Bangladesh Rural Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Human Capital Development Project
The Government of Bangladesh (GoB) intends to implement the Bangladesh Rural Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Human Capital Development Project with financial support from the World Bank (WB) and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to reform institutions and improve WASH services that meet the ‘safely-managed’ services in line with SDG targets of 6.1 and 6.2. The Project Development Objectives are to: (i) improve access and quality of water supply, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services in selected areas of rural Bangladesh, and (ii) strengthen sector policy and institutional capacity. Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF) and the Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE) will implement specific components of this project.
Extended Community Climate Change Project- Flood (ECCCP- Flood)
The impacts of climate change in Bangladesh are becoming increasingly evident. It has already been reflected in the natural disasters like floods, flash floods, salinity ingress, tidal surge, drought, etc. The frequency and the intensity of these disasters are ever increasing. The poor are at the highest risk. Women and children will be affected worse than any other groups in the community due to their low capacity to cope with the shocks. The poor and marginalized communities living in the flood-prone areas generally depend on agriculture for their livelihood which is highly sensitive to climate change. These climate-induced disasters affect habitation, availability of water, and sanitation systems. ECCCP-Flood aims to provide climate-resilient shelters, livelihood, drinking water sources, and sanitation systems for these people.
Low Income Community Housing Support Project (LICHSP)
Access of low income people to finance for housing is a perpetual challenge in every country. It is more difficult in the urban areas. Lack of land tenure security and the high initial investment are the big hurdles. For financial institutions, it’s a very difficult task because of the terms and conditions permissible in matters of lending. Longer loan terms and absence of appropriate guarantee mechanisms are the main obstacles. The conventional microfinance system offers very little scope for funding in housing which relates to conventional mortgages. However, Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF) is presently implementing a project titled ‘Low Income Community Housing Support Project (LICHSP)’ in line with its mandate of inclusive and appropriate financing for sustainable development of people.
Microenterprise Development Project (MDP)
PKSF completed the implementation of ‘Microenterprise Development Project (MDP)’ with USD 50 million loan and USD 0.50 million technical assistance from Asian Development Bank (ADB) to support various microenterprises (MEs) with the objective of inclusive economic development and reduction of rural poverty. Launched on 01 January 2019, the MDP was completed on 31 March 2021 through 77 Partner Organizations (POs). On its closure, financial assistance of BDT 996 crore has been provided to 68,562 micro entrepreneurs of whom 83% are female. The microenterprises, with support from the project, created employment for 1.81 lac people of whom 40% are female. Environmental and social safeguard measures had been fully ensured for each of the microenterprises.
Promoting Agricultural Commercialization and Enterprises (PACE)
PKSF launched Promoting Agricultural Commercialization and Enterprises (PACE) project in January 2015. The project is jointly financed by PKSF and International Fund for Agricultural Development. The Financing Agreement of the project was signed between the People’s Republic of Bangladesh and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) on 11 December 2014. Subsequently, PKSF signed Subsidiary Loan and Grant Agreement (SLGA) with the Ministry of Finance, Government of Bangladesh on 18 January 2015 to implement the project.
Recovery and Advancement of Informal Sector Employment (RAISE)
Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF) undertook the ‘Recovery and Advancement of Informal Sector Employment (RAISE)’ project in February 2022 jointly financed by the World Bank and PKSF. The RAISE project will facilitate employability and increase productivity of informal sector, and provide financial assistance to 175,000 low-income youths, micro-entrepreneurs and COVID-19 affected micro-entrepreneurs in urban and peri-urban areas across the country. PKSF will implement the project through its 70 Partner Organizations (POs). In addition, the project has another component on recovery and reintegration of COVID-19-affected returnee migrants which will be implemented by the Wage Earners’ Welfare Board (WEWB) under the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare & Overseas Employment.
Rural Microenterprise Transformation Project (RMTP)
Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF) has started implementing a new project titled “Rural Microenterprise Transformation Project (RMTP)” financed by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). Prior to the RMTP, PKSF undertook four projects with the financial support of IFAD — Microfinance and Technical Support Project (MFTSP), Microfinance for Marginal and Small Farmers Project (MFMSFP), Finance for Enterprise Development and Employment Creation (FEDEC) and the ongoing Promoting Agricultural Commercialization and Enterprises (PACE) project.
Skills for Employment Investment Program (SEIP)
PKSF has agreed to implement the ‘Skills for Employment Investment Program (SEIP)’ project and signed the MoU with the Finance Division, Ministry of Finance, Government of Bangladesh (GoB) on 7 May 2015 for Tranche-1; 26 May 2018 for Tranche-2; and 24 December 2020 for Tranche-3 to ensure training and employment for the disadvantaged people of the country so that they can develop their living standards sustainably. Under the SEIP project, PKSF is ensuring demand-driven skill-development training among disadvantaged people in order to create productive wage and self employment.
Sustainable Enterprise Project (SEP)
PKSF’s Sustainable Enterprise Project (SEP), financed by the World Bank, provides assistance to micro-enterprises (MEs) of Bangladesh to increase adoption of environment-friendly technologies and enhance their marketing and brand development capacity. Of the $130 million (BDT 1040 crore) budget of the project, the World Bank’s contribution is $110 million and PKSF’s is $20 million.The 5-year project (2018-2023) will support 40,000 microenterprises in agriculture and manufacturing sectors with special focus on environmentally stressed and vulnerable to climate change areas. Thirty sub-sectors have been identified for this project’s interventions. A Project Management Unit (PMU) has been formed at PKSF to administer the project.
Strengthening Resilience of Livestock Farmers Through Risk Reducing Services
A project titled ‘Strengthening Resilience of Livestock Farmers through Risk Reducing Services’, funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), is being implemented by Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF).The project aims to improve capacity and knowledge of livestock farmers on good farming practices through training, vaccination camp etc to reduce morbidity and mortality risks of livestock, and to encourage farmers to invest more in livestock rearing. It will also work to improve the capacity of different stakeholders on risk mitigation services for the livestock sector in the country.
The Project for Developing Inclusive Risk Mitigation Program for Sustainable Poverty Reduction (IRMP)
The Project for Developing Inclusive Risk Mitigation Program for Sustainable Poverty Reduction (IRMP) funded by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) was launched in October 2019, with an aim to determining sustainable financial and non-financial services and identify the implementation strategy to mitigate the risks caused by climate change and other disasters to the poor people.
The first Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) meeting of the project was held under the chairmanship of the Managing Director of PKSF where high officials from JICA head office, JICA Dhaka office and members of the IRMP team were present.