Stay ConnectedThe UN Capital Development Fund makes public and private finance work for the poor in the world’s 45 least developed countries (LDCs).
With its capital mandate and instruments, UNCDF offers “last mile” finance models that unlock public and private resources, especially at the domestic level, to reduce poverty and support local economic development.
Copyright: Copyright © 2021 UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF)
"The future we want, the United Nations we need: reaffirming our collective commitment to multilateralism"--one of the critical themes of this year's UN General Assembly, marking the 75th anniversary of the UN. From confronting the COVID-19 pandemic to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, multilateralism is an irreplaceable element of success. UNCDF's commitment to multilateralism is reflected in its partnership with the European Union in many workstreams of sustainable development; and in particular, driving youth financial inclusion in the world's poorest and least developed countries.
This episode of Capital Musings features a roundtable discussion of thought and practice leaders from UNCDF and the European Union, describing in detail how we are collaborating in five least developed countries to support financial inclusion for youth; in the process, demonstrating the power and importance of multilateralism as we enter the Decade of Action for implementation of the SDGs.
2020 marks the 75th anniversary of the United Nations. As the UN looks to deliver a future that is anchored in universality, indivisibility and integration, an important question has emerged: what UN will we need in order to deliver the future we want?
On Episode 18 of Capital Musings, we pose this question to Mounir Ibrahim—who references his experience as a U.S. diplomat working in Syria, a member of the U.S. Mission to the United Nations under Ambassador Samantha Power, and as the Vice President of Strategic Partnerships with Truepic, the digital photo and video verification platform that is involved in sustainable projects as well as documenting COVID-19 in conflict zones—provides his answer to this question.
The reckoning taking place in the United States is both historic and undeniable. One of the drivers of this conversation revolves around the racial wealth gap in the U.S. Understanding the causes behind this gap is essential to achieving racial progress in the United States, but how can we broaden this understanding to address structural barriers to economic equity in least developed countries?
Peter Lupoff, CEO of Net Impact, a mission-driven organization with 150,000 members, is our guest for Episode 17 of Capital Musings. He provides his views on the nature of the U.S.'s racial wealth gap and how it speaks to the importance of impact investment, both domestically and internationally.
When we discuss financial inclusion, specifically in regards to women, the conversation often focuses on developing markets and least developed countries. But challenges to financial inclusion exist for women in developed economies as well, including the United States. So, what are the lessons we can take from developed economies that we can apply to the last mile, and vice versa?
In what would be the last episode we recorded before the COVID-19 outbreak, Episode 16 of Capital Musings featured Lauren Silbert, VP and General Manager of the personal finance website, The Balance. Lauren shared her thoughts on the challenges of financial inclusion and financial literacy for women in the U.S. and what lessons we can apply to the LDCs.
This January marked the commencement of the "Decade of Action"--the final 10 year period to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals. With the global finance gap to achieve the SDGs in the trillions, one question that has emerged is: how can the private sector generally, and corporate brands with global scale in particular, play a role in driving achievement of the SDGs? And how can business models for major corporate brands align with sustainable development, notably in the world's least developed countries?
As the first corporate guest of the Capital Musings podcast, we welcomed Ezgi Barcenas—Global Vice President of Sustainability with ABInBev—to the show. Ezgi discussed how the world's largest brewer has taken on the task of incubating scalable sustainability solutions, the reasoning for the corporation's sustainability agenda, and how the company repurposed its resources to respond to COVID-19. She also discusses the role that individual consumers can play in advancing the SDGs.
According to the GIIN's 2018, Annual Impact Investor Survey, a majority of respondents reported applying a gender lens to their investments processes—an astounding 70%. And while gender lens investing holds the potential that investment capital can support women-owned and gender-friendly businesses while delivering a return on investment, a separate question persists: can gender lens investing actually support women's economic empowerment in the world's most challenging markets?
UNCDF and Artesian, the global alternative investment management firm, are offering their own answer to this question. Last week, they launched an impact partnership to support gender lens investing, boost female leaders in the corporate workplace, and support women's economic empowerment in the LDCs. Under this partnership, Artesian's gender-lensed investment bond fund (the WE Fund) will donate a third of its management fee to UNCDF and to the nonprofit, SheSyndicate, to support their work in the area of women's economic empowerment, including work in the 47 LDCs.
For Episode 14 of Capital Musings, we talk with Vicky Lay, Managing Director of Artesian. She discusses the demand for gender lens investment opportunities, the economic argument for women's economic empowerment, and the impact partnership with UNCDF.
One of the many challenges stemming from COVID-19, particularly in the context of the world's least developed countries, relates to the deployment of capital. Fast tracking of payments and capital will be essential to the goal of supporting LDCs in the context of COVID-19, from providing financial support to vulnerable populations, to disbursing grants to SMEs, to sending payments to healthcare workers who are on the frontlines. As with the current virus, digital payments were essential in the context of two other significant challenges: the Nepal Earthquake and the Ebola virus. So what are the lessons we can take from those experiences that are applicable with COVID-19?
We invited UNCDF's Jaspreet Singh and Ali Akram, both of whom have experience with respect to digital payments during the Nepal Earthquake and Ebola virus, to share their views on the Capital Musings podcast. This interview also offers a preview of a webinar that UNCDF will be conducting on April 20th on fast track digital payments in response to COVID-19 and beyond.
Local governments have been on the frontlines when it comes to the COVID-19 response, in large part because of their competencies--citizen engagement, management of public space and service delivery. But for local governments in the world's least developed countries, their ability to execute an effective response is undermined by a lack of funding, considering many local governments lack the authority to tax or access capital markets. What measures can local governments deploy to address these finance challenges, which can be deployed in days or weeks instead of months?
We spoke with two thought leaders and practice leaders--David Jackson and Tehmina Akhtar, Director and Deputy Director of UNCDF's Local Development Finance Practice--to get their insights and recommendations for how local governments can address these finance challenges to support and strengthen their COVID-19 responses. These recommendations are also included in a publication UNCDF has released this week.
This is a special co-podcast of Capital Musings and Capital Locast.
To all of the supporters of UNCDF and Capital Musings, we are thinking of all of you and we hope that you are navigating through this time as best as possible. You can find up-to-date information, guidance, and media resources on COVID-19 by going to the World Health Organization's website, https://www.who.int.
Thank you.
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Several weeks ago, there was a question regarding sustainable development that we wanted to address: what is the connection between transitioning from cash to digital payments and achievement of women's economic empowerment and gender equality? This one question led to others: Where is successful cash digitization currently taking place? Why is 2020 such a critical year for women in the context of economic empowerment? And what is the call to action to governments, international organizations, and the private sector?
We were fortunate enough to have Dr. Ruth Goodwin-Groen, Managing Director of the Better Than Cash Alliance, join us for Episode 11 of Capital Musings. The Better Than Cash Alliance is a partnership of governments, companies, and international organizations that accelerates the transition from cash to digital payments to advance the Sustainable Development Goals.
Note: This was recorded on February 25th
Because of the focus on SDG 5 during the month of March, the next three episodes of Capital Musings will focus on gender equality and women’s economic empowerment.
Digital has delivered the hope of financial inclusion for communities traditionally left behind by the global financial architecture, women and girls in particular. But digital has also shown a capability to increase as many divides as it bridges. So, what can be done to ensure that digital so that no woman is left behind, including women in the world's least developed countries?
As we focus on gender equality and SDG 5 during the month of March, we welcome Nandini Harihareswara to talk about her work at the intersection of digital finance and women's economic empowerment, and to unveil UNCDF's digital strategy for women's economic empowerment.
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