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Social finance
Millions of people around the world are vulnerable and marginalized due to for example a lack of access to banking and insurance services. Traditional investment practices do not always adequately consider the social and environmental impact of financial decisions, further contributing to social inequality and environmental degradation.
The financial sector is an influential, yet underappreciated, player in the world of work. Investments, loans and insurance can be powerful drivers to create jobs, improve working conditions and enhance resilience.
The ILO engages with the financial sector to explore how it can contribute to decent work and social justice. Our engagement with the financial sector is three-fold, dealing with different sets of players in the financial sector: financial inclusion, impact insurance and sustainable investing.
Engagement with financial sector players
![Person making a payment on their smartphone.](/https/www.ilo.org/sites/default/files/styles/cards_3_desktop/public/2024-03/social-finance-financial-inclusion-hero-02.jpg.webp?itok=sFXTRelq)
Financial inclusion
![A collection of suspended umbrellas.](/https/www.ilo.org/sites/default/files/styles/cards_3_desktop/public/2024-03/social-finance-impact-insurance-hero.jpg.webp?itok=IooZxMLC)
Impact insurance
![Tea plantation workers in Kenya.](/https/www.ilo.org/sites/default/files/styles/cards_3_desktop/public/2024-03/social-finance-sustainable-investing-hero_0.jpg.webp?itok=7_Vq8zdH)
Sustainable investing
Highlights
![Woman tailor in Ethiopia with a hearing impairment at work.](/https/www.ilo.org/sites/default/files/styles/cards_3_desktop/public/2024-05/social-finance-2024-event-guarantee-toolkit.jpg.webp?itok=A6pvOTPr)
The ILO's Think Impact Toolkit for guarantee instruments
![Portrait of a worker on the street in Cairo, Egypt.](/https/www.ilo.org/sites/default/files/styles/cards_3_desktop/public/2024-06/2024-social-finance-call-fellowships.jpg.webp?itok=CKl1KcWT)
Call for Fellowship applications
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Call for Social Finance consultants Abuja, Nigeria
News and articles
![Migration group guardians in the region of Abalak.](/https/www.ilo.org/sites/default/files/styles/cards_1_desktop/public/2024-08/social-finance-2024-ei-ta-facilities-agriculture.jpg.webp?itok=SlZtgALs)
Emerging Insight: The power of technical assistance to unlock investments in the agricultural sector
![A landscape affected by a flood.](/https/www.ilo.org/sites/default/files/styles/cards_1_desktop/public/2024-04/social-finance-thematic-climate-change.jpg.webp?itok=5TEZMN5n)
Climate change and financing a just transition
Highlighted publication
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Social Finance 2023 Annual Report
Publications
A system analysis of the financial market in Uganda and its potential to contribute to sustainable development
Enhancing the social dimension in transition finance: towards a just transition
A system analysis of the financial market in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Projects
Sustainable investments in African agriculture
Feasibility study and design of an impact bond to reduce child labour in Côte d’Ivoire
Thematic pages on social finance
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Access to finance and formalization
![A man installing solar panels on a roof.](/https/www.ilo.org/sites/default/files/styles/cards_4_desktop/public/2024-03/social-finance-thematic-page-innovative-finance.jpg.webp?itok=eUB_7OEr)
Innovative finance
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Inclusive finance for workers
![A hand putting a coin in a piggy bank.](/https/www.ilo.org/sites/default/files/styles/cards_4_desktop/public/2024-03/social-finance-thematic-page-blending.jpg.webp?itok=Ub_M0rgr)
Blending of financial and non-financial services
![A girl in a classroom reading.](/https/www.ilo.org/sites/default/files/styles/cards_4_desktop/public/2024-03/social-finance-thematic-page-child-labour.jpg.webp?itok=2aKJw_q_)
Finance and child labour
![A woman at a market stand returning change and smiling.](/https/www.ilo.org/sites/default/files/styles/cards_4_desktop/public/2024-03/social-finance-thematic-page-gender.jpg.webp?itok=GsXNJJir)
Gender and financial inclusion
![A woman with a hard hat smiling.](/https/www.ilo.org/sites/default/files/styles/cards_4_desktop/public/2024-03/social-finance-thematic-page-resilience.jpg.webp?itok=kBvtKyze)
Financial services to enhance resilience
![A group of girls smiling and holding plates.](/https/www.ilo.org/sites/default/files/styles/cards_4_desktop/public/2024-03/social-finance-thematic-page-sse.jpg.webp?itok=kPrkLkD4)
Financing the Social and Solidarity Economy
![A refugee man smiling at the camera.](/https/www.ilo.org/sites/default/files/styles/cards_4_desktop/public/2024-03/social-finance-thematic-page-refugees.jpg.webp?itok=bivlGNYb)
Financial inclusion for refugees and host communities
![A woman carrying crops on her back and looking at the camera.](/https/www.ilo.org/sites/default/files/styles/cards_4_desktop/public/2024-03/social-finance-thematic-page-climate.jpg.webp?itok=NjrE3Y5S)
Climate change and financing a just transition
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