SIMI is pleased to announce a partnership with K-three Inc. to launch a project aimed at promoting the adoption of UNICEF’s Child- lens Investing in Japan for the first time.

■ Project Overview
This project aims to build the foundation for introducing the UNICEF’s CLI in a manner adapted to the Japanese market. SIMI and K-three will jointly promote the following initiatives:

1. Development of Entry Strategies for the Japanese Market: Establish strategies to adopt CLI in Japan by contextualizing the approach through interviews and consultations with domestic financial institutions, investors, and corporations.

2. Implementation of Pilot Programs: Collaborate with domestic investors and regional funds (currently planned in Okinawa) to support and implement the integration of CLI into actual investment processes.

3. Ecosystem Building and Awareness Raising: Identify investment opportunities that consider children’s rights within the financial industry and impact investment communities to increase awareness.

■ Why CLI Now?
As global ESG and impact investing expand, the importance of considering impacts on children—alongside established perspectives like Gender-Lens and Climate-Lens—is increasing. In Japan, where birthrates continue to decline and the relative poverty rate is increasing, there is an urgent need to create new capital flows from the private sector to supplement public funds and donations, protecting children’s rights and improving their well-being

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■ Representative Comments

Katsuji Imata, Representative Director, SIMI
“At Social Impact Day in May 2024, SIMI focused on CLI, where the then-Director of UNICEF introduced its objectives and framework. We felt that a framework contributing to the creation and implementation of sector-specific investment strategies would be a great help to investors as impact investing gains traction. Also, CLI is rooted in a child-centered approach, aligning the philosophy of protecting and advancing children’s rights with the mechanism of finance. We believe embarking on this strategy for Japan is a deeply significant step forward for Japanese children but also children globally.”

Masaki Kochi, President and CEO, K-three Inc.
“K-three has supported companies and investors nationwide in strategy formulation and execution for social impact management and impact investing. Meanwhile, in our home base of Okinawa, we have witnessed various challenges surrounding children, including relative poverty. In 2024, through the ‘Okinawa Future Map Action’ project, K-three analysed and visualized the structural challenges children face in Okinawa. As our journey continues to promote structural changes to promote children’s rights, I have realized that achieving fundamental solutions requires both incentives for corporate behavioral change and sustainable capital cycles. UNICEF’s CLI, will be a vital pillar for creating such cycles. Leveraging our practical knowledge from Okinawa, we are committed to building a new investment ecosystem in Japan centered on children’s rights and well-being.”