Also available in Bangla Poverty in Bangladesh is not only about lack of income, but also gender inequalities, powerlessness, lack of access to basic services such as health and education, and exclusion from participation in the development process. In June 2001, the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) established the Social Development Foundation (SDF) as a non-profit organization to promote community-driven development initiatives. The World Bank became involved with SDF through the Social Investment Program Project (SIPP), a pilot project aimed at exploring new ways of delivering critical small-scale infrastructure services, social assistance and promoting income generating activities for the rural poor, while at the same time addressing institutional capacity-building at village level. The main objective is to enhance poor peoples’ voice and participation in local level development. The scope of the project has recently been extended to specifically address poverty in “Monga” affected districts. Project areas-Jamalpur and Gaibandha The project areas are Jamalpur and Gaibandha districts located on opposite sides of the River Brahmaputra. Both suffer from chronic poverty and vulnerability. With support for community mobilization and planning, villagers within these areas have been empowered to identify their own development priorities. Based on these priorities, a Community Action Plan (CAP) is developed. Small-scale infrastructure works are implemented with direct financing to communities themselves. In addition, the project supports a range of services targeted to the poorest (e.g., basic health and hygiene, skills development training). Oversight and accountability is ensured through Village Development Committees (VDCs) - executive committees who oversee village development and project related activities. One of the unique features of the project is that the communities contribute about 15% of the cost of building community infrastructure. The progress so far The project was approved by the World Bank in 2003 and is being implemented by the Social Development Foundation (SDF). When completed in 2007, the project is expected to cover about 1400 villages, primarily in the two districts of Jamalpur and Gaibandha serving about 3 million people. Some noteworthy successes of the project so far are: Village Development Committees (VDCs) have been formed in about 500 villages with a further 900 planned. These community-driven institutions are overseeing implementation of over 900 subprojects, including the building of rural roads, tubewells, culverts and schools. About 1400 km rural earthen roads, 1562 culverts and 1936 hand tubewells have been completed or are under implementation by the communities. Advocacy and awareness-raising is taking place in key areas of health, education and governance. Nearly 5,000 of the poorest individuals have received occupational skills training and capital to start a small income generating activity (IGA). Six ongoing rural piped water schemes cover about 4433 households in 6 villages in Chapai Nawabganj, Munshiganj, Feni, Manikganj and Sylhet districts. This component has successfully demonstrated the potential for Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangements to provide piped water delivery to rural communities and the approach is now to be scaled up through a new project financed by the World Bank.
The “Monga” Mitigation Initiative pilot program “Monga” is seasonal scarcity of employment and hence incomes leading to lack of access to food amongst mainly rural hard-core poor families. It occurs almost every year mostly in the northwestern districts, particularly from mid-September (after planning of Aman rice) to mid-December (before harvest of Aman rice). The immediate impact of Monga is increased unemployment rates, and consequently reduced family incomes, food security and nutrition levels. Considering the social context and very poor and disadvantaged socio-economic situation of the Monga-affected areas, the project scope has been extended to include a pilot Monga mitigation initiative in severely Monga-affected upazilas within four districts: Kurigram, Gaibandha, Rangpur and Lalmonirhat. The pilot will be implemented in partnership with PKSF, to address the Monga problem in year 2005. With financial support from the World Bank and the GoB, the pilot aims at improve immediate income earnings of the Monga-affected families during the Monga season. This initiative includes: · Employment generation through small-scale community infrastructure activities · Skills development training for IGAs · Provision of micro-credit (through PKSF) · Provision of seed capital to those hard-core poor families who are ineligible for micro-credit Next steps The World Bank has recently completed a review of project progress, working with Social Development Foundation to identify any implementation challenges and plan next steps. Indicators show that the project is broadly successful and achieving the main development outcomes. While the project is largely on track, certain implementation and institutional issues have to be addressed during the coming months. These include: · Building the capacity and skills of VDCs, in critical areas such as financial management; · Ensuring sustainability of institutions developed under the project; · Ensuring sustainability of assets implemented under the project, through sound operation and maintenance plans and through links to local government; · Embedding understanding and practices of accountability at the village level, such as information sharing and involvement of the whole community in monitoring village development activities; · Supporting SDF in its critical implementation role, including their proactive monitoring and response to any implementation bottlenecks As a pilot initiative designed to test novel approaches to local development, lessons are continuously being learnt that will feed into any future community development approaches undertaken by the Government of Bangladesh and the Social Development Foundation. The project is already addressing the main objectives of the PRSP i.e. reducing poverty and empowering the poor in Bangladesh. |
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