BSS, Dhaka :
A project called “Nuton Jibon” offered a new way of life to thousands of rural poor by creating scope of income generation through various programmes.
The project designed to improve livelihoods and quality of life is being implemented in 3,262 villages in 16 districts with financial support from the multi-donor agency World Bank (WB).
In line with government’s vision for pro-poor growth and human development, the project especially targeted extreme hard core poor and vulnerable people who are often left out from development interventions.
Under the project, more than 2.5 million people in the poorest and disaster prone districts have embarked on a new life and benefited from community infrastructure and productive investments.
As of March 2014, over 550,000 hard core poor and poor households have been mobilized into Nuton Jibon groups. Some 386,000 members of these groups have accessed Shabolombi Fund loans for productive and meaningful income generating activities.
According to an impact assessment study about 35 percent of the project households have been able to increase their income by 40 to 50 percent. About 78 percent of households in project villages are directly benefiting from community infrastructures sub-projects which have increased their access to social services.
Through the project, about 36,950 youth have benefited from skills development training, of which the majority has found employment. More than 35,000 most vulnerable have received a one-time grant and 95 percent of them are participating in internal lending or Shabolombi Fund loans.
