The Voices from the Frontline (VFL) initiative supported communities across the global South to share their stories of resilience during the Covid-19 pandemic. The VFL stories demonstrate overwhelmingly that despite the exceptional social and economic hardship brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic, grassroots organisations and individuals (many of them women and youth from rural communities or informal settlements) have shown great leadership and initiative in combatting the spread of the virus and strengthening the resilience of their communities against its impacts.

Access to finance emerged as one of the key challenges that has impeded the ability of poor and vulnerable communities (including the grassroots organisations who operate within these communities) to respond to the Covid-19 crisis, as well as other climate-related disasters, such as floods and cyclones. Several barriers to accessing finance emerged from a desk review and selected interviews with community members and leaders featured in the VFL stories. These barriers are categorised into five themes: (i) Regulatory/governance (ii) Market-related, (iii) Social, (iv) Economic/financial, and (v) Technology.

This report seeks to identify the key sustainable financing approaches and/or mechanisms being used by local communities and/or grassroots organisations from selected VFL stories to address some of these persistent barriers.

In particular, the report aims to:

• identify key challenges and barriers that inhibit access to finance for locally-led adaptation;
• provide an outline of the high-level sustainable financing approaches and mechanisms used to overcome some of these barriers; and
• provide high-level insights and recommendations for promoting access to finance at the local level.

Download the report here.