What we do

Social Finance uses financial instruments to promote Decent Work. It means finance—sustainable finance—with a social goal. It is about credit, savings, insurance, remittances, financial literacy, social funds and other products that help the poor to cope better with risk, take advantage of income-generating opportunities, organize and have a voice.

Social Finance is also about promoting and encouraging those institutions that cater to the financial needs of the working poor, including women’s groups and job creators such as small and medium enterprises.

Social Finance is about financial sector policies that set incentives to open up the financial sector to the working majority while creating an enabling environment in which microfinance institutions can operate.

The work of the Social Finance Programme encompasses these different facets through:

    1) Innovating, experimenting, testing social finance interventions;

    2) Analyzing, document, and developing tools for capacity building;

    3) Disseminating findings and tools; and

    4) Promoting social finance through policy dialogue and capacity building.

SFP works in partnership with

    1) Its network within the ILO;

    2) Governments, trade unions, employers’ organizations; and

    3) External partners including financial sector players, networks, associations, and donors.