To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the outcomes were of the Community Based Microfinance Initiative; and how the project was implemented in Bangladesh.

The project “Promoting economic development of the poor through community based microfinance initiatives in Bangladesh” was funded through the Civil Society Challenge Fund. The project was implemented by the Credit and Development Forum (CDF) across nine districts and aimed to improve access to commercial banking services for community based organisations (CBOs) and very poor people. The project started in April 2006 and was completed in March 2010.

The project worked with 25 community organisations to provide microfinance services for their members. These organisations provided small-scale finance to establish income-generating activities for 32,000 poor households. The increased income that was generated has allowed those households to invest in improved family health care, education and housing.