Article authored by UNDP Indonesia

UNDP Indonesia, under the Accelerating SDGs Investments in Indonesia Joint Programme (ASSIST JP) funded by the Joint SDG Fund, partnered with UNDP Sustainable Finance Hub’s (SFH) SDG Finance Academy, with initiatives such as Business Call to Action (BCtA), SDG Impact Standard, and SDG and Thematic Bond Frameworks, to conduct a two-part training on Impact Measurement and Management (IMM) – a system of practice to measure and manage impact progress towards sustainable development – for various United Nations agencies and private sector businesses in October 2022 in Jakarta.

The first component of the training introduced knowledge and frameworks for Participating United Nations Organizations under the ASSIST Joint Programme – UNDP, UNEP, UNIDO, and UNICEF – to measure the impact of financing instruments under the programme, such as thematic bonds, loans, and private funds. Meanwhile, the second training was conducted to build impact-measuring capacities to startup companies and mainstream SDG-alignment to their ongoing business activities. The latter training spanned across 2 days and invited portfolio startups of private Venture Capital funds, such as the Indonesia Impact Fund and Mandiri Capital Indonesia, as well as program alumni startups from UNDP Indonesia. Given the multisectoral nature of the financing instruments being developed under the ASSIST JP, it is vital to build the capacity on measuring expected impacts on all intended beneficiaries and stakeholders and implement effective project progress monitoring. For this reason, knowledge of IMM is crucial to understand better and improve the program's impacts.  

As one of the initiatives under component 3 of the ASSIST JP, UNDP acts as an impact advisor for the Indonesia Impact Fund (IIF), the first private impact fund investing in startups contributing to the advancement of SDGs in Indonesia, while working closely with Mandiri Capital Indonesia as the investment advisor. As impact advisor for the Fund, UNDP provides technical assistance in developing impact measuring frameworks both at the fund-management and investee level - covering approaches to define impact outcomes, goal targets, strategies, key metrics, as well as data monitoring and reporting towards improving sustainable impact performance. 

To inaugurate the training, Nila Murti, Officer-in-Charge of the Innovative Financing Lab of UNDP Indonesia, said- “It is hoped that the two part  training can deepen the understanding of what IMM means to UN Agencies and create impact for enterprises, and ultimately foster an ecosystem of impactful start-ups and entrepreneurship in Indonesia, not only to help accelerate the SDGs achievement by 2030, but also to understand better the impact so it can contribute to the sustainability of the business itself.”   

Startups who participated the training said the IMM tools helped them to sharpen their immediate business goals and impact. Among the participants was Tommy Tjiptadjaja, Co-Founder and CEO of Greenhope, a startup that explores bio-tech products to combat plastic pollution. He noted, "The [IMM] training helped us to be able to articulate our impact, tying it up step by step to our activities. We also got to know UNDP better as a resource at the beginning of this journey and look further to improve together and bring more positive impacts to the society”.

Echoing this, another participant of the training was Cecilia Ong, VP of CEO Office, Cakap, an edu-tech platform that brings accessibility within language-learning, said, the course had provided a crucial link to putting business theory into practice. “The two-day training on impact measurement and management by UNDP Indonesia and  UNDP SFH’s SDG Finance Academy delivered insightful knowledge sharing that serve Cakap's needs as we are now more understanding of the SDG benchmark and its global standards. The knowledge we receive will help us work on elevating livelihoods through education and contributing to SDG impact. She added.”

Thomas Beloe, Chief of Programme, UNDP Sustainable Finance Hub, weighs in on the importance of knowing about impact management. "I think from a policy and regulatory perspective, change is happening. This is a journey, and we really need to see that this is a change process both for businesses and also for the ecosystem at large. And for us to have credibility to be protagonists or change champions for sustainable development for businesses, for organizations, or for the international community, we have to be able to tell a story of impact," says Beloe during BCtA’s 12th Annual Forum in September.

IMM serves as an essential component in bridging the development and private sector, a key accelerator in the wheel of financing the SDGs. It has proven to be a mainstream tool that provides tangible benefits for various stakeholders—including investors. It encourages innovation, ensures efficient use of resources, and reshapes the future into a sustainable one. . Understanding how to effectively measure and manage impact is critical to ensuring that investors achieve their desired results to address the world's most pressing social and environmental challenges. For enterprises, IMM gears the shift in their current decision-making systems towards investment with a positive impact on people and the planet. IMM  strengthens capacity within the private sector to measure and manage their influences on the SDGs, and ultimately builds a culture of incorporating sustainability in their existing practices. According to the Global Impact Investing Network, impact measurement and management include identifying and considering the positive and negative effects one's business actions have on people and the planet and then figuring out ways to mitigate the negative and maximize the positive in alignment with one's goals.

UNDP has a long track record of working In public finance and private sector development. In order to mobilize financial expertise for sustainable development, UNDP established the Sustainable Finance Hub  in April 2019. The SFH provides a comprehensive package of corporate service offers, such as the SDG Finance Academy, in support of the organization’s SDG Integration Offer to enable governments, the private sector, and international financial institutions to accelerate financing for the SDGs. From supporting national strategies that deepen public-private collaboration to developing global Standards for Enterprises, Private Equity funds, SDG Bonds, and investor maps for SDG-enabling investment at global, regional, and national levels, the SFH brings the best of UNDP to accelerate the progress of the SDGs.