Singapore, 30 April 2026 — Impact Investment Exchange (IIX) today announced the successful pricing of the second tranche of the Women’s Livelihood Bond™ 7 (WLB7), bringing total issuance across both tranches to US$92 million. This seventh issuance is set to impact approximately 1 million women and girls across India, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka, deploying capital across clean energy, sustainable agriculture, healthcare, and financial inclusion, with women and underserved communities at the center of each investment, particularly those on the frontlines of climate risk.

In 2025, the global sustainability project faced its most serious stress test in a decade. Geopolitical tensions placed pressure on climate frameworks, while development funding tightened amid intensifying climate shocks. The year highlighted structural challenges across parts of the sustainable finance ecosystem, particularly where models relied on stable conditions and concessional capital. WLB7b is certified as an Orange Bond, a cross-cutting asset class pioneered by IIX and global partners under the Orange Movement™, dedicated to financing at the nexus of gender equality and climate action. Once a bold experiment at the margins ofsustainable finance, Orange Bonds are now one of the fastest-growing segments in the market.

WLB7 is built on IIX’s signature blended finance structure, an award-winning model widely recognized as a benchmark for mobilizing private capital at scale in underserved markets, and structured for replication across geographies and successive issuances. The story of the WLB Series is, in many ways, the story of the last decade of global uncertainty. IIX launched the world’s first gender lens impact investing security on a stock exchange, WLB1, in 2017 with a US$8.5 million debut. Through COVID-19, supply chain disruptions, and shifting geopolitical conditions, the WLB Series continued to attract capital and deliver returns. Today, it has grown to approximately US$320 million across seven issuances, helping to lay the foundation for the broader Orange Bond asset class and demonstrating that integrating gender equity and climate resilience into financial structures can be both scalable and durable. This multi-sector investment approach of WLB bonds, including WLB7b reflects the reality of the communities the bonds serve. Climate resilience, healthcare, food security, and financial inclusion are not separate challenges, they are experienced simultaneously. By centering investments around women and underserved communities, who are disproportionately impacted across all of these areas, Similar to its predecessor bonds in the series, WLB7b is able to address multiple priorities within a single financial structure. This also speaks to the strength of Orange Bonds as a cross- cutting asset class, and why inclusion is increasingly recognized as foundational to effective climate action. The WLB Series model brings together concessional and private capital in a way that enables risk-sharing while delivering market-aligned returns. It has continued to operate across varying market conditions, including periods of global disruption.

The transaction attracted a strong coalition of investors and partners, including Nuveen, APG, International Finance Corporation, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, the Ford Foundation, Clare Foundation, Standard Chartered Bank, Linklaters, and Clifford Chance.

“This latest issuance in the Women’s Livelihood Bond™ Series builds on a strong foundation and points to where the market is heading,” said Durreen Shahnaz, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Impact Investment Exchange. “Investors are increasingly backing solutions that integrate gender equity with climate resilience. That shift is unlocking more capital for enterprises addressing the needs of historically underserved communities. WLB7 reinforces that Orange Bonds can deliver measurable positive impact alongside market-aligned returns.”

“The Ford Foundation is proud to support IIX and WLB7 as part of our commitment to building an economy that works for everyone. This investment is a critical tool for improving the livelihoods of women, refugees, and marginalized communities in South and Southeast Asia. Our partnership with IIX reflects our belief that a more inclusive financial system is not only possible, but essential to driving sustainable and equitable growth,” said Roy Swan, Director of Mission Investments, Ford Foundation.

“As demand grows for investments that integrate attractive relative value, blended finance and impact, Orange Bonds are emerging as a credible and scalable segment of the sustainable finance market,” said Stephen M. Liberatore, CFA Head of ESG/Impact for Global Fixed Income, Nuveen. “WLB7 reflects the strength of this model in mobilizing capital at scale and directing it toward solutions that improve livelihoods and build climate resilience. Having been invested in the WLB Series since WLB2, we have seen its evolution firsthand and believe there is significant potential for continued growth, enabling further issuances that can expand impact across underserved communities.”

WLB7 is expected to be listed on the Singapore Exchange and has received certification from Sustainable Fitch Limited, acting as the Second Party Opinion Provider, confirming alignment with the Orange Bond Principles™, as well as the International Capital Market Association’s Green Bond Principles, Social Bond Principles, and Sustainability Bond Guidelines. It will also comply with EU and UK securitization regulations.

A new poll shows a strong majority of people in New Zealand support bringing dental care into the public healthcare system, with that strong support existing across the political spectrum. A Talbot Mills poll of over 1000 New Zealand adults showed 83% of people answered yes to the question, “Do you support dental care being brought into the public healthcare system?”

88% of Labour voters supported the move, alongside 78% of National voters. Women (87%) were more likely to support the move than men (79%). “This poll is the latest in a series of developments showing growing public momentum behind plugging the gap in our healthcare system that leaves out dental care,” says Hana Pilkinton-Ching, campaigner for Dental for All , which commissioned the poll. “Dental is carved out of our public healthcare system because some dentists lobbied in 1938 to keep dental out,” adds Pilkinton-Ching, “but more and more people in New Zealand recognise that our mouths are part of our bodies, oral health is health, and it makes no sense for our healthcare system to keep excluding dental.”

At present, dental is free for under-18s, but is largely privatised for adults. A $1000 grant for essential dental care is available from Work & Income, though that grant is means-tested. The same poll also tested support for dental care being free, with similarly strong results. 80% of people polled – including 76% of National voters and 87% of Labour voters (as well as 85% of Green voters and 79% of ACT voters) – supported free dental care for adults. “A 2023 poll showed that 74% of people supported free dental, ” observes Harriet Wild, Policy & Research Director at the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, the union representing senior dentists and doctors. “This poll shows public support continues to build to bring dental into our public healthcare system,” adds Wild. “It makes human sense, it makes economic sense, and this polling confirms that the move would be an incredibly popular one among the wider voting public.”

A recent Dental for All report , completed by FrankAdvice, showed that keeping dental out of the public healthcare system is costing New Zealand $2.5 billion in lost productivity per year and $3.1 billion per year in reduced quality of life. Estimates of the cost of bringing dental into the public healthcare system generally range between $1 billion and $2 billion annually.Dental for All will shortly release, later in April 2026, a costed plan for an integrated oral health service for children and adults.

Polling conducted by Talbot Mills Research surveyed 1060 individuals (using nationally representative respondents 18 years and over). The maximum sampling error is 3.1%. Fieldwork was conducted between 12 and 24 March 2026.

Connecting buyers with verified Māori and Pasifika-owned businesses is at the heart of Amotai. Their ambition to diversify supply chains is generating a groundswell of positive impact for wāhine in business.

(Amotai’s Anna Edwards with Jan Logie from Clare Foundation)

According to Stats NZ, in 2023, women made up only 35% of all business owners in New Zealand, demonstrating a clear need for greater support and encouragement.

Clare’s multi-year funding will be used as part of the Hinemoa Programme to develop new ways of supporting Māori and Pasifika wāhine-owned businesses. The Programme will shift resources to Māori and Pasifika women/whānau/hapori, helping to build their economic power and self-determination.

Jan Logie, Strategic Lead for Women at Clare, says the ripple effect when women succeed in business can have a profound impact. “From creating new jobs to inspiring other wāhine to follow their dreams, to investing back into their own communities, the work that Amotai does is vital.”

To find out more about Amotai visit: https://amotai.nz

Pay differences based on performance are justified. Pay differences based on gender or ethnicity aren’t justified, and that’s the key focus at Still Minding The Gap, funded by Clare. Their new research is showing what factors are driving gender and ethnic pay gaps and the results are startling.

STILLMindingTheGap.nz is campaigning for urgent action to reduce New Zealand’s gender and ethnic pay gaps by encouraging the Government to make pay gap reporting mandatory for businesses over a certain size as an important step to close unjustified pay gaps.

The gender pay gap for all women is now around five percent. For wāhine Māori it’s 12 percent, for Pacific women almost 16 percent, and Asian women about 10 percent.

Only 20 percent of our gender and ethnic pay gaps can be explained by factors such as a woman’s education levels, occupation or experience. Up to 80 percent are being driven by decisions made within organisations about pay and promotions including unconscious and conscious bias.

Click through here to read the full media release from Still Minding the Gap, including the results of their recent research.

CHFA was established by social enterprise Community Finance in 2024 aided by concessionary catalytic capital personally provided by Clare founder Anna Stuck. It aggregates the leading community and affordable housing providers in the country to help them secure long-term, lower-cost finance. Community Finance launched CHFA as a natural next step in response to growing demand from the community housing sector for its lending services. Moving to an affordable housing aggregation model was the logical upgrade needed for New Zealand.

The Indigenous Wellbeing Conference 2025 brought over 500 delegates together in Meanjin (Brisbane) recently, spanning community leaders, Elders, youth voices, service providers, researchers, and policy makers from across Australia, Aotearoa and the Pacific, united under the theme “Walking Together, Flourishing Together: Pathways to Indigenous Wellbeing.”

The Clare Foundation was proudly represented by Stevie-Jean Gear (Strategic Lead – Youth) and Anne-Marie Maikuku (Strategic Lead – Oral Health), alongside partners Luke Grey founder WĀHI Charitable Trust and Michael Edmonds, Manager at Te Toi Ora ki Whāingaroa (Raglan, NZ).

This inspiring gathering created a powerful space to learn, connect, and share best-practice approaches to Indigenous wellbeing, hearing directly from those on the ground who are empowering and transforming their communities every day.

Together, we continue to walk towards stronger, culturally grounded wellbeing for all First Nations peoples — guided by connection, respect, and collective action.

Key Themes and Highlights

The conference provided a rich programme of panels, keynote presentations and breakout sessions centred on culturally-grounded solutions for First Nations Australians, Māori and Pasifika communities. Some of the standout themes included:

• Connection to Country/Whenua, culture and ancestry – recognising the pivotal role of cultural identity, spirituality and land-based practice in social and emotional wellbeing.
• Indigenous-led models of care and resilience – exploring holistic, community-led approaches to mental health and wellbeing, moving beyond traditional service models.
• Youth empowerment and leadership – engaging young people in shaping their own wellbeing pathways, innovating in education, technology and cultural expression.
• Environmental and climate stewardship through Indigenous knowledge – linking ecological health, sustainable land practices and cultural wellbeing for flourishing communities.
• Cultural lore, legal frameworks and economic futures – acknowledging that wellbeing is interwoven with governance, self-determination, economic empowerment and cultural heritage.
• Innovation, technology and digital storytelling – leveraging new media and digital platforms to preserve Indigenous narratives, support wellbeing and promote intergenerational connection.

The conference reaffirmed Clare’s commitment to placing culture, connection and community at the heart of wellbeing initiatives. Key learnings for our future work included strengthening partnerships with Indigenous-led organisations to co-design programmes, prioritising youth-led initiatives, exploring digital and storytelling platforms, embedding place-based, land-connected practices into wellbeing strategies, driving economic development opportunities, and advocating for policy alignment and systems change that supports Indigenous peoples.

Systems change addresses the underlying causes of societal issues, transforming structures, policies, mindsets, and relationships to create lasting, sustainable solutions instead of just treating symptoms. It involves understanding the interconnectedness of our systems, identifying “levers” where change can have the greatest impact, and working collaboratively to shift norms, power dynamics, and resource allocation towards new, fairer outcomes.  Scaling deep and restorative approaches to systems change acknowledge that in order to create long lasting change, we need to bring healing and restoration into our systems change work.

The Clare team has been learning about the Haumanu framework which is an emerging approach to restorative systems change that draws from mātauranga Māori and Western knowledge. It incorporates insights from Theory U, Thomas Hubl’s work on healing collective trauma, and from the wisdom passed down from our collective tupuna or ancestors. Haumanu means to restore and rejuvenate, and the approach provides a conceptual framework, a process method and practices to address collective trauma as it arises, and to redesign our systems from a place of mauri ora (wellness and wholeness).

The Haumanu framework (developed by Louise Marra, Tuihana Ohia and the team at the Centre for Social Impact)  brings restoration into the work of systems change, changing the way we work, relate, design and learn together.

The Dental for All roadshow is heading all over the motu from August to October this year, holding community events from panel discussions, to market stalls, to free dental days and more.

Created in early 2022 by campaigners, dentists, and unionists who got together to talk about dental access in Aotearoa, with experience ranging from anti-poverty campaigning to clinical work in oral healthcare, this group saw how the cost of oral healthcare in the private system was a barrier to healthy, thriving communities. As a core part of this there was a recognition of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the importance of by Māori, for Māori approaches to oral healthcare.

The Dental for All coalition, led by ActionStation are focused on amplifying the growing call for free, universal, Te Tiriti-consistent oral healthcare in the public health system, continuing to build a strong evidence base, and keeping this issue on the political agenda.

Check out the stops on the first leg of the roadshow!

A very insightful and inspiring opinion piece in The Post penned by Eleanor Cater, a philanthropy advisor working for Community Foundations of Aotearoa NZ, reflects on a demographic shift taking place which sees women playing an increasing role in philanthropy.

A really interesting demographic shift where women will eventually become the main drivers and decision makers around family wealth, transforming wealth management, including estate planning and philanthropy, is shaping the next frontier of philanthropy, with inspiring women, including Clare founder Anna Stuck, recognised as one of the women redefining this space.

Click here to take a read the full article.