[20th-21st April 2026]

The German development bank, KfW, organised a retreat on peace fragility and forced displacement in Frankfurt. The retreat brought together relevant KfW staff to discuss the impact of the current international system on fragile contexts and displacement settings, as well as opportunities for financial cooperation to navigate the new global and national landscape and promote sustainable solutions for peace and displacement contexts.

TrustWorks CEO and founder, Josie Lianna Kaye, was invited to the retreat to share some key insights on responsible investment based on her extensive experience supporting companies and investors to operate responsibly and effectively in conflict-affected and fragile situations (FCAS). In the session entitled, ‘Leveraging innovative funding approaches and partnerships for impact”, Josie was joined by esteemed colleagues, Francesco Luciano, EU INTPA, Likki-Lee Pitzen, German Federal Foreign Office and Anne-Lise Reve, Agence France de développement (AFD) who each provided their perspectives on the need for new approaches to leveraging innovate finance options and how to support a more sustainable reduction of vulnerabilities.

Josie addressed some of the most pressing trends and challenges that investors face when investing in FCAS in today, including the current state of innovative financing, the structural or regulatory barriers constraining innovative financing and the types of risk mitigation instruments or blended finance models that have proven most attractive and resilient to private asset managers operating in FCAS. She also provided insights into the changing regulatory landscape due to the upcoming

legislation and shared some lessons learned in terms of how public sector actors can engage more responsibly and effectively with private financing actors in FCAS.

One key takeaway from her intervention: If companies are expected by investors to comply and align with international laws, norms and standards, then DFIs and impact investors must meet the same criteria from a development objective perspective, and surpass these obligations and expectations from a positive impact perspective.

TrustWorks would like to thank KfW for the invitation to speak at the retreat.

About the organiser: KfW is one of the world’s leading promotional banks. KfW has been committed to improving economic, social and environmental living conditions across the globe on behalf of the Federal Republic of Germany and the federal states since 1948. To do this, it provided funds totalling EUR 112.8 billion in 2024 alone.