Tackling poverty, striving for equality Our work in Bangladesh

Tackling poverty, striving for equality Our work in Bangladesh

Tackling poverty, striving for equality Our work in Bangladesh Christian Aid Christian Aid is an international organisation that insists the world can and must be swiftly changed to one where everyone can live a full life, free from poverty. We work globally for profound change that eradicates the causes of poverty, striving to achieve equality, dignity and freedom for all, regardless of faith or nationality. We are part of a wider movement for social justice. We provide urgent, practical and effective assistance where need is great, tackling the effects of poverty as well as its root causes. We have an integrated approach to poverty eradication, working with, and through, partners worldwide on humanitarian relief, long-term development, specific advocacy issues and campaigns to expose the scandal of poverty by challenging and changing systems and institutions that favour the rich and powerful over the poor and marginalised. In South Asia, we possess specialist surge capacity, providing technical assistance in the areas of emergency response, emergency food security, resilient livelihoods and long-term risk reduction. Christian Aid is a founding member of ACT, an alliance of more than 130 churches and related organisations that work together in humanitarian assistance, advocacy and development. Christian Aid in Bangladesh Christian Aid has been active in Bangladesh since 1972. We are recognised for our work on climate change, disaster risk management (DRM), gender equality and human rights issues. Our programme promotes access to just and equitable resources and supports the creation of resilient and thriving livelihoods for marginalised people and communities. Working alongside our partners, we are committed to making government institutions more accountable to communities. We have significant experience of working with government and civil society organisations in Bangladesh. Our programme is closely aligned with the vision and goals of donor organisations. We work with 15 partners in 27 of the most vulnerable districts of Bangladesh across the southern coastal region, north-west and central flood and haor (wetland) areas. We have long-standing relationships with local organisations based on mutual learning and experience. With our partners, we have developed and used tools and approaches including participatory vulnerability and capacity assessment (PVCA), climate smart disaster risk management, and social equity audits. Christian Aid Bangladesh is exploring new areas of work such as renewable energy, climate justice, private sector engagement and enterprise-based development. 2

Our new strategy In 2013, Christian Aid Bangladesh launches its new programme strategy in line with our new global corporate strategy, Partnership for Change. It will have two main strategic objectives and one cross-cutting objective. Fair shares in a constrained world We will marry our current efforts on secure livelihoods and economic justice with our work on climate change adaptation, DRM and pro-poor market access to support income and food security for communities and enable them to better deal with the uncertainties that come with extreme climate conditions. To empower socially excluded and vulnerable communities, Christian Aid will invest in developing technical skills, knowledge and capacity around climate change adaptation, DRM and emergency response. Christian Aid/Tom Pilston Rashida Khatun, 40, lives on Gabura Island, Satkhira District, an area destroyed by Cyclone Aila in 2009. The community was left unable to cultivate crops due to the saline environment. Christian Aid partner CCDB has provided Rashida with a storm-resistant house, the opportunity to earn an income, and training on how to cultivate shrimp Homes bring hope Safe housing is an essential component of any humanitarian response. Homes have to be safe and appropriate to the location, climate and cultural context. Rather than just a basic shell, housing should include semi-open spaces for livelihood-related activities, storage and cooking, partitions for privacy, and be warm or cool enough as necessary. Attention to these details makes a huge difference for the people who live in these houses. Christian Aid and its partners have made significant strides in constructing shelters using corrugated iron sheets and bamboo mats, and including DRM features like plinths. We have also made a big difference in the construction of multipurpose cyclone shelters by raising the entire structures on stilts, and placing water pumps and toilets on the first floor to keep them in use and to avoid contamination when flood waters rise. 3

Tackling poverty, striving for equality Our work in Bangladesh Emdadul Islam Bitu Getting involved for good governance Christian Aid has expertise and experience in working with partner organisations to make government institutions accountable, ensuring access to rights and strengthening citizens participation. We believe all public institutions should be accountable for their services to the community and we provide support and expertise to build their capacity to do so. Christian Aid and one of its partners Nagorik Uddyog are jointly implementing the project Strengthening citizens participation in improving local government (SCPILG) in five Upazila (sub-districts) in the Jhalokati and Pirojpur districts of southern Bangladesh. The project s main objectives are to make local government and its committees work more effectively; encourage the participation of people from the community; establish and strengthen Citizen Rights Groups (CRGs) with the knowledge, skills and abilities to take part in decision-making processes; and national advocacy for improved governance at grassroots level. Thirty-four CRGs have been formed, each with at least 18 members (nine men and nine women). The ability of CRGs and their members to bring about change has been enhanced by training on how to more effectively interact with local government authorities. The CRGs essentially work as pressure groups to ensure communities hold local government to account, and to protect and promote the rights of citizens on issues as diverse as corruption and divorce, polygamy, domestic violence and the environment. Seventeen CRG members were elected to Upazilas in 2011, taking to the next level their personal commitment to transparency, accountability, good governance and the active participation of community people in local government. 4

Power to change institutions Building on our existing accountable governance work, we will advocate for policies and institutions that offer opportunities and equal rights to socially and economically excluded communities. With our partners, we will lobby for the introduction of socially just policies and ensure those already in place are effectively delivered. We will strengthen our existing policy work around climate justice and the economic rights of women, and campaign for employment for the landless and those with few resources. We will also campaign for the right to information and the right to food for the poorest people in Bangladesh. Christian Aid and its partners will work with communities to strengthen their agency for collective action in claiming their rights. Equal rights for all Essential to all aspects of our work, we have named equal rights as a cross-cutting objective to ensure gender and power analysis are central to everything we do, and to strongly address the issue of identity-based exclusion in Bangladesh. We will work to enable changes in the lives of socially and economically excluded people living in climate-vulnerable areas, with a primary focus on single women and women from fishing, dalit and ethnic minority communities. Forging new partnerships Christian Aid is looking to forge strategic partnerships with organisations with which we share a common purpose. Partnerships with communities, civil society, government and the private sector will be formed in the spirit of working together in a movement for change and to seek large-scale and innovative solutions to poverty. We have a programmatic, results-based approach to participation, empowerment and policy advocacy at local, national and global level, working with our partners and through alliances, networks and consortiums. Christian Aid/Tom Pilston Christian Aid partner Shushilan helped fisherman Mofazzal Kazi (pictured) to restock his pond with fish more able to cope in saline water after it was destroyed and flooded by Cyclone Aila 5

Tackling poverty, striving for equality Our work in Bangladesh Emdadul Islam Bitu Through its partners, Christian Aid provides training to communities on planting seeds and growing crops in areas affected by climate change We are already part of the consortium DeSHARI (Developing and strengthening humanitarian assistance and risk management initiatives), working with Action Contre la Faim (ACF), DanChurchAid, Muslim Aid and Save the Children in climate-vulnerable areas of Bangladesh. Christian Aid wants to build new and wider partnerships with the private sector in Bangladesh, which will help poor and marginalised people towards sustainable livelihoods. The private sector also has a vision of a prosperous Bangladesh and that s why, with our partners, we are committed to working with the private sector to unlock the potential of markets where excluded communities and women can engage as equals. We also seek partnerships with civil society groups working on policy advocacy issues such as land rights, the rights of single women, genderbased discrimination, entitlement issues, justice towards climate migrants, the disaster management act and its implications. Christian Aid will continue to facilitate dialogue between civil society and government on these issues and explore new links between our partners, communities, government institutions and donor organisations across our key areas of work. 6

Where we work NAWABGANJ DINAJPUR RANGPUR KURIGRAM GAIBANDHA SHERPUR NAOGAON BOGRA SUNAMGANJ RAJSHAHI NATORE SIRAJGANJ TANGAIL MANIKGANJ SHARIATPUR CHANDPUR COMILLA JHENAIDAH GOPALGANJ NOAKHALI SATKHIRA JHALOKATI PIROJPUR CHITTAGONG LAKSHMIPUR KHULNA BAGERHAT 7

Our partners in Bangladesh Agrajattra Bangladesh Centre for Advance Studies (BCAS) Bangladesh Disaster Preparedness Centre (BDPC) Bangladesh Unnayan Parishad (BUP) Christian Commission for Development in Bangladesh (CCDB) Church of Bangladesh (COB) Dushtha Shasthya Kendra (DSK) Gana Unnayan Kendra (GUK) INCIDIN Bangladesh (Integrated Community and Industrial Development Initiative in Bangladesh) Nijera Kori Nagorik Uddyog (NU) People s Oriented Program Implementation (POPI) Shariatpur Development Society (SDS) Shushilan WAVE Foundation Contact us For more information on Christian Aid Bangladesh please contact us. Christian Aid Bangladesh 10/17 Iqbal Road (4th Flr) Mohammadpur Dhaka 1207 Bangladesh T: +88 02 8119526/+88 02 9143328 E: bangladesh-info@christian-aid.org W: christianaid.org.uk/bangladesh UK registered charity no. 1105851 Company no. 5171525 Scot charity no. SC039150 NI charity no. XR94639 Company no. NI059154 ROI charity no. CHY 6998 Company no. 426928 Government of Bangladesh, NGO Affairs Bureau, Reg No:1579, 25/05/2000 The Christian Aid name and logo are trademarks of Christian Aid Poverty Over is a trademark of Christian Aid. Christian Aid November 2012 13-477-J922 Front cover photo: Christian Aid/Tom Pilston