ISTANBUL, 16 October 2026 – The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), through the Mayors for Economic Growth (M4EG) Facility, funded by the European Union, and the City Experiment Fund (CEF), funded by the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic, is launching a new Call for Interest for the Innovative Finance Challenge (IFC). The initiative will support municipalities in Armenia, Moldova, North Macedonia and Ukraine in designing and implementing innovative financing solutions to address local development challenges. 

The IFC will provide cities with technical and financial support to test and implement innovative financing mechanisms tailored to their local needs. These may include, but are not limited to, revolving funds, community co-funding platforms, municipal asset management and monetization, property tax enhancement, municipal bonds and community land trusts. Municipalities may also propose their own innovative solutions. 

The financing solutions proposed under the IFC are expected to respond to a concrete financing bottleneck faced by the applicant municipality, rather than serve as a generic revenue-generation tool. Such bottlenecks may relate, for example, to municipal revenue, access to finance, private-sector engagement, community participation or investment readiness. By addressing one or more of these bottlenecks, the proposed solution should enable investment in one or more areas of local development. 

Selected municipalities will receive tailored technical advisory support and financial assistance of up to US$20,000 per city to help design and implement their innovative financing mechanisms. Participating municipalities will be required to provide co-financing equivalent to at least 10% of the financial support received from IFC, either in cash or in-kind. 

The deadline for applications is 13 November 2026. Selected municipalities will participate in the Challenge from January to November 2027. 

The Call for Interest Guidance Note, eligibility criteria and application materials are available via the link. Use this link to apply for the challenge.

Background: 

CEF works with municipalities across Europe and Central Asia to tackle complex urban challenges through strategic innovation and experimentation with financial support of the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic. The M4EG Initiative was launched by the European Union in 2017, and it has been continuously funded by the EU since then. Since 2021, the initiative has been managed by UNDP, in close cooperation with the EU, local authorities and various partners. 

For media inquiries: 

CEF: Svetla Baeva, Strategic Communications Lead, Innovation & Digital Team, svetla.baeva@undp.org 

M4EG: Anton Sydorenko, M4EG Facility Communications Lead, anton.sydorenko@undp.org