United Nations Capital Development Fund UNCDF

United Nations Capital Development Fund UNCDF

Recently the UN Capital Development Fund has appointed Indian-origin investment and development banker Preeti Sinha as its Executive Secretary, whose focus will be on providing micro-finance assistance to women, youth, small and medium-sized enterprises in under-served communities.

What is UNCDF?

The UNCDF (United Nations Capital Development Fund) is the UN's capital investment agency for the world's 48 Least Developed Countries (LDCs). UNCDF uses its capital mandate to help LDCs pursue inclusive growth.

What is the Aim of UNCDF?

The main Aim of UNCDF is to attempts to break the national and local barriers to the stimulus of a productive and equitable growth, thus providing sustainable means to increase the production and strengthen the local food system in the countries where F4F exists.

About UNCDF

Created by the General Assembly in 1966 to promote economic development, UNCDF officially was established as an "autonomous organization within the United Nations" with the purpose to "assist developing countries in the development of their economies by supplementing existing sources of capital assistance by means of grants and loans".

UNCDF is an autonomous, voluntarily funded UN organization affiliated with UNDP. Its funding comes from UN member states, foundations, and the private sector.

In 1973, the Governing Council reorients UNCDF's activities towards "first and foremost the least developed among the developing countries" and it began focusing on the world's least developed countries in 1974.

UNCDF's financing models work through two channels

• savings-led financial inclusion that expands the opportunities for individuals, households, and small businesses to participate in the local economy, providing them with the tools they need to climb out of poverty and manage their financial lives
• by showing how localized investments—through fiscal decentralization, innovative municipal finance, and structured project finance—can drive public and private funding that underpins local economic expansion and sustainable development.

UNCDF financing models are applied in thematic areas where addressing barriers to finance at the local level can have a transformational effect for poor and excluded people and communities.