Asa Bangladesh
ASA Bangladesh Research
Brief History of ASA
ASA stands for Association for Social Advancement, which is a non-governmental organization aiming at helping poor people to get out of poverty. Bangladesh earned its independence in 1971, but because of the war, the whole country needed to be reconstructed. The unstable and bureaucratic political system slowed down the speed of economic development. In the meantime, some small non-governmental organizations stepped into Bangladesh to help the local people restore their life in different respects.
The official ASA website shows that the organization was founded in 1978 with its goal of empowering the poor. In the beginning phase, ASA started some programs such as “training program, communication support service program and legal aid and awareness build-up program”. The results of the programs, however, were below expectations. There were several limitations in developing ASA. For example, the employers had difficulty to get paid; the design of the programs was not consistent with the local situation; the natural disaster happened at that time. All these factors forced the managers to formulate a practical solution. ASA began to favor women as clients and addressed social concerns, such as education, sanitation and health. Since 1992, ASA has launched special programs in savings, credit and security fund areas (emergency loans or insurance), which are still the main financial businesses at ASA.
Main Services of ASA
The annual report of the year 2011 states that the main services of ASA include loans, savings, insurance, a Technical Assistance (TA) program and ASA’s sister concern Hope for the Poorest (HP). The new program introduced is the Primary Education Strengthening Program. The following product descriptions are based on the ASA official website.
1. Loans
ASA provides two kinds of loans—primary loans and special loans. Primary loans aim at providing financial support for poor people, who can get a
Brief History of ASA
ASA stands for Association for Social Advancement, which is a non-governmental organization aiming at helping poor people to get out of poverty. Bangladesh earned its independence in 1971, but because of the war, the whole country needed to be reconstructed. The unstable and bureaucratic political system slowed down the speed of economic development. In the meantime, some small non-governmental organizations stepped into Bangladesh to help the local people restore their life in different respects.
The official ASA website shows that the organization was founded in 1978 with its goal of empowering the poor. In the beginning phase, ASA started some programs such as “training program, communication support service program and legal aid and awareness build-up program”. The results of the programs, however, were below expectations. There were several limitations in developing ASA. For example, the employers had difficulty to get paid; the design of the programs was not consistent with the local situation; the natural disaster happened at that time. All these factors forced the managers to formulate a practical solution. ASA began to favor women as clients and addressed social concerns, such as education, sanitation and health. Since 1992, ASA has launched special programs in savings, credit and security fund areas (emergency loans or insurance), which are still the main financial businesses at ASA.
Main Services of ASA
The annual report of the year 2011 states that the main services of ASA include loans, savings, insurance, a Technical Assistance (TA) program and ASA’s sister concern Hope for the Poorest (HP). The new program introduced is the Primary Education Strengthening Program. The following product descriptions are based on the ASA official website.
1. Loans
ASA provides two kinds of loans—primary loans and special loans. Primary loans aim at providing financial support for poor people, who can get a
References: Ahmed, S., Luo, J., Rahman, M. W. & Wang, X. (2012). The Synthesis of Grameen Bank, , BRAC and ASA Microfinance Approaches in Bangladesh, World Applied Sciences Journal, 20(7), 1055-1062, doi: 10.5829/idosi.wasj.2012.20.07.1558 Ahmmed, M Kono, H. & Takahashi, K. (2010). Microfinance Revolution: Its Effects, Innovations, and Challenges. The Developing Economics, 48, 15-73. Nabi, M Zaman, H. (2004 May). Microfinance in Bangladesh: Growth, Achievements, and Lessons, Center for World bank website: http://info.worldbank.org/etools/docs/reducingpoverty/case/108/ fullcase/ Bangladesh%20Microfinance%20Full%20Case.pdf [ 3 ]. 2. Campion, A. (2002). Challenges to Microfinance Commercialization. Journal of Microfinance, 4, 57-66 3 [ 4 ]. 4. Amin, M. T. & Sheikh, M. R. (2011). The Impact of Micro-Finance Program on the Poor: A Comparative Study of Grameen Bank, BRAC and ASA in Some Selected Areas in Bangladesh. European Journal of Business and Management