At 2015 United Nations Pledging Conference, the Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg announced its continued commitment to the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) by pledging a 2016 core contribution of 800,000 Euros and thematic contributions of 400,000 Euros for local development and inclusive finance.

As one of UNCDF’s top core donor countries, Luxembourg is a very important partner helping UNCDF design innovative financing models as part of its efforts to eradicate poverty and to help Least Developed Countries pursue inclusive growth.

UNCDF Executive Secretary Judith Karl praised Luxembourg for supporting UNCDF to address global development challenges, ranging from the lack of access to financial services to the promotion of gender equality and women’s economic empowerment.

"Luxembourg has been a long-standing partner of UNCDF. This renewed confidence will allow UNCDF to continue offering and expanding its last mile financing models. These models mobilize much-needed public and private resources in support of poor households so they can climb out of poverty, small businesses so they can expand, and under-served regions so they can grow along inclusive and sustainable pathways,” Ms. Karl said. “We are honoured and proud to work with Luxembourg, and with their support we are bringing last mile financing models to those areas where available resources for development are scarcest; where market failures are most pronounced; and where benefits from national growth tend to leave people excluded.”

In 2015, Luxembourg’s support was also instrumental to approve the inception phase of the “Inclusive and Equitable Local Development (IELD)” programme, a UNCDF initiative in partnership with UNDP and UN Women that is testing ways of unlocking private finance for transformative infrastructure investments that benefit women. The programme uses a variety of investment forms, including structured project finance, public-private partnerships, and financing for small and medium enterprises.