Donors

UNCDF offers a combination of investment capital, capacity building and technical advisory services to promote microfinance and local development in forty Least Developed Countries (LDCs). It builds access for poor households and enterprises to a wide range of financial services by promoting inclusive financial sectors with policymakers and regulators and providing investment capital for emerging microfinance institutions (MFIs) and other financial service providers (FSPs). UNCDF is the only UN agency with an investment mechanism and uses its resources to catalyse additional investment from the private sector, development partners and national governments. It is the lead technical agency and primary funder of PFIP and INFUSE.

The European Union helps poor people in African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries get better access to appropriate financial products and services. The Programme builds capacity of microfinance actors and advances transparency in the industry. The current programme runs from 2005 to 2010 but a successor programme has already been launched and will run until 2014. It focuses on capacity building, promoting consumer empowerment and achieving responsible finance for all. The EU was instrumental in designing PFIP and providing start up funding and will continue supporting PFIP with the new programme.

AusAID is the Australian Government agency responsible for managing Australia's overseas aid program. The objective of the aid program is to assist developing countries reduce poverty and achieve sustainable development, in line with Australia's national interest. In line with its recently launched “Financial Services for the Poor: A strategy for the Australian Aid Program 2010-15”, AusAID is partnering with PFIP to build capacity in the Pacific. Their partnership aims to enable unserved and under-served people to have access to competitively priced financial services, and trains the consumers how to knowledgeable use those services. AusAID’s commitment has been key to expanding grant and technical support to PFIP and INFUSE.  

The UNDP Pacific Centre provides responsive policy advice and delivers regional solutions, working in partnership with other UN agencies, regional organizations and UNDP country offices in Fiji, Samoa and Papua New Guinea. Capacity building is focused on Millennium Development Goal (MDG) achievement and poverty reduction, democratic governance and crisis prevention and recovery. Financial inclusion was added to the Centre’s regional service line in 2009 as an outgrowth of the Pacific Centre and UNDP country office microfinance and financial literacy efforts in the region over the past ten years.

UNDP Timor-Leste supports the Inclusive Finance for the Under-Served Economy (INFUSE) programme working in conjunction with other UN agencies, the Government of Timor-Leste and relevant stakeholders to develop capacity in order to achieve long-term development and lasting peace, stability and security in the country. Capacity building is focused on democratic governance, poverty reduction and the achievement of the MDGs, environment and sustainable development and crisis prevention and recovery. Inclusive finance became a focus area in 2008 with the introduction of the INFUSE Programme.

The Government of Timor-Leste (GoTL) executes the national development strategy based on identified critical goals and priorities, including: roads and water, agriculture and food security, human resource development, access to justice, social services and localised services delivery, good governance, and security & public safety. The GoTL demonstrated its strong commitment to building an inclusive finance sector when it contributed funding to INFUSE through the Ministry of Economy and Development (MoED). The MoED has also provided strong leadership to INFUSE’s investment committee.