New York, September 20, 2016 — On the sidelines of the 71st United Nations General Assembly in New York, the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group and UNDP’s Istanbul International Center for Private Sector in Development (IICPSD) co-hosted the panel discussion Islamic Finance and Impact Investing for the Sustainable Development Goals: The Way Forward.

The panelists reviewed the contributions that Islamic finance has made to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). They discussed policy actions, challenges, emerging issues, innovative approaches and areas of cooperation for potential partners.

“Islamic finance instruments focus on inclusivity, equality and other attributes that are enshrined in the UN Charter,” said IDB Vice President for Cooperation and Country Programing Sayed Aqa.

Mahmoud Mohieldin, World Bank Group’s Senior Vice President for the 2030 Development Agenda, United Nations Relations and Partnerships, presented the pro-development financial system, which is comprised of risk sharing, corporate governance and leadership, financial inclusion and economic development. He shared examples of World Bank Group implementation of Islamic Finance.

The panel discussion highlighted the Islamic finance instruments as a potential transformative force to unlock resources for the SDGs. It was moderated by Prof. Dr. Savas Alpay, IDB’s Group Chief Economist.

Sophie De Caen, UNDP Acting Director of the Regional Bureau for the Arab States stated: “Luckily, we see that the development financing landscape has become much more diversified and sophisticated in recent years. New financing instruments have emerged both from within, and in addition to official development assistance. These include blended finance, green bonds which combine public and private resources, guarantees, local currency financing, diaspora financing, debt swaps/buy-backs and many
others.”

Panelists explored possibilities to better operationalize Islamic finance and impact investing as enablers for implementing the 2030 Agenda. They also discussed alternative, commercially viable Islamic finance instruments and services that generate social benefits and meet the long-term investment needs for achieving the SDGs.

The event was hosted by the Global Islamic Finance and Impact Investing Platform, established by IDB and UNDP. The platform, an example of an innovative financial partnership for the SDGs, combines the resources of Islamic finance and the private sector to develop business solutions to sustainable development challenges in a fair, transparent, quantifiable and verifiable manner.