The Livelihoods and
Food Security Trust Fund (LIFT) is a multi-donor trust fund established in 2009
to address food insecurity and income poverty in Myanmar. LIFT has received
funding from 14 donors – the United Kingdom, the European Union, Australia,
Switzerland, Denmark, the United States, the Netherlands, Sweden, France,
Luxembourg, Italy, New Zealand, Ireland and Mitsubishi Corporation. The United
Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) is the Fund Manager to administer
the funds and provide monitoring and oversight.
The overall goal of
LIFT is to sustainably reduce the number of people living in poverty and hunger
in Myanmar. LIFT’s purpose is to improve the incomes and nutrition status of
poor people in Myanmar by promoting resilient livelihoods and food security.
LIFT’s designated outcomes are improvements in income, resilience, nutrition, and
pro-poor policy developments.
LIFT works with
implementing partners that include international and national non-government
organisations, United Nations agencies, the Government of Myanmar, private
sector organisations, academic and research institutions.
LIFT is active in the
four main agro-ecological zones of Myanmar: the Ayeyarwady Delta, the Rakhine
State, the central dry zone (including Mandalay, Magway and the southern
Sagaing region), and the upland areas of Chin, Kachin, Kayah, Kayin and Shan
States and Tanintharyi Region.
So far, LIFT has
reached more than 7.2 million people, or roughly 20 per cent of Myanmar’s
population; and is active in almost half the country’s townships. LIFT is
funding projects through to June 2019. For more details visit www.lift-fund.org.
Objective
of the Assignment
Microfinance
interventions have been a key element of LIFT support to households, aimed at
improving both agricultural and non-agricultural livelihoods in Myanmar. Up
until now, LIFT has partnered with 17 microfinance institutions, reaching out
to more than 1.6 million households. The efficiency of microfinance markets
depend on effective regulations and supervisions; the Ministry of Planning and
Finance thus formed the Financial Regulatory Department (FRD)[1] in October 2011
as the focal Government Agency for regulating and supervising microfinance
markets (see more details about FRD at this link http://www.mof.gov.mm/en/content/myanma-small-loans-enterprise).
Since 2012, LIFT
has been supporting FRD in its capacity development in the areas of policy
development, supervision, and information management.
FRD recently
issued a set of regulations that support microfinance markets by allowing
microfinance institutions to provide higher loan amounts, borrow from any other
financial sources, and take up deposit-taking licenses with increased paid-up
capital. These regulations also hold institutions to client protection
principles. This new set of regulations aims to promote operational efficiency,
accountability, responsibility, and client protection among microfinance
institutions when delivering financial services. In order to ensure that all
microfinance institutions comply with new and existing rules and regulations,
FRD is obliged to examine microfinance institutions on a regular basis.
Upon request of FRD, LIFT
recruited a Senior International Adviser for microfinance examination with
responsibilities of providing on the job training to FRD staff members in areas
of on site and off site examinations of the microfinance institutions. LIFT is now recruiting a Training Officer
to support the Senior International Advisor. The
position is based in the FRD offices in Nay Pyi Taw.
[1] Formerly known as MMSE
– Myanmar Microfinance Supervisory Enterprise