Elma Saiz defiende la colaboración público-privada para hacer frente a los retos sociales y medioambientales “como estamos haciendo con el Fondo de Impacto Social, que terminará el año con una inversión de 255 millones de euros”

The Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, Elma Saiz, has highlighted the importance of public-private collaboration to meet social and environmental challenges and meet the Sustainable Development Goals. In this sense, it has framed the launch a year ago of the Social Impact Fund (FIS) as an instrument to articulate this collaboration.

“The Social Impact Fund, which leads the Ministry of Inclusion and manages COFIDES”, explained Saiz, “is going to end the year with an investment of 255 million euros, of which 40 million are going to go to projects focused on one of the main problems of citizens today in Spain: housing”. In these twelve months, 13 operations worth 40% of the fund (155 million euros) have already been closed, allocating catalytic capital of social impact to organizations throughout the geography. 
This was announced by the minister at the closing of the parallel event to the IV International Conference on Financing for Development organized by the Ministry with the title “Public-private participation in the impact economy: a global challenge”, whose inauguration was carried out by the Minister of Economy, Trade and Enterprise, Carlos Corps. 
In this seminar, the impact economy has been addressed as a cornerstone to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and experiences developed inside and outside Spain have been put together.

“We need unity and firm purposes to combat inequalities, climate change, poverty, hunger, homelessness and, of course, secure financing for development,” said Elma Saiz.

“It is important to have taken a step forward at a time of setback, when policies of equality or sustainability are rejected. It is a priority to join forces between the public sector and the private sector and to show that it is a successful formula in which we all win,” says the minister. In this context, “public administrations must have a catalytic role that leads the creation of initiatives and policies to achieve a sustainable future, and promote their financing among the private sector. “We have done so since the Government of Spain, creating the Social Impact Fund.”

The importance of the impact economy
Minister Corps, for his part, was resounding in his speech when he defended public-private collaboration in the impact economy: “Without significant private sector involvement, the Sustainable Development Goals will remain unattainable,” he said. “It has never been so urgent to transform the coordinated action of financial contributors so that it really serves sustainable and inclusive development.”

Carlos Corps has highlighted the FIS as a successful practice. “It is a very innovative financial instrument, unique in Spain and with few precedents at international level,” he explained. “Spain has shown a bold leadership. The impact economy is no longer seen as peripheral; it is consolidating itself as a key driver of innovation and resilience.”

Elena Rodríguez, general secretary of Inclusion, considered in the framework of the event that “we are in a good time to promote economic and social changes. Addressing the challenges of the future requires a collective commitment, where the public and private sectors work together and in the same direction. We must add the private sector to the Sustainable Development Goals because by acting in this way, through the impact economy, we will arrive earlier and better at meeting these challenges and we will be able to design their impact.”

Social Impact Fund

The Social Impact Fund, created a year ago, is provided with 400 million euros of public funding from the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan to support Spanish and European social impact companies. “The approval of this Fund has been, so far, the largest public investment made to investment funds of this type, which implies that Spain has become the fourth country in the world and the second in the European Union in public-private partnership initiatives of impact and social entrepreneurship.”

The FIS is a variable capital instrument that supports both impact investment funds and companies and entities of the social economy through capital and debt financial instruments. With 13 operations already approved, it is helping to address social challenges such as the employability of people with disabilities, women and young people, migrants or the long-term unemployed, access to decent housing, promotion of equal opportunities, support for inclusion, sustainable use of local resources and social cohesion.

One of the main bets is social investment in housing to improve access conditions among vulnerable people. In this area, there is a commitment to allocate 40 million for housing of social impact, particularly for people in a situation of homelessness. The first operation of this line has been signed with tuTECHÔ, one that buys homes and makes them available to social entities to rent to people who are homeless and with low resources below the market price.

“The loan will allow tuTECHÔ to acquire new homes for more than 2,000 people and strengthen its operational capacity. It is a need that must be addressed urgently,” he said.