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UN Capital Development Fund
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Official account of the United Nations Capital Development Fund https://www.uncdf.org/
"Peacebuilding is not just about ending conflict, but about creating enabling conditions where peace can be sustained. That means investing in people's futures."

— Elizabeth Spehar, ASG for Peacebuilding & Peace Support, in the Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs & Peace Operations
February 10, 2026 at 9:18 PM
1966.

The UN General Assembly created the Capital Development Fund with a singular purpose: to unlock finance where risks are high and capital is scarce, first and foremost in LDCs.

The challenges are immense. But so is the opportunity.

https://pulse.ly/fgzaxyvxin
UNCDF: Absorbing Risk, Creating Possibility
The UN General Assembly created the Capital Development Fund with a singular purpose: to unlock finance where risks are high and capital is scarce, first and...
pulse.ly
February 10, 2026 at 12:20 AM
Coming up this Wednesday!

UNCDF is joining SINTEF, Norad, and NABA for the first in a five-part webinar series exploring how we move bold ideas into practical solutions.

📅 Date: 11 February 2026
⏰ Time: 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM EST
🔗 Register: events.teams.microsoft.com/event/0f112b...
February 9, 2026 at 4:02 PM
UNCDF's Executive Secretary presented the Strategic Framework 2026–2029 to its Executive Board, setting a clear direction for how UNCDF will scale its catalytic role in an increasingly constrained development finance landscape. 📈
February 6, 2026 at 6:08 PM
🌍 Japan has just released the JPO call for nominations for 2026!

If you’re national of Japan and interested in pursuing an international career with the UN system, explore the openings here ➡️ www.mofa-irc.go.jp/jpo/shokumu2...
www.mofa-irc.go.jp
February 6, 2026 at 3:17 PM
$20 mobilized for every $1 deployed. Thousands of jobs created. The first green bond in East Africa. This is what catalytic finance delivers. And it's only the beginning. 🎥

Ahead of the UNCDF Executive Board meeting, we're sharing what catalytic capital looks like in action.
February 5, 2026 at 11:21 AM
"Our role is not to be the market. Our role is to create those environments where the market can function and can function in an inclusive way."💡

Alexander De Croo highlights how UNCDF helps make 'C' grade markets investable, creating jobs, innovation, & local ownership. 📈
February 4, 2026 at 5:25 PM
Next week, UNCDF is joining SINTEF, Norad, and NABA for the first in a five-part webinar series exploring how a Technology Impact Fund could bridge the gap between high-income countries and LDCs?

📅 Date: 11 February 2026
⏰ Time: 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM EST
🔗 Register: https://pulse.ly/36vm5s1emk
February 3, 2026 at 11:16 PM
"Very few do what UNCDF is doing."

At the Executive Board of UNDP, UNFPA and UNOPS, a clear message from the newly appointed Alexander De Croo:

UNCDF is the UN entity dedicated to de-risking funds, capable of making "C-grade" markets investable.

youtube.com/shorts/_Y9e3...
youtube.com
February 3, 2026 at 7:03 PM
🤝 Proud to announce that Annycent Capital and UNCDF have signed a Statement of Intent to address one of the most persistent bottlenecks in Africa’s renewable energy transition: the inability to recycle capital and scale investment.

🔗 Learn more ➡️ https://pulse.ly/rdvtdmpjmh
UNCDF and Annycent Capital sign Statement of Intent to mobilize and de-risk investment in the secondary renewable energy market across Africa
The United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and Annycent Capital (Annycent) have signed a Statement of Intent to mobilize public and...
pulse.ly
February 2, 2026 at 8:02 PM
At the Global Labor Market Conference in Riyadh today, UNCDF Executive Secretary Pradeep Kurukulasuriya made the case for a fundamental shift in how we think about employment in fragile and least developed economies.

🔗 Watch the keynote speech here ➡️ www.youtube.com/live/B3pMl3N...
GLMC 2026 DAY2 - Activities English Livestream
YouTube video by Global Labor Market Conference
www.youtube.com
January 27, 2026 at 8:58 PM
With support from the Mitigation Action Facility, UNCDF & UNDP are deploying solutions to scale solar-powered cold storage.

UNCDF is using catalytic blended finance to de-risk investment in this market.

🔗 Read more ➡️ https://pulse.ly/nmxy0wyaip

#WorldCleanEnergyDay

@mitactfacility.bsky.social
Catalysing climate-resilient agriculture in Kenya with solar-powered cold storage
pulse.ly
January 26, 2026 at 9:31 PM
Zimbabwe's electrification: 40% national, 16% rural.

Traditional finance won't reach last-mile energy markets.

☀️ REF Zimbabwe, with the Joint SDG Fund, UNDP, UNESCO, UN Women, and UNCDF, aims to change that.

🔗 Learn more ➡️ https://pulse.ly/yp8h9mxcof

#WorldCleanEnergyDay
Zimbabwe’s First Renewable Energy Fund: Building a Distributed Energy Market from the Ground Up
pulse.ly
January 26, 2026 at 4:37 PM
Reposted by UN Capital Development Fund
Energy needs are increasing, yet the sector is already responsible for 3/4 of greenhouse gas emissions.

This #WorldCleanEnergyDay learn how increasing efficiency & transitioning to renewables can drastically cut emissions, while providing #EnergyForAll: www.unep.org/topics/energy
January 26, 2026 at 7:19 AM
In Niger, university enrollment was a challenge.

UNCDF's catalytic grant enabled I-Futur fintech to deploy a digital payment platform.

The results?

✅ 7,700 students enroll online
✅ Registration down from weeks to 48 hours.

https://pulse.ly/07tk7qikwc

#EducationDay
How UNCDF’s catalytic finance is driving digital finance solutions for smarter university enrolment in Niger
In Niger, a simple digital innovation is transforming higher education. With support from the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and its pa...
pulse.ly
January 24, 2026 at 4:18 PM
A milestone for Investing for Peace (I4P). 🎉

This week in Berlin, founding partners — German Federal Foreign Office, UN United Nations Peacebuilding and Peace Support Office, and UNCDF — convened with I4P's newly appointed Boards.

From vision to action.

https://pulse.ly/hgk7so79no
From Crisis to Opportunity: Investing for Peace 🕊
When capital reaches communities in crisis, peace dividends become real.In fragile and conflict-affected settings, local enterprises hold the potential to cr...
pulse.ly
January 24, 2026 at 2:08 AM
In Benin, agriculture employs 70% of people, yet only 34% of school meals came from local producers.

🤝 With WFP and UNFPA, UNCDF deployed a $450K guarantee that unlocked $500K+ in loans to smallholder farmers.

🔗 Learn more ➡️ https://pulse.ly/ik55lokzlv

#EducationDay
Mobilizing domestic capital to feed one million school children daily in Benin
In Benin, over 36% of children under the age of five suffer from malnutrition. To address this, the Government of Benin launched in 2017 the...
pulse.ly
January 23, 2026 at 9:16 PM
Nayon Tara Chakma climbed 2 km daily to fetch water. 💧

☀️ Now a solar-powered system, financed through UNCDF performance-based grants to local government, brings water to her door.

2.2 million people in Bangladesh have benefited from this approach.

https://pulse.ly/kxrlai4gr4
Driving Capital to the Local Level Brings Vital Services to Remote Villages in Bangladesh
A performance-based grant from the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) provided the funds, using an approach developed as part of their signature climate adaptation initiative, the Local Climate Adaptive Living (LoCAL) Facility.
pulse.ly
January 22, 2026 at 5:03 PM
At #WEF26, UNCDF shared how blended finance (risk reduction, transfer, and absorption) can unlock capital for the world's most climate-vulnerable communities.

📺 Watch the full session here ➡️ https://pulse.ly/giwmwh8rxm
Strengthening Resilience to Address Global Drought
Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.
pulse.ly
January 22, 2026 at 12:41 AM
In Uganda, 78% of workers are informal, invisible to banks.

Digital tools are changing that. 📱

🔗 See how we are helping Uganda’s agribusiness micro-entrepreneurs move from subsistence to agency ➡️

https://pulse.ly/pua6dtcag7
Moving Uganda’s agribusiness micro-entrepreneurs from subsistence to agency
Uganda’s micro-entrepreneurs form the backbone of the country’s economy, yet without evidence of their daily activities such as what they se...
pulse.ly
January 21, 2026 at 12:23 AM
Despite a $482 trillion global financial market, only 4-5% flows to the countries that need it most.

Why?

➡️ Risk perceptions
➡️ Weak pipelines
➡️ Thin markets.

Blended finance can unlock this by using catalytic capital to de-risk and crowd-in private investment.

🔗 https://pulse.ly/jbe5xd9rpe
What We Do — Mobilizing and deploying impact capital for development in the LDCs
Mobilizing and deploying capital for development in the least developed countries (LDCs) has never been more critical. The decade of action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals began with an unprecedented health and socioeconomic crisis that may push up to 32 million more people living in LDCs back into extreme poverty.
pulse.ly
January 19, 2026 at 9:40 PM
Reposted by UN Capital Development Fund
The frequency of disasters has quadrupled in the past two decades, yet the healthy ecosystems that naturally help reduce these risks are vanishing.

Investing in nature offers a smart, cost-effective way to protect lives and strengthen economies.

Learn more: https://tinyurl.com/4zcbfbxk
January 16, 2026 at 5:15 AM
Why does private capital keep missing LDCs? 📊

A paper by ISF Advisors, supported by UNCDF, shows it’s not a lack of capital, but a structural mismatch in how finance is deployed.

White spaces persist in early-stage & last-mile markets.

🔗 Learn more ➡️ https://pulse.ly/sm7f9hrfqv
The case of missing middles: Gaps in the development finance landscape, and UNCDF’s positioning in it
This paper identifies these persistent “white spaces” in the development finance ecosystem and argues that bridging them requires a distinct...
pulse.ly
January 17, 2026 at 8:18 PM
As climate shocks, AI, and trade shifts reshape labour markets, finance must do more than stabilize.

At the Global Market Conference, UNCDF Executive Secretary Pradeep Kurukulasuriya will share how blended finance can create jobs in early-stage and last-mile markets.

https://pulse.ly/ogdlraeuqj
GLMC – Future in Progress
GLMC is a premier platform and independent think tank that fosters global labor market dialogue, innovation, collaboration, and insights.
pulse.ly
January 16, 2026 at 9:16 PM
How do you lower insurance premiums without distorting markets?

Through premium financing that absorbs early risk, crowds in capital, and strengthens insurance systems for the long term.

Our latest blog explores how this works in Pacific Island states.

https://pulse.ly/j87tq6y6pz
How Premium Support Strengthens Climate Resilience in Pacific Island States | Microinsurance Network
With climate risk insurance growing across the Pacific, a new conversation is emerging around premium support using subsidies and concessional financing for low-income households and small businesses to improve affordability and access.  
pulse.ly
January 16, 2026 at 2:21 PM