confident because of the lack of sanitary facilities at schools and unavailability of better sanitary products. This impacts their ability to attend school or work in appropriate conditions. Ultimately, it perpetuates stigma and gender inequality.
Expected intervention model: (1) outreach campaigns to change practices, behaviours and attitudes
(2) development of a local market for menstrual products
(3) improvement of sanitary infrastructure
Policy sectors — Employment and private sector development: No; Education: Yes; Social protection: No; Criminal justice: No; Health: Yes; Agriculture: No; Environment and climate change: No; Water, Sanitation and Hygiene: Yes; Energy: No; Humanitarian: No; Early Childhood Education: ; Other: 
Secondary SDG goals: 3, 4, 5, 6, 8
Target population: Adolescent girls, women and their communities, including boys and men
Targeted number of unique service users or beneficiaries: TBD
Unit type of targeted beneficiaries: Individual
Country income classification of beneficiaries — Low-income: No; Lower-middle-income: Yes; Upper-middle-income: No; High-income: No
Beneficiary notes: TBD (number of beneficiaries for 1st tranche: 325k)
Notes: Data for this pipeline project was last updated in April 2022. 
Delivery location: Ethiopia (new region) or other Sub-Saharan country