Implemented with PKSF from October 2024, ENRICH focuses on health, nutrition, education, youth and adolescent development, elderly care, and cultural engagement. It is strengthening community participation and socio-economic well-being in selected unions of Tetulia and Debigonj upazilas in Panchagarh District and Nageswari upazila in Kurigram District.
Category: Microfinance
Restoring and Advancing Inclusive Small Enterprises for Empowerment
In association of PKSF, RAISE supports COVID-19-affected microenterprises and youth micro-entrepreneurs through inclusive finance, skills development, and apprenticeship programs. It operates across 8 districts and 48 upazilas with 60 branches, promoting sustainable employment and entrepreneurship. Duration of the project is from September 2022 to June 2026.
Bangladesh Rural WASH for Human Capital Development
Implemented with PKSF, this project enhances WASH services and human capacities in 12 districts, 46 upazilas under 130 branches of RDRS Bangladesh. Activities include Behavior Change Communication campaigns and sanitation and water loan support, advancing SDG 6 and community health outcomes. Duration of the current phase of the project is from 2021 to December 2026.
Adolescent Project
Since August 2019, this project in Aditmari Upazila (Lalmonirhat) and Bodargonj Upazila (Rangpur) fosters adolescent empowerment through volunteer clubs, leadership training, and coordination meetings, promoting active youth participation in community development. This endeavour is also supported by the PKSF.
Integrated Agriculture Project
Started in July 2024, this PKSF-supported project targets Rajarhat and Kurigram Sadar Upazilas of the Kurigram district to improve agricultural production, food safety, technology adoption, training, financial support, and market linkages. Key activities include input support for income-generating activities, capacity-building, media outreach, and loan disbursement.
SMAP Improvement and Diversification Financing Project
Supported by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Bangladesh Bank (2014–2029), SMAP enhances productivity and diversification for small farmers through agricultural loans, technical support, farmer training, in-field demonstrations, crop diversification, and coordination with government agricultural offices. The project is being implemented in all working areas of the RDRS MF program.
Water and Sanitation for Rural Poor
RDRS Bangladesh is implementing the Water and Sanitation for Rural Poor of Northern Bangladesh project in Panchagarh, Thakurgaon, Dinajpur, & Nilphamari district of Rangpur division and Moulvibazar & Hobigonj district of Sylhet division. The project is being implemented with the support of Water.org. The 50,000 households are the direct and 225,000 households are the indirect programme participants of the project. The Program participants are poor household members. Most of them have no ability to install sanitary latrines, even some of them are not able to set up a tube well on their own. This project is providing loan facilities with technical support to the poor for construction of latrines.
The Water and Sanitation for Rural Poor of Northern Bangladesh project is designed in line with SDG –6 (Clean Water and Sanitation).
The goal of the project is to bring the underprivileged community people under access to safe water and sanitary latrines to ensure their good health and a healthy environment for all. The objectives of the project are
- To facilitate access to safe drinking water as well as improved sanitation facilities of poor and disadvantaged people;
- To make programme participants aware of health-hygiene and waste management system; and
- To introduce evidence-based documentation and coordination among WaSH actors for the replication of good practices.
The programme participants are receiving hygiene education and awareness along with the sanitation loans. The major activities of the project are water loan disbursement, sanitation loan disbursement, training for programme participants, group discussion etc.
Poverty Alleviation through Family-based Integrated Activities Implementation
RDRS Bangladesh is implementing the Poverty Alleviation through Family-based Integrated Activities Implementation project in Char Rajibpur in Rajibpur upazila of Kurigram district. The project is being implemented with the support of Palli-Karma Sahayok Foundation (PKSF). The project is working with 12,000 households in the project area. The group members of RDRS microfinance programme will be benefitted from this project. The project is designed in line with SDG – 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, and 13 (No Poverty; Good Health and Well-Being; Quality Education; Gender Equality; Clean Water and Sanitation; Decent Work and Economic Growth; and Climate Action).
Char Rajibpur has the highest poverty rate 79.08%, with vulnerability in many areas like socio-economic condition, employment, education, health & nutrition, and communication than any other upazilas in Kurigram district. Natural disasters such as flood, cyclone, drought, river erosion are regular phenomena of this upazila. Considering the vulnerability of the area, RDRS has initiated this poverty alleviation project to increase per capita income of the poor people of Char Rajibpur.
The goal and objective of the project are sustainable poverty alleviation through the ultra-poor community to increase enabled and ensure food and nutrition; to enable adaptation and enhance economic condition improvement; and to assist ensuring of GO and NGO services.
The major activities under the project are training, technical service and income-generating activities (Livelihoods), inclusive finance, health & nutrition, social mobilisation, disability inclusion, gender equality, climate change & disaster management, education, immigration activities.
The key highlights are enterprise development, growing vegetables in the courtyard round the year, health camp, nutrition display camp, providing assistance to children, medicine for curative care, and providing assistance to pregnant mothers.
