Amal Foundation, a local NGO which mainly focuses on poverty alleviation in remote locations, has partnered with IPDC, a non-bank financial institution, to tackle child marriage which has been a pressing issue during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Both partners collaborated to develop a unique project to prevent child marriage: the IPDC Child Marriage Prevention Loan, powered by Amal Foundation, launched as a pilot project in the Bogura district in March 2022, said a press release.

The Child Marriage Prevention Loan (CMPL) is a conditional zero-interest microfinance loan that helps poor parents to start sustainable businesses if they meet the following three criteria.

The loan applicants must be parents of 12- to 18-year-old girl children. Secondly, the girls cannot be married before the legal age. Lastly, they must be educated until the end of high school.

IPDC and Amal acquire, validate, and authorise loan applications based on these criteria. Then, parents commit to marrying their daughters off only after they are of legal age and have completed high school, added the press release.

YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?V=XXXW7HHZ2y0

source: https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/zero-interest-loan-introduced-combat-child-marriage-400334