Catalytic Finance Specialist; India)

Job Highlight

The Catalytic Finance Specialist will:

Support the scoping of ecosystem enablers, key stakeholders and partners in the financing and investment ecosystem for menstrual health for providing catalytic financing (see overview below) including gaps and needs for enhancement in India

In collaboration with the technical team, support the identification and development of approaches for catalysing pipeline targets with identified partners

The role will support the scoping of key ecosystem enablers, stakeholders and partners within the menstrual health financing and investment ecosystem in India. It will also support the identification of gaps, needs and approaches to catalyse a pipeline of investment opportunities with selected partners.

The Sanitation and Hygiene Fund (SHF) is a global fund dedicated to achieving access to adequate and equitable sanitation, hygiene and menstrual health for all, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations. Capital M is SHF’s global initiative to build and strengthen the menstrual health (MH) market, fostering sustainable, market-based solutions that provide access to safe, quality, affordable menstrual products and empower women and girls across low- and middle- income countries (LMICs).

By doing this, SHF contributes to a wide range of SDGs related to education, health, gender equality, the environment and economic growth.

To achieve this, SHF works with national and local governments, the private sector, investors and financiers and other market stakeholders to improve the enabling environment, strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystem and facilitate access to finance to bring market-based approaches to scale. For a market segment that falls within women’s health and
-hygiene, improving access to finance is critical. Enterprises in this space are structurally underfunded, posing a significant barrier to scale. SHF’s presence is critical to bridge the financing and investment gap, working with partners to showcase the market potential, derisk financing and investment in MH enterprises and connect public and private funders, financiers and investors to a growing pipeline of investable opportunities.

Our approach supports an Africa-led ecosystem for access to finance and investment, where we collaborate with existing public and private funders, financiers and investors, connecting them to enterprises with novel technologies and business models. We focus on enterprises with the potential to scale product categories’ availability at national and regional level, supporting efforts to maximize efficiency and minimise costs for low-income users by leveraging economies of scale.

This ultimately contributes to structurally improving market access and significantly reducing environmental impacts. To achieve this, we believe there is an important role for south-to-south knowledge transfer and investment to accelerate market development.

The Sanitation and Hygiene Fund (SHF) is a project of UNOPS.

From Geneva, UNOPS facilitates the achievement of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), working with governments, other United Nations (UN) agencies and partners by providing quality servces, integrated solutions and management support through strategic, cost-effective and results-oriented approches. This includes supporting platforms and hosting high-profile, flagship initiatives and funds focusing on health, nutrition, water and sanitation, sustainable cities, environment, energy, climate and trade.

UNOPS is a recognized resource for the UN system in Geneva – from fund management and oversight and advisory services, to providing hosting solutions to a range…