The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Impact Investment Exchange (IIX) have signed a memorandum of understanding to advance gender-inclusive sustainable finance and develop thematic bonds, including Orange Bonds, in Bangladesh.
The partnership aims to support Bangladesh’s emerging thematic bond market by developing debt instruments that mobilise capital for women and underserved communities while adhering to international standards of transparency, accountability and impact, IIX said in a press release on Tuesday.
The collaboration will include feasibility studies, policy dialogue, stakeholder engagement, technical assistance, issuer and market capacity building, post-issuance monitoring and reporting, and engagement with regulators, investors and development partners to foster a credible and inclusive bond market ecosystem.
UNDP Bangladesh Resident Representative Stefan Liller said mobilising capital for gender equality and climate resilience requires strong market infrastructure, informed policy dialogue and trusted partnerships.
“This collaboration with IIX allows us to combine UNDP’s policy expertise and country presence with global innovations in sustainable finance, helping ensure that thematic bonds such as Orange Bonds are aligned with national priorities and deliver measurable development outcomes,” he said.
IIX Founder and CEO Prof Durreen Shahnaz said the partnership comes at a critical time for Bangladesh’s development and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) agenda.
“It reflects our shared commitment to engage with key public, private, civil society and development stakeholders to strengthen impact investment and Orange capital markets in the country,” she said.
She said the partnership would support institutional adoption of inclusive finance through policy support, capacity building, data, transparency and capital mobilisation, creating measurable change for women and underserved communities.
IIX, architect and steward of the Orange Bond Principles, will contribute technical expertise in gender-lens investing, bond framework development and impact measurement.
The Orange Bond Initiative, inspired by Sustainable Development Goal 5 on gender equality, aims to channel capital towards gender-transformative and climate-aligned outcomes while strengthening investor confidence through independent standards and verification.
Bangladesh is set to graduate from the Least Developed Country (LDC) category in November 2026, after which concessional finance and preferential trade benefits are expected to decline.
Developing credible and inclusive capital markets and innovative financial instruments will be critical to sustaining growth during the transition, the press release said.
UNDP operates in more than 170 countries and territories, supporting policy development and partnerships to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
IIX, established in 2009, operates across 60 countries and has mobilised nearly $500 million in private capital, reporting impact across 185 million lives and the avoidance of more than 1.9 million metric tonnes of carbon emissions.
