When the Healthy Village Urban programme began working in Lalmonirhat and Aditmari, Bangladesh, most women in the area had no route into economic activity. Access to start-up capital was scarce, business training out of reach, and cultural norms restricted mobility and public engagement. There was also no reliable local supply of health and hygiene products — no one selling sanitary napkins, nutritional supplements, or hygiene items within reach of households in remote areas.
Lata Debi was one of 63 women trained as Health Promotion Agents (HPAs) across six Union Parishads. The programme linked them to suppliers — including Unilever, SMC, RFL, and Square — at wholesale rates, and gave them a practical foundation in health, hygiene, nutrition, and entrepreneurship. The courtyard sessions they co-facilitate three times a week serve a dual purpose: building community knowledge about hygiene and child health, and creating direct access to the products that support those practices.
Lata’s store now stocks more than 50 products and generates a monthly turnover of approximately 45,000 taka (approximately €315), with a monthly profit of 15,000–18,000 taka (approximately €105–€126). Across the 63 HPAs, most started with no prior business experience and initial investments between 500 and 5,000 taka (approximately €3.50–€35). In more remote areas, limited purchasing power and slow-shifting norms around women’s mobility continue to constrain some HPAs — challenges the programme keeps working on.
The market for health products in these communities is still growing. So are the businesses of the women who built it.