Mr. P.C. Patel, Vice President of World Bank, with Ms. Wahida Banu, Executive Director, of Aparajeyo-Bangladesh at the operating period of Children’s Development Bank.
Aparajeyo’s with street and working children has taught that they do not have the habit of saving for their future. They end up spending whatever the have earned by the end of the day. They spend their money on food, cloth, films etc. It is because they do not have facilities for saving. Children’s Development Bank is an institution which provides security to street and working children to save their money for their future life. It aims to provide savings and credit facilities to street and working children and to establish the concept of the Children’s Development Bank organized and operated by its members (the children) as a viable and sustainable activity.
CBD provides an opportunity to develop the personal skills of the children. This project creates a mechanism whereby street and working children can save as well as be benefited. By providing them with a safe place to hold their money, it encourages them to save for their future. By encouraging saving, it encourages a sensible use of their money. An additional benefit is that savings are recycled into loans, and this makes the children much more careful in how they use the loans that they take out, as they know that it is their money, and the savings of their friends that is at risk. The rules and constitution of the bank have been designed by the children. The rules cover criteria for membership, eligibility for loans, size of loans available, interest paid on savings and charged on loans, repayment terms and guarantees, etc. The bank discourages savings of money earned from illegal sources. The bank is owned by and operated by its clients, in effect as a mutual association.