Expansion of financial services to marginal and conflict-affected areas with a focus on people with limited access to formal financial services including the extreme poor, poor, disabled, internally displaced, people with disabilities, and the vulnerable, especially women and girls, exposed to trafficking risks.

UNCDF Myanmar is currently implementing the Expanding Financial Access (EFA) country programme, aimed at increasing formal financial access in Myanmar. EFA seeks to improve financial service access and usage to achieve equitable, sustainable and inclusive growth within the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Myanmar Sustainable Development Plan (MSDP).

EFA is a country programme that is designed to accelerate the financial inclusion in Myanmar. A central objective of EFA is to support the government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar with the implementation of the National Financial Inclusion Roadmap 2019 to 2023, the highest-level policy document on financial inclusion in Myanmar. The Roadmap looks beyond just access of financial services but also outlines a strategy towards quality, effective and affordable financial services.

Key objectives proposed under the Roadmap are:
• Increase the percent of households with access to formal accounts from 24% to 50% by 2023
• Increase formal financial inclusion for farmers to support agricultural activities and livelihoods from 52% to 60% by 2023
• Increase formal financial inclusion for self-employed individuals from 51% to 60% by 2023 to support economic growth and job creation
• Access to formal financial services for women to be at par with men

Project Description

In 2019 UNCDF entered into an agreement with the Myanmar-based LIFT Fund as the prime implementing Partner (IP) for UNCDF’s Leaving No One Behind (LNB) initiative. LNB was an outgrowth of UNCDF’s response to a November 2018 LIFT call for proposal for “Expansion of financial services to conflict-affected areas and inclusion of people displaced by conflict, people with disabilities, and migrant women in peri-urban areas.”

A key segement of the LNB initiative is the expansion of microfinance services to unserved or underserved townships in Kachin State with a primary aim of enabling financial service access to marginalized sectors.

Area of Intervention

This RFA soley pertains to expansion of microfinance services to unserved or underserved areas of Kachin State. Specifically, the majority of financial services are to be delivered with the intention of increased financial access to vulnerable households, specifically poor and extreme poor, people with disabilities, internally displaced people, migrants and women and girls vulnerable to trafficking .

Geographic Focus

This project will support microfinance institutions (MFIs) with a strategic and operational plan to expand microfinance services (via new branches) in Kachin townships.

Funding

UNCDF will provide a grant to the most suitable microfinance institution (MFI) to support the expansion of microfinance services in underserved areas of Kachin State. The grant funds MFI branch start-up and operational costs (e.g. staff salaries, utilities) from the initiation of the agreement (scheduled for 2021 Q1) and ending at the close of December 2022. An additional 6% administration fee will be added to the grant funds to cover head office management expenses. One or two township expansions may be proposed.

The selected applicant will sign a Performance-Based Agreement (PBA) with UNCDF that specifies the milestones, fund disbursement schedule, and related terms and conditions. Please refer to the PBA model available in this RFA website.

Applicants may only apply independently. UNCDF will only select one applicant.

Applications

Inquiries to this request for applications may be submitted no later than 07 January 2021 by email to uncdf.rfa@uncdf.org

All applications must be submitted via email by 17:00 (EST, New York time zone) on the new extended timeline 20th of January, instead of 15th January 2021 to uncdf.rfa@uncdf.org.