Practice Areas

Financial Inclusion and Economic Growth

We are expanding financial services for the poor by providing technical assistance and training from start-up operations and product design to ongoing institutional support– to microfinance institutions, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), SMEs, and banks worldwide. We assist commercial banks to downscale and perform sector-wide analysis of financial regulations and markets.

Environment, WASH, and Health

DIG applies an integrated approach to supporting a clean environment; promoting good water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services and practices; and improving the health of poor communities around the world. To promote a clean environment for the poor living in poor urban and peri-urban communities, DIG’s focus is on basic service delivery, solid waste management, reducing plastics in the environment, and WASH.

Democratic Governance and Urban Development

DIG builds the capacity of local governments, basic service providers, and civil society organizations to improve the living conditions of the urban poor. Our staff members assist under-served communities in five main areas: basic service delivery, improvement of urban informal settlements, municipal government strengthening, community infrastructure planning and construction, and land tenure security.

Fund Management

DIG leverages investments from multilateral development institutions, foundations, and socially-minded investors to design and manage funds that support viable development finance institutions at the global and national levels. We expect that access to the appropriate blend of capital and technical assistance will result in better quality and diversity of financial products that successfully meet the needs of the poor, feeding a virtuous cycle of growth – both for the financial institutions and the households they serve.

Emergency Management

DIG designs and implements emergency management activities around the world, concentrating on economic, institutional, and infrastructure rehabilitation. DIG focuses on the most immediate needs for families in communities affected by conflict and natural disasters, including livelihoods improvement, jobs creation, infrastructure rehabilitation, working capital infusion, and government and private sector institution strengthening and rebuilding. DIG’s approach includes leveraging the expertise of the Diaspora, building the capacity of local government agencies and other local stakeholders, enabling financial institutions to infuse capital into the economy to further support the rehabilitation process, rehabilitating infrastructure, and establishing communities of practice.

Cross-Cutting Areas

The following cross-cutting areas are embedded as a foundation across our programs whenever possible.