Deadline: 27-Sep-24
The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) India Country Office plans to contract an organization (Civil Society Organizations, registered in India) to create a ‘UN Women Fund for Women Entrepreneurs’ under the Innovation Grant initiative, to enable women from disadvantaged communities’ access affordable /low-cost customizable and regulated credit for increased credit worthiness to access credit from formal financial institutions.
Key Result Areas
- Identification/mobilization of women borrowers
- Development of customized credit product
- Creation and Operationalization of Fund for Women Entrepreneurs
- Mobilization of individual and institutional investors to top up UN Women’s grant five-fold
- Disbursement of loans of INR 1 Cr. mobilized from social investors
- Disbursement of loans of INR 4 Cr. of mobilized from social investors
- Disbursement of loans of INR 3 Cr. mobilized from social investors
- Disbursement of loans of INR 2 Cr. mobilized from social investors
- Organization of 200 financial trainings covering 40 women per trainings
- Ensuring business development trainings are imparted by partner organizations
- Development and implementation of robust monitoring and evaluation systems to track the impact of loans on women’s economic empowerment and social well-being.
- Disbursement of Incentives for responsible financial behavior to borrowers
Funding Information
- The budget range for this proposal should be INR 1,90,00,000- 2,00,00,000
Target group
- Out of the total target of at least 2500 women entrepreneurs
- 50% are first time credit borrowers from disadvantaged communities.
- 50% are those who need credit for expanding their businesses.
- Eligible women entrepreneurs from UN Women’s existing programmes to be prioritized.
Expected Result
- At least 2500 women entrepreneurs in rural and semi-urban areas access affordable and regulated credit and become credit worthy for formal financial institutions.
Timeframe
- October 2024- December 2025
Expected Roles and Responsibilities
- Civil Society Organization (CSO):
- Borrower Identification:
- Engage with local women’s groups, NGOs, community leaders, and networks to identify and mobilize potential women borrowers, particularly first-time borrowers and those from disadvantaged communities.
- Ensure that eligible women entrepreneurs from UN Women’s existing programs are prioritized.
- Incentives Management:
- Develop and manage a system for disbursing incentives for responsible financial behaviour with the NBFC partner
- Documentation Handling:
- Oversee the collection, management, and maintenance of all necessary documentation related to borrowers, including loan agreements and financial records.
- Borrower Identification:
- Non-Banking Financial Company – Peer to Peer (NBFC-P2P):
- Borrower Identification:
- Partner with the CSO to identify and vet borrowers through its network, ensuring they meet the criteria for accessing formal financial services.
- Investment Mobilization:
- Mobilize and manage investments from socially conscious individuals and institutional investors to top up UN Women’s grant and expand the fund for women entrepreneurs.
- Financial Training:
- Provide financial literacy training to women borrowers, helping them understand loan terms, manage finances, and build credit histories.
- Loan Disbursement:
- Disburse loans to approved borrowers, ensuring adherence to the established terms and conditions, and manage the repayment process.
- Monitoring and Evaluation:
- Develop and implement robust systems for tracking the impact of the loans on women’s economic empowerment and social well-being.
- Provide regular reports on loan performance, default rates, and social impact metrics to ensure transparency and accountability.
- Product Development:
- Design and offer customized credit products that cater to the needs of women entrepreneurs, including sector-specific loans and flexible repayment options.
- Borrower Identification:
Competencies
- Technical/functional competencies required:
- The proponent civil society organization should have significant expertise and experience of working with rural women especially in livelihoods and have access to mobilized networks/groups of women.
- The civil society organization should have capacity and resources to deliver business development/entrepreneurship trainings to women
- The proponent should work across geographies in India to create community level impact, directly, or through a robust partner network.
- The regulated NBFC-P2P partner licensed by RBI should have the following track record to enable seamless and legitimate formal sector credit:
- Formal lending to the most vulnerable and un/underbanked women.
- Simple Interest rate of not more than 8% p.a.
- Processing Fee of not more than 2% (inclusive of taxes)
- No collateral or security deposit
- No coercive collection of repayments
- No late repayment penalty fee
- Other competencies, which while not required, can be an asset for the performance of services
- A wide partner network across India to connect to genuine borrowers with legitimate livelihoods/enterprise support.
- An established women borrower community across sectors such as farming, artisans, nano enterprise and those dominated by women.
- A track record of continuous innovation with a focus on solving the problem of affordable credit.
Ineligibility Criteria
- The following are not eligible to apply:
- The applicant does not have legal status in India.
- The applicant is on the Consolidated UN Security Council Sanctions list.
- The applicant is being investigated for fraud, corruption, sexual abuse, sexual exploitation or other wrongdoing.
- The applicant is a government agency or institution, UN agency
For more information, visit UN Women.