LIVELIHOOD DEVELOPMENT

VERC Micro Finance Program has experienced a long journey in addressing a comprehensive development need of the disadvantaged and underprivileged poor people living in both rural and urban areas of the country. It is an important program of VERC in reducing the poverty level by ensuring a sustainable socio-economic status of livelihood security for the people in need of external support. To this effect, efficient management system and tools, linkage with financial institutions, identification of alternative micro-finance schemes, approach to address poorest of the poor section and access to the remotest and hard to reach locations has added an extra dimension to VERC Income Generation Program under its Institution Building and Income Generation (IBIG) program.

As its operational strategy, VERC is implementing Micro Finance Program with the disadvantaged and underprivileged poor people particularly with women. It is worth-mentioning here that VERC is also reaching the poor ethnic minority to fulfill the demographic coverage goal with Micro Finance Program for overcoming their helplessness, dependency and deprivation in the society. From the very beginning of initiating Micro Finance Program, VERC is expanding the areas and coverage of people gradually in the remote and isolated areas of Bangladesh with a view to outreach coverage and the sustainability of the organization as well. Besides the area expansion and population coverage, VERC is increasing multidimensional lending service delivery system by opening different wings gradually keeping relevance with the market demand and ensuring access to comparatively big size of investment money in the rural and urban micro economy sectors. At the same time, VERC is providing skill development training in respective trades along with leadership development, human rights and awareness raising training to the loan recipients prior to starting income generating activities.

Goal

To create a community force capable of planning, operating and managing need based development programs to overcome the socio-economic problems associated with poverty and improving socio-economic status.

Objective

To raise the economic status of the poor people by engaging them in income generating activities and consequently make them self-reliant and improving their social status.

VERC believes that without a positive change of the economic status of the poor people all development activities will prove to be futile and from this reality based feelings, VERC started Micro Finance program in selected locations of the country since 1982. VERC obtained PKSF membership in 1996. VERC operates all of its Micro Finance programs in 1,123 villages of 125 unions under 27 Upazilas of 11 districts in Bangladesh. The program is managed by 326 staffs working under 35 branches.