Bridging the Gaps | Can Finance Unlock Recovery Before a Crisis Ends?
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Bridging the Gaps | Can Finance Unlock Recovery Before a Crisis Ends?

In this second webinar of the Bridging the Gaps series — a five-part collaboration between the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and SINTEF, one of Europe's largest independent research and technology institutes — four experts tackle one of the most urgent questions in development today: how do you rebuild communities, economies, and institutions while a crisis is still unfolding? Using Ukraine as a central lens but with insights that apply far beyond any single conflict, the panel explores the gap between political commitments and operational realities, the role of blended finance and guarantees in unlocking private capital, and why reconstruction must be resilience-oriented from day one. Panelists: 🎙 Christian Syse | Special Representative for Ukraine, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs 🎙 Ana Lukatela | Head of Area Based Recovery, UNDP Ukraine 🎙 Kjartan Tveitnes | Managing Director, Norwegian-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce 🎙 Mohammad Abbadi | Structural and Financial Instrument Advisor, UNCDF The message is clear: reconstruction cannot wait. And the financing models that power it must change. 🔔 Subscribe to follow the full Bridging the Gaps series. The next webinar, coming in May, focuses on climate adaptation. Chapters: 0:00 Welcome & Series Introduction: Bridging the Gaps 0:37 About the Webinar Series: From Pilots to Scale 1:25 Today's Focus: Rebuilding During Crisis, Not After 2:15 Meet the Panelists 5:41 The Case for Multilateral Support 9:42 Recovery from the Frontline 13:49 The Business Case for Ukraine 17:41 Finance as a Stabilization Tool 22:48 Speed vs. Resilience 28:07 Rebuilding When Conflict Persists 36:56 What Needs to Change in Our Financing Models? 44:48 Which Assumptions About Crisis Recovery Must We Rethink? 54:50 Closing Remarks 🔗 Read our new Strategic Framework: https://www.uncdf.org/strategic-framework Get involved: 🔗 UNCDF: https://www.uncdf.org 🔗 Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/uncdf 🔗 Follow on X: https://x.com/UNCDF 🔗 Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncdf 🔗 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UNCDF 🔗 Follow on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@uncdf 🔗 Follow on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/uncdf.bsky.social #uncdf #unitednations © UN Capital Development Fund 2026. All rights reserved.