REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) FROM Private Entities

UNDP-AFG-00823-REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) FROM Private Entities/financial institutions (Banks, Microfinance Institutions-MFIs)1. BackgroundUNDP has been working in Afghanistan for more than 50 years to address challenges related to livelihoods, governance, resilience, climate change, health, and rule of law. Through its flagship Area Based Approach to Development Emergency Initiatives (ABADEI) programme, UNDP, together with UN agencies, NGOs, and civil society partners, supports integrated community-based interventions aimed at restoring essential services, revitalizing local economies, strengthening livelihoods, enhancing resilience, and reducing humanitarian dependency. Complementing ABADEI, the Access to Finance (A2F) Project promotes financial inclusion and private sector recovery, with a particular focus on underserved groups, especially women-led MSMEs. Following the socio-economic crisis in Afghanistan, women-owned businesses have faced severe challenges, including business closures, limited market access, supply chain disruptions, and restricted access to formal financial services, with less than 7 percent of women holding bank accounts. In response, UNDP, in partnership with UN Women, is launching the Afghanistan Women’s Enterprise Resilience Fund (AWFRE), an innovative Shariah-compliant subsidized lending initiative designed to improve access to affordable finance for women-led MSMEs. The initiative combines microloans with business development support, financial literacy, and capacity building to strengthen women’s economic resilience, protect livelihoods, and promote sustainable community recovery.2. OBJECTIVE This Request for Information (RFI) is issued to national and international private financial institutions (banks, MFIs) to explore potential partnerships with UNDP for delivering development outputs requiring expertise in the provision of Sharia-compliant microloans to savings groups and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) across variou