Quality Criteria

Investment criteria are the defined set of parameters used by financial and strategic investors to assess an investment opportunity. They make the process of sourcing and qualifying new opportunities more efficient. This is because clearly established investment criteria creates focus and quickly eliminates deals that do not fit the investor.

 

In this section we introduce quality criteria for investing in health promoting services. We cover a number of criteria that help ensure that financing initiatives are ethical and are effective in improving health, equity and wellbeing. These criteria were developed with help from publications from the Green Climate Fund's Investment Framework and discussed during the EuroHealthNet General Council meeting in 2019. This is ongoing work and additional views are welcome. Please contact info@eurohealthnet.eu if you want to share your views with us.

Security

Definition Sub-Criteria Assessment Factors (indicators)
  • Guarantee of reliability of funding and/or any extra support funder agrees
  • Ethical agreement between all parties.
  • Proponent demonstrates a consistent track record and relevant experience and expertise in similar or relevant circumstances as described in the proposed project / programme.
  • Proposed financial structure (funding amount, financial instrument, tenor and term) is adequate and reasonable in order to achieve the proposal’s objectives, including addressing existing bottlenecks and/or barriers.
  • Demonstration that the programme / project will help to ‘crowd in’ private and other public investment.
  • Agree and sign ethical agreement that will include intellectual property rights guarantee, transparency guidelines, standards of behaviour for all parties during funding period, and complaints procedures

Risk

Definition Sub-Criteria Assessment Factors (indicators)
  • Economic and, if appropriate, financial reliability of the programme / project
  • Stakeholder consultation and engagement.
  • Agree accountability system, accounting measures, and governance structure
  • Proposal has been developed in consultation with civil society groups and other relevant stakeholders, with particular attention being paid to gender equality, and provides a specific mechanism for their future engagement in accordance with environmental and social safeguards.
  • The proposal places decision-making responsibility with implementing institutions and uses acceptable systems to ensure accountability.
  • Governance agreement approved and signed by all parties.

Return on investment

Definition Sub-Criteria Assessment Factors (indicators)
  • Expected financial rate of return. Agreed rate of return mechanism and indicator with investing parties. Wider benefits and priorities of funded programme or intervention.
  • Expected positive social and health impacts, including in other result areas, and/or in line with the priorities set at the national, local or sectoral levels
  • Equity impacts aligned with health-promoting services goals.
  • Expected positive economic impacts in line with the priorities set at the national, local or sectoral level.
  • Potential for externalities in the form of expected improvements, for women and men as relevant, in areas such as health and safety, access to education, improved regulation and/or cultural preservation.
  • The relevant dimensions of equity are  adequately and actively considered throughout the process of implementing the practice (e.g. age, gender, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, rural-urban area, vulnerable groups).
  • Economic and financial rate of return with and without the investor support (i.e. hurdle rate of return or other appropriate / relevant thresholds).
  • Potential for externalities in the form of expected improvements in areas such as expanded and enhanced job markets, job creation and poverty alleviation for women and men, increased and/or expanded involvement of local industries; increased collaboration between industry and academia; growth of additional private funds.

Sustainability

Definition Sub-Criteria Assessment Factors (indicators)
  • Continued application of funded programme or intervention
  • Sustainability of outcomes and results beyond completion of the intervention.
  • The programme or intervention has institutional support, an organisational and technological structure and stable human resources.
  • Potential for strengthened regulatory frameworks and policies to drive investment.
  • Financial viability in the long run.
  • Arrangements that provide for long-term and financially sustainable continuation of relevant outcomes and key relevant activities derived from the project / programme beyond the completion of the intervention.
  • Extent to which the project/programme creates new markets and business activities at the local, national or international levels.
  • Description of financial reliability in the long term (beyond the investor’s intervention).

 

Transferability

Definition Sub-Criteria Assessment Factors (indicators)
  • The extent to which the implementation results are systematised and documented, making it possible to transfer it to other contexts, settings, countries or to scale it up to a broader target population or geographic context.
  • Potential for expanding the scale and impact of the proposed programme or project.
  • Develop a communication strategy.
  • Potential for exporting key structural elements of the proposed programme or project elsewhere within the same sector as well as to other sectors, regions or countries.
  • Potential to encourage and/or leverage investment.
  • A theory of change for scaling up the scope and impact of the intended project/programme without equally increasing the total costs of implementation.
  • Plan to disseminate the results to be developed and conducted independently by intervention organisation.
  • A theory of change for replication of the proposed activities in the project/programme in other sectors, institutions, geographical areasor regions, communities or countries.
  • Potential to encourage private- and public-sector investment, assessed in the context of performance on best practices