The report introduces the Child-Lens Investing Framework (CLIF), a comprehensive guide to impact investing that aims to assist investors with integrating social and sustainable considerations into their investment strategy. The primary goal of the CLIF is to encourage investors to approach investments with a more child-centric perspective, considering the impact that their investment decisions will have on children.

The report highlights the growing financial gap associated with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with an estimated funding requirement of US$4.2 trillion. While official development assistance and philanthropy can drive change to some extent, impact and environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) investors are well-positioned to contribute by generating positive impact while also earning a financial return.

Investment opportunities abound in markets that advance outcomes for children, such as mother and child healthcare, which has a projected compound annual growth rate of 13.7%, according to Allied Market Research. A child-lens investment approach is also good business, as there is emerging evidence from The Global Child Forum that a company that considers children as part of its investment practice outperforms its counterparts.

Despite the benefits of child-lens investing, to date, there is no comprehensive framework or set of guidelines for investing in children. Investors have been asking for more guidance to integrate social and sustainable considerations into their investment decision-making processes. The report addresses this gap by presenting the elements of strategy, process, and contribution necessary to claim child-lens investment status.

To claim child-lens investment status, aspiring investors are encouraged to consider each of these elements. The element of strategy refers to the intentional plans that investors establish to build or strengthen the resources, conditions, and opportunities that children need to survive and thrive. The process element builds on the most widely accepted process framework for integrating impact considerations throughout the investment lifecycle, known as Output, Performance, Input, and Management (OPIM).

The report also highlights the need to address the market gaps preventing capital from flowing to children, requiring long-term commitment to child-lens investing. The ecosystem necessary to drive adoption of the CLIF includes a wide range of stakeholders, from impact-first asset managers, institutional asset owners, and DFIs, to governments, enterprises, and children themselves. These stakeholders must work collaboratively to implement the recommendations put forward in the report and realise the UN’s SDGs.