Abdoulaye Seck, the World Bank (WB) Country Director for Bangladesh and Bhutan, has said resilience and determination of Bangladeshi youth underpin the country’s remarkable development journey.  He made this remark while visiting field-level activities of the RAISE project run by PKSF in Jashore today.

He said, “… the urban informal sector, where a vast majority of the poor people are engaged, played an important part in reducing poverty in Bangladesh. However, aspiring workers face challenges, including limited technical skills, social norms, and access to finance. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic hit (these) sectors, creating hardships for the employed in the informal sector … By providing a comprehensive package of skills, counseling, and financial support, the RAISE project helped these workers to improve their capabilities and enhance their income.”

Abdoulaye Seck was leading a WB delegation that visited field-level interventions of the Recovery and Advancement of Informal Sector Employment (RAISE) project, jointly funded by PKSF and the World Bank. Ad-din Welfare Centre, Jagorani Chakra Foundation, Rural Reconstruction Foundation and Shishu Niloy Foundation, four of the project-implementing Partner Organizations (POs) of PKSF, are conducting the project’s activities in Jashore. He was accompanied by, among others, WB’s Practice Manager (Social Protection & Jobs) Cem Mete, Senior Economist (Social Protection & Jobs) Javier Sanchez-Reaza and RAISE Task Team Leader Anika Rahman, and PKSF’s General Manager Dilip Kumar Chakravorty, also the RAISE Project Coordinator, and Deputy Project Coordinator Golam Gilane.

The delegation visited the initiatives of young micro-entrepreneurs of the RAISE project. They also interacted with youths, who successfully completed RAISE project’s Apprenticeship Program, at their new workplaces. They inspected hands-on training under the Apprenticeship Program, a session of the ‘Business Management and Enterprise Development’ training for young micro-entrepreneurs, and another session of training titled ‘Financial Management’ for field-level officials of the project. The team interacted with the project-supported young micro-entrepreneurs, apprentices, master craftspersons, and pandemic-hit micro-entrepreneurs, gaining insights into sustainable employment in the informal sector and the challenges faced by the entrepreneurs.

PKSF, an apex development agency established by the Government of Bangladesh (GoB), launched the $250-million RAISE project in February 2022. Under this five-year project, 1, 75,000 youths and micro-entrepreneurs are receiving inclusive financial services as well as capacity enhancement support. The RAISE project is playing an important role in achieving the Perspective Plan 2021-2041 of the Government of Bangladesh and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by creating opportunities for youths to engage in dignified and decent work environments.