Research & Analysis

From Safety Net to Springboard

As climate risks intensify, there is an urgent need to better support low-income communities to adapt and build resilience. This paper highlights an untapped opportunity hiding in plain sight - integrating financial services into social protection programs – and outlines five priorities for funders, policymakers, and social protection professionals to unlock its potential.

From Insights to Interventions: Addressing Gender Norms in Women’s Financial Inclusion

CGAP’s Design Guide introduces a structured, field-tested approach to uncover how gender norms shape market actor behavior, to help development actors move beyond symptoms to address the root causes of women’s financial exclusion.

Diagnosing Gender Norms in the Financial Market System: A Practical Guide

CGAP’s Diagnostic Guide helps development actors move beyond symptoms to address the root causes of women’s financial exclusion. This guide introduces a structured, field-tested approach to uncover how gender norms shape market actor behavior and offers practitioners a powerful set of tools for examining norms-driven constraints and identifying high impact intervention points.

Enhancing Food Security through Finance-Enabled Food Systems Transformation

This working paper examines how inclusive finance can address today's evolving food security challenges by unlocking targeted investments in high-impact agricultural value chains that best promote nutritional, sustainability, and livelihood outcomes through agricultural technology (AgTech) adoption.

Invisible Barriers: How Gender Norms Impact Financial Inclusion

Gender norms shape the behavior of financial service providers, regulators, and communities, often limiting women’s access to and use of financial services. This Focus Note presents a practical framework, based on diagnostics in Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda, that classifies gender norms by their strength and prevalence and proposes tailored strategies for addressing them.

How Can We Improve Resilience Globally? Leading Experts Weigh In

In June 2025, CGAP convened nearly 200 global decisionmakers in Amsterdam involved in global resilience responses for a Symposium titled, “Rethinking Resilience: Why Inclusive Finance Can’t Wait”. In this bonus episode of Inclusive Finance Frontiers, hear from participants interviewed on the sidelines of the Symposium on how inclusive finance tools—such as savings, credit, insurance, and digital payments—can strengthen resilience for those most at risk and drive sustainable development.

Inclusive Insurance: Scaling for Resilience and Impact

Insurance builds resilience by helping people manage shocks and invest confidently in their futures. Yet, inclusive insurance remains small-scale due to barriers in demand, supply, and policy. This deck explores challenges and opportunities—showing how funders can unlock insurance’s full potential as a catalyst for stability, security, and economic growth.

Responsible Digital Credit: Frontier Solutions for Authorities and Providers

CGAP compiles over 160 global initiatives that address consumer risks in digital credit, from overindebtedness to data misuse. Designed for authorities, providers, and support organizations, this Technical Guide offers a roadmap of solutions to build more customer-centric, risk-conscious and responsible digital credit ecosystems.

Gender Norms and Financial Regulation: The Case for Gender Lens Regulatory Analysis

To advance women’s financial inclusion, financial regulators must recognize that men and women experience the financial sector differently. This working paper provides a framework to assess how regulation can impact men and women differently. It aims to motivate regulators to move from gender-blind, to gender intentional approaches.

Big Futures for the Smallest Firms: Finance That Works for Nano, Micro and Small Enterprises

Nano, micro, and small enterprises, particularly nano enterprises and those led by women, encounter substantial financial obstacles. Our latest research underscores the necessity for tailored financial solutions and hybrid approaches to enhance financial inclusion for the smallest firms, enabling them to grow and thrive.