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10:30-11:30
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Why Not? Outcomes Finance in the Humanitarian Geographies Everyone Calls “Uninvestible”
Humanitarian financing is sell largely built around ex-ante commitments: fund the activity, trust the plan, report the results. But in real humanitarian geographies — places affected by conflict, displacement, climate shocks, weak markets and limited public systems — this model is under strain. The question for this session is simple and deliberately uncomfortable: if credible outcomes can be verified after delivery, why not pay for what changed rather than what was promised?
- (Moderating) Damon Elsworth, Humanitarian Impact Finance Lead, Medair
- Greg Spencer, Founder and CEO, Common Good Marketplace
- Verushen Appalsamy, Programme Manager, innovative & Alternative Financing for Children, UNICEF
- Patrick Egli, Deputy Head Humanitarian Aid Division and Chief of Staff Humanitarian Aid Division, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)
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| 11:35-12:35 |
Islamic Philanthropy and Impact Investment - Unlocking Sustainable Financing for Humanitarian and Development Action
Islamic philanthropy and Shariah‑compliant social investment—such as Zakat, Sadaqah, Waqf, Takaful and Sukuk —represent a significant yet underutilised source of funding for humanitarian response and long‑term development and have emerged as a novel subset of the discourse on innovative finance. The World Bank (2016) estimated the global annual zakat pool alone to be between US$200 billion and US$1 trillion. But Zakat and Islamic philanthropy are not the sole source of funding but there is a growing number of Islamic impact investment initiatives. At a time of growing funding gaps and protracted crises, these faith‑based financing mechanisms offer opportunities to complement traditional aid while promoting sustainability, inclusion, and localisation.
This session will explore how Islamic philanthropy and impact investment can be operationalised beyond short‑term relief to support resilience, livelihoods, and systems‑level change, while maintaining strong accountability and compliance with Islamic principles which is critical for donor and beneficiary assurance. Drawing on practical examples and practitioner experience, the session will encourage dialogue between humanitarian actors, donors, financial institutions, and the private sector.
Speakers:
- (Moderating) Mohammed Kroessin, Head of the Global Islamic Microfinance Business Unit, Islamic Relief Worldwide
- Muniruddeen Lallmahomood, Islamic Finance Portfolio Lead, UNDP
- Teuta Turani, Head of the International Finance Facility for Immunisation (IFFIm), GAVI
- Adnan Aziz, Secretary-General & Chief Program Officer, Global Islamic Finance and Impact Investing Platform
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| 12:35-13:15 |
Lunch |
| 13:15-14:15 |
Choosing the Right Financing Model – Aligning Humanitarian Challenges with Practical Financing Models
This session will help participants understand which financing models are suited to which types of humanitarian problems. Rather than focusing on general introductory guidance, it will compare practical models such as disaster risk financing, insurance, guarantees, revolving funds, endowment approaches, blended finance and liquidity facilities, and assess the operational conditions required for each to work.
Focus:
- Which models are suited to which problems, for example disaster risk financing, insurance, guarantees, revolving funds, endowments, blended finance and liquidity facilities
- What each model requires in terms of data, governance, partnerships, risk appetite and operational readiness
- Where humanitarian organisations should not use financial tools, or where grants remain the right instrument
- How to assess whether a model is viable before investing significant time and resources
Speakers:
- (Moderator) Jane Newman, Director, Social Finance International
- Julie Blümmel-Gascoin, Associate Director, Innovative Finance, Save the Children Global Ventures (SCGV)
- Amar Patel, Risk Finance Adviser, Centre for Disaster Protection (CDP)
- Sacha Gayama, Global Lead on Innovative Financing, Danish Refugee Council
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| 14:30-15:30 |
Humanitarian Organisations and Operational Readiness – Building the Capabilities to Engage with Innovative Finance
This session will focus on what humanitarian organisations need internally in order to engage with innovative finance responsibly and effectively. It will draw directly on operational experience, including constraints, failure points, and lessons from implementation. The panel will speak on their journey across the phases, from early stage to piloting, implementing to advanced stages of their project or programme.
Focus:
- How NGOs and operational actors engage with financing tools.
- What is feasible in fragile and conflict affected settings.
- Organisational capabilities required, including governance, risk, finance, legal, data and programme design.
- Lessons from implementation, including constraints and failure points
Speakers:
- (Moderator) Christina Bennett, Chief Executive Officer, Start Network
- Sanda Kyaw Win, Chair of Local Network
- Dorina Ardeleanu, Head of Global Institutional Partnerships, Terre des Hommes Foundation
- Andreas Kiaby, Chief Advisor, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark
- Solomon Thomas, Chief, Innovative & Alternative Finance for Children, UNICEF
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| 15:45-17:00 |
From Implementation to Scale - Linking Partnerships and Capital to Scale Humanitarian Financing
This session will examine what it takes to move from promising pilots to models that can be replicated or scaled across contexts. It will explore how humanitarian organisations, private sector partners, impact investors, DFIs, MDBs and intermediaries can work together to move beyond isolated examples, while recognising that not every model is scalable in the same way.
Focus:
- What it takes to move from pilot to scale.
- What conditions make a model replicable across contexts the role of partnerships and how risk is shared between across NGOs, private sector, and intermediaries.
- What capital providers need to see before engaging.
Speakers:
- (Moderator) Andrzej Janiszewski, Partner, Reed Smith
- Sara Lisa Ørstavik, Senior Advisor - Humanitarian Innovation and Impact Finance, Norad
- Dominik Zotti, Head of Private Sector, IFIs and Innovative Finance, IFRC
- Aisling McCaffrey, Senior Programme Manager, Impact Investing Institute
- Maximilian Martin, Global Head of Philanthropy, Lombard Odier
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