UNCDF supports microfinance institutions, In 2016: UNCDF is the UN’s capital investment agency

banks, cooperatives, and money transfer

companies to ensure that suitable financial
31 for the world’s 48 least developed countries.

Least Developed
products (savings, credit, insurance, payments, With its capital mandate and instruments,
Countries
and remittances) are available to individuals - with UNCDF Programmes UNCDF offers “last mile” finance models that
notably the 'unbanked' - and micro-enterprises
22 in Africa and Unlocking Public and Private
Finance for the Poor unlock public and private resources, especially
as well as small and medium enterprises, at a
9 in Asia & the Pacific at the domestic level, to reduce poverty and
reasonable cost, and on a sustainable basis, to
overcome economic shocks, ensure smooth 38
Development
support local economic development.

consumption, and provide educational and
entrepreneurial investments to enable the
transition out of poverty. UNCDF also hosts the
Better Than Cash Alliance with the objective to
promote the use of digital payment systems for
gains in transparency, cost effectiveness, and
outreach.
UNCDF also works to ensure that people in all
regions and localities can access investment
resources, whether public or private, in order to
benefit from growth. UNCDF’s work aims at
mobilizing domestic resources to support local
Partners up from UNCDF’s financing models work through two
29 in 2010 channels: financial inclusion that expands the
opportunities for individuals, households, and
THREEFOLD small businesses to participate in the local
increase in the number
economy, providing them with the tools they
of partners from the
private sector need to climb out of poverty and manage their
since 2010
financial lives; and by showing how localized
investments — through fiscal decentralization,
innovative municipal finance, and structured
UNCDF Global Thematic
Initiatives & Diagnostic Tools project finance — can drive public and private
use innovative
finance to contribute to
UNCDF AT A GLANCE funding that underpins local economic
food security, climate change,
acces to energy, women’s UNLOCKING PUBLIC expansion and sustainable development.

economies and service delivery through,

and youth economic
empowerment and social AND PRIVATE FINANCE By strengthening how finance works for poor
FOR THE POOR
protection
inter-alia, fiscal decentralization, climate people at the household, small enterprise, and
finance, women's economic empowerment and local infrastructure levels, UNCDF contributes
financing of infrastructure projects. UNCDF’s to SDG 1 on eradicating poverty and SDG 17 on
focus is on strengthening public financial the means of implementation.
management and local revenue, improving the
quality of public and private investments and UN Capital Development Fund By identifying those market segments where
Two United Nations Plaza
promoting innovations at the local level. New York, NY 10017 innovative financing models can have
info@uncdf.org | www.uncdf.org
Tel: +1-212-906-6565 | Fax: +1-212-906-6479 transformational impact in helping to reach the
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last mile and address exclusion and inequalities
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of access, UNCDF contributes to a number of
Unlocking
Unlocking PublicPublic and Private Finance for the Poor
and Private different SDGs.
Finance for the Poor
 Funding Partners UNCDF Programmes
UNIQUE LDCS UNCDF UNDP
Austria Mastercard Worldwide Inclusive Local Development
Belgian Survival Fund Myanmar
FINANCIAL GEOGRAPHIC
Finance Finance
Belgian Tecnical New Zealand MANDATE FOCUS “UNDP will rely upon UNCDF’s
Cooperation (BTC) Norway Benin Bangladesh through grants, soft loans, “to serve first and foremost the financial mandate in specific areas
Belgium Norwegian Agency for Burkina Faso Benin targeted credit enhancements, and LDCs” as established by the UN of shared focus in LDCs.” (UNDP
Bhutan Development Burundi Bhutan
Bill & Melinda Gates Cooperation (Norad) innovative business partnerships. General Assembly. Strategic Plan 2014-2017)
Cameroon Burkina Faso
Foundation Omidyar Network Chad Burundi
China Pact Global Microfinance Democratic Republic Cambodia
Citi Foundation Fund (PGMF) (Myanmar) of Congo Democratic Republic
Danish International Sweden Ethiopia of Congo
Development Agency Swedish International Fiji Ethiopia
(DANIDA) Development Ghana Guinea
Denmark Cooperation Agency Côte d’Ivoire Côte d’Ivoire
Department for (Sida) Jordan Jordan
International Swiss Development Lao PDR Lao PDR
Development (DfID) Corporation (SDC) Lesotho Lesotho
Department of Foreign Thailand Liberia Mali
Affairs and Trade The Mastercard Madagascar Mozambique
(Australia) Foundation Malawi Nepal
European Commission The Netherlands Mozambique Niger 1
International Fund for United Nations Myanmar Papua New Guinea
Agricultural Convention to Combat Nepal Senegal
Development (IFAD) Desertification Innovation
Niger Sierra Leone
Irish Aid (UNCDD) Papua New Guinea Somalia
Italy United Nations Rwanda Tanzania
Lao PDR Development Samoa Timor-Leste
Liechtenstein Programme (UNDP) Senegal Uganda UNCDF
Livelihoods and Food United States Sierra Leone Maturity 2
Security Trust Fund United States Agency for 3 Model
Solomon Islands
(LIFT) International Swaziland
Lux Development Development (USAID)
Scaling Leverage
Tanzania
Luxembourg Togo up
Tonga
Uganda
Vanuatu 1 UNCDF uses core resources as “seed capital” to establish country presence, to develop
Zambia
programmes and to prove concept. This is the innovation stage, for which core resources, healthy risk
appetite, and open platform learning with partners are critical components.

2 UNCDF consolidates the lessons from the innovation stage to create the leverage for unlocking additional
sources of public and private, foreign and domestic resources that will help countries embed the innovations in
institutions, policies, capacities, and systems. During the consolidation stage, lessons can be drawn about the
implications for replication, capacity development, and market potential.

3 UNCDF and its partner institutions also work with national and international investment partners to create the
conditions for scaling up, for which a leverage of at least 1:10 is sought. Scaling up may involve replication across more
institutions, more populations, more geographic localities, and/or more countries.
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