Global Concessional Financing Facility

What is the fund?

Established in 2016, Global Concessional Financing Facility (GCFF) is focused on providing concessional financing to middle-income countries hosting large numbers of refugees. The GCFF uses donor contributions from supporting countries (SCs) to reduce borrowing costs for development projects that benefit refugees and host communities.

What are the priorities?

The GCFF prioritizes investment projects that focus on improving the lives of refugees and host communities. As each refugee crisis has its own unique set of challenges and requirements, GCFF supported projects cut across a range of sectors, including job-creation, expanding vital public services (such as health and education), developing sustainable infrastructure, and providing long-term housing.

What kind of activities will be financed from the fund?

Allocations from the GCFF are used to significantly reduce interest rates on loans made to benefitting countries. Activities are evaluated by the GCFF steering committee in terms of impact on refugees and host communities.

Key features of the facility include:

• Country-led and aligned with national priorities: The GCFF is country-owned and operates in direct response to the priorities and development plans of its benefiting countries.
• Demand-driven, with joint funding proposals: Funding requests are jointly prepared by benefiting countries and implementation support agencies (ISAs) when projects are ready to advance through their respective internal approval processes.
• Concessional financing for middle-income countries: The GCFF provides concessional terms for loan operations in middle-income countries hosting large refugee populations, with grant funding considered in exceptional cases.
• Consensus-based funding decisions: All funding allocations are approved by consensus among supporting countries, ensuring broad ownership and collaborative decision-making.
• Financing terms designed to lower borrowing costs: GCFF support is structured to reduce the borrowing terms for benefiting countries, while ensuring concessionality does not exceed the International Development Association (IDA) rates.
• Integrated into ISA loan operations: GCFF resources are embedded within ISA financing operations and governed by the agencies’ established policies and procedures.
• Inclusive development focus: All operations financed through the GCFF must benefit both refugee populations and host communities, reinforcing social cohesion and national development objectives.
• Results monitoring with refugee and host indicators: Results reporting includes specific, pre-agreed indicators that track progress for both refugees and host communities, ensuring transparent and accountable delivery.

Who supports the fund?

Development projects under GCFF are supported by six partner multilateral development banks (MDBs): the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), European Investment Bank (EIB), Inter-American Development Bank (IaDB), Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and the World Bank (WB). The United Nations also supports projects under the facility.

Supporting countries include Canada, Denmark, European Union, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom, and the United States.