BHUTAN

UNCDF has been present in Bhutan since 1979. Our interventions over the past three decades have grown from an early focus on infrastructure and agriculture towards fiscal decentralization, local governance and most recently, inclusive finance.

Today, 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.

UNCDF is implementing Local Climate Adaptive Living Facility (LoCAL) programme, enabling local governments to cope with the increased costs of building climate change resilience and sustainable adaptation to natural disasters.

This programme is supported by performance-based climate resilience grants, and effective monitoring of climate change expenditures at the local level. Technical and capacity-building mechanisms include support for adaptive land use planning, drainage and water management, implementing climate resilient building regulations, retrofitting infrastructure, building roads and bridges, and developing adaptive agricultural systems.

In 2020, the Bhutan Trust Fund for Environmental Conservation (BTFEC) gained accreditation as Bhutan’s first National Implementing Entity (NIE) of the Green Climate Fund (GCF). UNCDF assisted BTFEC through the application process, with the support of the EU's Global Climate Change Alliance Plus Initiative and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA).