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CGAP's Symposium 2025 - Rethinking Resilience

    Our 2025 Symposium brought together around 200 multi-sectoral decision-makers—funders, policymakers, financial institutions, and other development stakeholders—who can drive positive change in a world that is getting more complicated. This event focused on the critical role inclusive finance plays in empowering low-income people and micro and small enterprises (MSEs) to navigate, adapt, and thrive amid uncertainty. It also served as a catalyst for action, inspiring collaborations and investments in innovative inclusive finance solutions that enhance the resilience of low-income communities and foster sustainable development. 


    The world faces urgent challenges as risks intensify and interconnect, amplifying vulnerabilities, particularly for low-income populations and MSEs. If left unaddressed, these vulnerabilities can create ripple effects that have national, regional, and global consequences.  

    National and international resilience strategies have made strides through government interventions like social protection and infrastructure. While these government-led solutions continue to be essential, there is now both an opportunity and a need to go further.  

    Inclusive finance empowers those communities most vulnerable to risks with the solutions they need to support their livelihoods. Despite being an indispensable component of the global resilience response, inclusive financial ecosystems remain largely overlooked today in the broader resilience response. 

    Charting a Path to Resilience for All

    graphic of the world and icons representing resilience
    Publication

    Resilience for All: Why Inclusive Finance Can't Wait

    The world faces urgent challenges as risks intensify and interconnect, amplifying vulnerabilities, especially for low-income populations and small and medium enterprises (MSEs). If left unaddressed, these vulnerabilities can create ripple effects with national, regional, and global consequences. This paper highlights the importance of inclusive finance as an indispensable component of resilience responses, and calls on everyone working on increasing resilience to leverage inclusive finance to enhance the reach, speed, and impact of their work.

    Opening Remarks

    CGAP CEO Sophie Sirtaine

    WBG President Ajay Banga

    Plenary Session Speakers

    Parallel Session Speakers

    Featured Publications

    an African woman with a baby on her back works a large mortar Photo: Allison Shelley
    Publication

    Six Big Ideas: How Financial Services Can Improve Social Protection Delivery

    Cash transfers are among the most effective tools for social protection but delivering them in fragile contexts remains a major challenge due to interruptions in financial sector development efforts, limited government capacity, and difficulties reaching remote communities. This paper presents ways that social protection funders can invest to achieve outcomes for both programs and recipients.
    a woman in the philippines squeezes hanging tobacco leaves Photo: Jayson Berto
    Publication

    Strengthening Financial Systems for Climate Adaptation

    As climate-related shocks become more frequent, communities need access to finance that helps them cope with and recover from damage and loss, yet current efforts to strengthen financial systems’ resilience often overlook the importance of inclusion. This paper outlines how governments and funders can foster inclusive financial systems that enhance climate adaptation and resilience.
    a farmer in a headwrap smiles at the camera Photo: Stephen Ouma
    Publication

    Building Climate Resilience at Scale in the Sahel

    Already reaching over half the world’s population, social protection systems present an untapped opportunity to channel climate funds to help vulnerable communities adapt to climate change, enhancing the reach, efficiency, and impact of climate finance.

    The Next Steps

    The work continues. To truly strengthen resilience strategies, local and global stakeholders must continue to come together – not just at events, but through collaborations that scale inclusive finance and embed it across resilience-building efforts. This includes financial services providers, policymakers, regulators, resilience experts, multilateral banks, donors and investors. This is how we will close critical gaps in inclusive finance and enable low-income populations and MSEs to become active agents of resilience, stability, and inclusive growth.

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