OFQ : In your commitment to the delivery of the SDGs you are especially targeting SDG 1 – No Poverty. Can you report progress or have recent developments led to a reverse? PS: Despite all the challenges we were still able to advance the vision of the UNCDF, namely for LDCs to be able to access and leverage the development impact of capital to enable sustainable and inclusive economic growth and to accelerate achievement of the SDGs. In 2021, the UNCDF worked with partners to provide inclusive financial and other digital solutions to over 3 million people in 35 countries; supported scalable initiatives in 588 local governments in 42 countries to enhance their subnational financial systems, completed 390 localized strategic investments, and issued 10 new loans and guarantees in 4 countries, expanding our investment portfolio to 31 loans and guarantees. The UNCDF also disbursed a total of US$37 million in catalytic grants in support of local investments and inclusive finance and digital service provision, which together unlocked US$89 million in direct and catalytic financing. OFQ : What if we fail to deliver the SDGs by 2030? PS: The vision of a world where the SDGs will have not been achieved is, actually, a clear one: it will be a world where billions of people will continue to live in extreme poverty; where climate change results in more climate disasters that yield social, environmental and economic harm; where women and girls continue to experience the structural impediments that prevent them from having a fair opportunity at economic agency; and where entire communities will be left behind by the same global financial architecture that has traditionally underserved them. To the point, we know exactly what the world will look like if the SDGs are not achieved, which is precisely why success is the only option. It is also worth remembering that the SDGs have been ratified by every member country of the United Nations. This speaks to the power, potential and critical importance that the SDG agenda represents.
OFQ : What role does the energy transition play in your work?
PS: Energy transition is a major driver of our work. Our approach to energy has traditionally been to capitalize the clean energy value chain, as well as to scale the clean energy missing middle, i.e. the gap between idea and reality. For the UNCDF, success in these efforts means more than advancing clean energy and supporting climate mitigation. It means providing effective, affordable off-grid energy access in last mile markets to support economic growth, including for productive use. It also means advancing not just financial inclusion, but also financial health, since we leverage Pay-As-You-Go (or Pay-Go) systems to support access to energy as well as access to credit. OFQ : We see a surge of inflation in many economies. Does this also affect the countries where you work and what can be done about it? PS: Food and energy inflation, alongside supply constraints, are expected to drive a temporary increase in extreme poverty, adding to the 121 million additional people that fell into acute food insecurity last year. Ultimately, inflation will be particularly harsh towards those who have been traditionally underserved by the global financial architecture. The best thing we can do is to pursue our mission with a specific eye towards strengthening financing mechanisms and systems for structural transformation in LDC markets. OFQ : What role does the empowerment of women play in your work? How do you support equality in and with your projects? PS: For the UNCDF promoting women’s economic empowerment stands for creating equal economies, where every woman has equal access, equal agency and equal leadership within her community. We are committed to integrating a gender lens throughout our programs and operations. Our gender strategy is focused on catalyzing additional flows of private and public capital into investments that positively impact women. Our financial instruments – namely loans, guarantees, bonds, blended instruments and grants – sit
PROFILE: PREETI SINHA Preeti Sinha was appointed Executive Secretary of the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) in February 2021. She has a 30-year track record associated with raising and managing institutional public
at the center of this approach. Overall, the UNCDF’s investment instruments, products and vehicles support programs focused on gender equality and women’s economic empowerment. Programs can be UNCDF-initiated but are more often partner-driven or co-developed with partners, including the OPEC Fund. and private development capital, serving most recently as CEO of FFD Financing for Development Sàrl, a specialist development finance firm in Geneva. Ms. Sinha graduated from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government Executive Education program and holds a Master’s from the Yale School of Management, USA. She graduated with Honors from Dartmouth College, USA in Economics and Computer Science.
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