RFP for UNICEF's Education Cannot Wait - Blended Finance

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About the Organization

UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to protect the rights of every child.

UNICEF, the United Nations agency for children, works to protect the rights of every child, especially the most disadvantaged and those hardest to reach. Across more than 190 countries and territories, we do whatever it takes to help children survive, thrive and fulfil their potential.

We provide and advocate for education, health and nutrition services. Protect children from violence and abuse. Bring clean water and sanitation to those in need. And keep them safe from climate change and disease.

The world’s largest provider of vaccines, UNICEF also runs the world’s largest humanitarian warehouse.

Before, during and after emergencies, we’re on the ground with life-saving help and hope.

About the Proposal

Purpose:

Education Cannot Wait, a UNICEF Hosted Fund, is seeking Expressions of Interest (EOI) from qualified institutions for the provision of services related to Blended Finance.

Background:

Education Cannot Wait (ECW) is the first global multilateral fund dedicated to supporting education for children and youth in countries affected by wars, disasters and crises. It was launched at the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016 by a broad coalition of international aid agencies and public and private donors to usher in faster and more sustainable education responses in crises settings.

ECW’s investments are designed to provide speedy emergency responses when a crisis erupts or escalates, while also linking humanitarian and development aid efforts to ensure better quality learning outcomes for children and youth in protracted crisis contexts. Since its inception, ECW mobilized over 1.5 billion dollars in contributions from public and private donors. To date, the Fund has invested in over 30 crisis-affected countries and global partners. ECW-supported programmes are implemented through grantees.

Based on the recognition that continuous access to quality learning is a priority for children and families affected by conflicts, natural disasters and displacement and that no organisation can do it alone, ECW comes as a ground-breaking initiative bringing together public and private partners eager to work together differently and mobilize the funding required to deploy immediate and sustainable programmes tailor-made to the educational needs of crisis-affected children.

Methodology / Approach:

ECW is mandated to explore and develop innovative and blended finance mechanisms that can enable new and additional funds for education in emergencies and protracted crises. In reference of this mandate, ECW is together with Donors and private investors building a platform for blended finance tools. The focus on this assignment is to advise and support ECW in relation to debt swaps and outcome-based financing.

Structure Design and Due Diligence:

• Analyze feasibility and benefits for a range of credit-based instruments that could serve as a sustainable, scalable source of funding for ECW programmes in priority countries
• Engage development finance institutions in partnership with ECW leadership to explore interest and secure support for providing credit enhancement for a potential transaction
• Generate ideas for how ECW’s private donors and supporters might participate in a potential transaction through the provision of credit enhancement or other non-traditional grant-based instruments
• Evaluate strategies to secure financing for the transaction
• Target deliverables: (i) financial analysis (including scenario analysis), (ii) concept notes and transaction summaries (including presentation), (iii) soft support from development finance institutions or other capital providers.

Marketing and Origination:

• Partner with ECW to engage sovereign governments and capital providers to secure commitments in pursuing one of the credit-based instruments identified above
• Participate in meetings/workshops to present the structure, answer technical questions and provide feedback to various stakeholders to get an agreed transaction with governments and capital providers to secure commitments
• Technical support to each party as part of securing internal approvals
• Target deliverables: (i) transaction term sheet with clearly defined terms, legal mechanism (including funding) with clear roles and responsibilities for each transaction party (ii) memorandums as required (iii) investor sounding

Financial and Legal Structuring:

• Support ECW in developing, review and negotiating of all financial related documentation (e.g., loan, bonds, etc.) based on agreed term sheet
• Assist ECW and beneficiary countries in developing strategies with respect to transaction negotiations Analyze and assess financial recommendations provided by financial counterparties, including financial market guidance
• Support ECW as needed in the execution of these transactions, including coordinating across multiple transaction stakeholders including commercial banks, advisors.
• Lead RfP to select various financial parties to secure best financing terms
• Target deliverables: (i) Draft RfP for financing parties, including scorecard, proposal review, answer questions and make a recommendation (ii) final legal agreements

Execution & post-close:

• Support transaction pricing and participate in the investor roadshow for the deal
• Depending on the financial structure, there may need for a financial party to perform some transaction management (e.g., ongoing investor relations, monitoring covenants, etc.) which helps support governments, ECW, developing finance institutions, etc. in managing the transaction
• Target deliverables: TBD during phase 1.

Reporting Requirements and working methods:

The first phase of the work that the vendor is requested to provide a quote for is expected to take 8 months, from mid-2025 to early 2026. The vendor will be requested to join the working group between ECW, Donors and investors on Blended Finance. The working group meets regularly, currently every 2 weeks, in virtual meetings combined with in-person meetings every 2-3 months. As a member of the working group, the vendor will provide reports and documents to the working group after pre-approval by the ECW secretariat.

Timeline and period of assignment: From 15th July 2025 for an initial period of 8 months.

Eligibility

Qualified institutions that have the capabilities to meet the following requirements, and are available for the aforementioned period, are invited to submit an EOI.

In their EOI, institutions are required to specify their capacity to provide a small team with the following requirements and qualification:

• Demonstrable experience in designing and executing blended finance products, including debt-swaps and outcome-based financing.
• Existing network and access to developing finance institutions.
• Existing network and access to private investors with an interest in blended finance and social impact investments.

How to Apply

Interested institutions are encouraged to complete and submit the EOI form provided in the following page. EOIs should be sent to John Philip Perez (jpperez@unicef.org) and cc vmullin@unicef.org no later than 23:59 CEST on 27 June 2025 Please quote “ECW Blended Finance” as the subject in your correspondence.

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Tags Children and Childcare Disaster Response and Relief (DRR) Education and Education Technology (edtech) Skill Development Others