Triple I for GH issued Recommendations on IMM at a Side Event at the 80th United Nations General Assembly

Event Highlights

1. Welcome Remarks and Keynote Speech

The side event opened with Welcome Remarks from key leaders.

Dr. Joshua Walker, President and CEO of the Japan Society, reflected on the origins of Triple I for GH, which was launched at the Japan Society in September 2023. He praised the exponential growth from 37 to 114 partners in two years and called for continued private sector engagement to address global health challenges.

H.E. Mr. Hideo Suzuki, Ambassador for Global Health of Japan, highlighted Japan's commitment to mobilizing private finance toward Universal Health Coverage. He introduced new legislative frameworks, including JICA's DFI capabilities, and officially launched the Recommendations on IMM, emphasizing IMM as a critical enabler of effective investment.

Mr. Amit Bouri, CEO and Co-Founder of the GIIN, shared research indicating a 21% compound annual growth rate in healthcare impact investing over the past six years. He noted that 51% of impact investors include healthcare in their portfolios and emphasized the role of tools such as the Impact Target Center and Impact Quantifier in channeling capital to global health with integrity.

Following the opening remarks, Mr. Steve Davis, Co-Chair of Triple I for GH and Senior Advisor and Interim Director of the Philanthropic Partnerships Team at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, delivered the keynote speech. He described the current paradox facing global health - marked by both an investment crisis and growing opportunity - while cautioning against viewing impact investing as a standalone solution. He outlined key barriers, including limited investable pipelines in primary care and gaps in measurement models, and introducing two sets of Triple I recommendations focused on government policy levers and measurement and evaluation.

2. Panel Discussion

A panel discussion moderated by Mr. Ken Shibusawa, Co-Chair of Triple I for GH, brought together leaders from the GIIN, the Operating Principles for Impact Management (OPIM), Total Impact Capital, Redcliffe Labs, Grand Challenges Canada, and African Venture Philanthropy Alliance (AVPA). The discussion explored critical challenges related to IMM in global health investments.

Key themes included the importance of IMM as the backbone of credible impact investing; the need for common frameworks and standards to enable comparability across investments; the difficulty of measuring impact in last-mile primary care settings compared with urban tertiary care; and data sovereignty concerns in emerging markets. Panelists emphasized that robust IMM is essential not only for demonstrating outcomes, but also for effective enterprise management. One investor noted those facilities with higher quality scores also showed stronger financial performance.

The discussion also highlighted emerging technological opportunities for data collection through mobile transactions and artificial intelligence, while underscoring the importance of respecting data sovereignty and community consent. Panelists called for greater collaboration around shared challenges rather than solutions, increased risk-tolerance of capital deployment, and ecosystem-building investments that enable innovators to focus on impact delivery.

3. Summary and Closing Remarks

In closing, Mr. Ken Shibusawa emphasized the importance of developing a "common language" in impact investing. He noted that the true foundation for advancing the field lies in the commitment of stakeholders to mobilize private capital for positive impact. He concluded that this shared commitment must underpin technical discussions on IMM frameworks and universal market standards, rather than the other way around.