THE LAIF 2026 EDITION
The Luxembourg Award for Inclusive Finance 2026 highlights organisations that are active in financial inclusion that accompany young people as they navigate life’s key stages, helping them develop skills and seize the opportunities needed to build a prosperous future.
By focusing on "Unlocking Youth-Inclusive Finance" this year's award recognises the growing importance of youth financial inclusion in a rapidly evolving financial ecosystem. As new technologies, practices, and business models reshape the sector, young people around the world are gaining new opportunities to access and use financial services. By promoting youth-inclusive finance, this edition aims to showcase initiatives that empower the next generation, foster financial capability, and contribute to a more accessible, responsible, and forward-looking financial system.
Download the LAIF 2026 Concept Note & Guidelines below:
Why the Luxembourg Award
for Inclusive Finance
Convinced that financial inclusion is an important tool for poverty alleviation, the Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs - Directorate for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs launched the Luxembourg Award for Inclusive Finance in 2005 to promote financial inclusion initiatives and highlight their innovating contribution in a particlar area, to the development of the sector. The Luxembourg Award for Inclusive Finance serves two parallel goals: rewarding excellence, and collecting and disseminating the most relevant practices for replication by others.
Past Editions' THEMES
Since its launch in 2005, the Luxembourg Award for Inclusive Finance covered many different topics such as:
- "Innovation for Outreach" in 2006,
- "Socially Responsible Microfinance" in 2008,
- "Value Chain Finance" in 2010,
- "Microfinance for Food Security" in 2012,
- "Microfinance and the Environment" in 2014,
- "Microfinance in Post-Disaster, Post-Conflict Areas and Fragiles States" in 2015,
- "Microfinance and Access to Education" in 2016,
- "Microfinance for Housing" in 2017,
- "Financial Inclusion through Technology" in 2018,
- “Strengthening Resilience to Climate Change” in 2019,
- "Encouraging Effective & Inclusive Savings" in 2020,
- "Inclusive Finance and Helath Care" in 2021,
- "Financial Inclusion that Works for Women" in 2022
- "Inclusive Finance for Food Security & Nutrition" in 2023
- "Advancing Financial Inclusion for Refugees and Forcibly Displaced People" in 2024.
- "Building resilience through Inclusive Insurance" in 2025
The Organizers
The Award and prize money (of €100,000 for the winner and €10,000 for each runner-up) are granted by the Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs - Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs; the competition and award ceremony are jointly organised by the Ministry, the European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP) and the Inclusive Finance Network Luxembourg (InFiNe.lu).