Innovative Finance for Resilience
Scaling and Supporting Innovative Finance for Resilience in Fragile and Conflict-Prone Regions
Annie Spratt, Unsplash
People living in Fragile and Conflict-Prone Regions are currently facing a triple threat as the impacts of COVID-19 and extreme weather caused by climate change amplify food and water security challenges, disasters and geopolitical instability and conflict. Sustainably recovering from the economic and social impacts of COVID-19 and building resilience to these challenges requires innovation and leadership from a wide group of stakeholders, including the private sector.
Despite investment opportunities, private sector actors often face many challenges in Fragile and Conflict-Prone Regions that are difficult to overcome on their own. To meet this challenge and build resilience in the regions that need it most, the Global Resilience Partnership (GRP) is working with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) supported by GEF’s Challenge Program for Adaptation Innovation.
Over the next three years, GRP will be working with Lutheran World Relief (LWR)‘s Mountain Harvest in Uganda and the Near East Foundation (NEF) in Sudan to provide small-scale farmers access to fairly-priced loans, as well as change perceptions around the risk they represent, and further foster stability.
GRP provides technical assistance, aims to help de-risk these enterprises for other funders, and bring about more accessible, fairly priced capital.
GRP selected to work with Lutheran World Relief (LWR)‘s Mountain Harvest and the Near East Foundation (NEF) from a call for Expressions of Interest.
Benefits for Selected Finance Mechanisms
The organisations will:
- Benefit from targeted investment support against a business plan to improve the effectiveness of finance mechanisms
- Be supported to develop a clear business plan of how they plan to increase the scale, effectiveness, and impact of these finance mechanisms
- Receive technical assistance from a multi-disciplinary team comprised of experts in the fields of resilience programming, climate adaptation, peace & stability, and micro-finance
- Benefit from peer-to-peer learning with other organisations running and supporting innovative finance mechanisms in Fragile and Conflict-Prone Regions
- Benefit from networking opportunities with UNDP, GRP and with potential donors, investors, and other UN agencies wishing to increase their footprint in resilience building activities in these regions
Timeline
Call for Expressions of Interest
Call opened for submissions: 2 December 2020 – 27 January 2021
Submission window closes: 27 January 2021
Selection
Screening, assessment and selection: February 2021 – September 2021
Implementation
Support: Early 2022 and onwards
