A four-year PKSF-European Union project has helped 2,15,000 extremely poor families increase incomes, build assets and strengthen resilience by combining livelihood support, affordable finance, skills training, healthcare and nutrition services.
The project, implemented by Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF) with EU funding from October 2022 to September 2026, reduced the share of extremely poor households among participants from 62.7 per cent to around 22 per cent, according to findings shared at its closing ceremony in the capital on Tuesday.
The initiative also cut stunting among children under five from 48 per cent to 22.8 per cent and reduced wasting from 17 per cent to 12.4 per cent.
Implemented across 145 unions in 34 upazilas of 12 districts, the Pathways to Prosperity for Extremely Poor People–European Union (PPEPP-EU) project reached around 8,60,000 people through 19 partner organisations.
The project provided support in income generation, skills development, access to credit, women’s empowerment and climate adaptation, helping many participants move from survival activities towards entrepreneurship.
PKSF Managing Director Md Fazlul Kader said more than three-fourths of the targeted households had moved above the extreme poverty threshold, with a significant number becoming microentrepreneurs.
Alongside a 22.81 million Euro grant from the European Union, the project facilitated around Tk3,217 crore in affordable loans for participating households through PKSF and its partner organisations.
“Providing assistance to extremely poor people may address their problems temporarily. But when we build their capabilities and create opportunities for them, they can transform their lives,” Kader said.
Financial Institutions Division Secretary Nazma Mobarek said extreme poverty was not only a lack of income or assets but a multidimensional challenge requiring integrated solutions.
“When financial support, skills, market linkages, health and nutrition, social protection and climate resilience are addressed together, even an extremely poor person can gradually become a producer, entrepreneur and active participant in the economy,” she said in a message read out at the event.
European Union Delegation to Bangladesh Head of Development Cooperation Michal Krejza said the project’s success would depend on sustaining the gains after the end of external funding.
“A project should not end when the project funding ends,” he said, highlighting the need to ensure that businesses, livelihoods, assets and child nutrition improvements continue.
PKSF Chairman Zakir Ahmed Khan said the project showed that extremely poor people could access and effectively use credit when provided with appropriate support.
He said the initiative challenged earlier concerns over whether extremely poor households could become eligible for formal financial services and demonstrated that access to finance could support long-term poverty reduction.
Although the project has formally ended, participants will continue to access financial services through PKSF’s regular programmes and partner organisations. Lessons from the initiative will also guide PKSF’s future programmes.
The closing ceremony was held at PKSF Bhaban in Agargaon, Dhaka, chaired by Zakir Ahmed Khan. Around 400 representatives from PKSF, the European Union, government agencies, partner organisations and other stakeholders attended the event.
