At a glance: Extends micro-credit access, paired with health and education linkage, to unions further from NUK's existing hospital catchment area.
The starting problem
Demand for NUK's Poverty Alleviation and Family Development Program consistently outpaced its reach in unions immediately surrounding existing health infrastructure, leaving households further from NUK's hospitals without comparable access to credit and linked support services.
What the project does
- Extends modest, rural-appropriate micro-credit into newly added unions.
- Links participating households to NUK's community and eye hospitals, reducing the risk that a medical expense erases economic progress made through a loan.
- Delivers basic household budgeting guidance suited to irregular rural income patterns.
Why pairing matters
NUK's program design reflects a consistent lesson across its work: credit access alone is less effective without the health and education linkages that determine whether a loan actually improves a household's long-term position.
Where it stands now
NUK is tracking repayment rates and household health outcomes across newly added unions before considering further expansion into neighbouring upazilas.