Ngo in Bd

NGO Sector in Bangladesh
An Overview
The social development scene in Bangladesh is characterised by a strong presence of non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The NGOs emerged following the war of liberation to help the communities in distress as part of post-war rehabilitation. Afterwards, with assistance from foreign donor agencies, they expanded their activities to deliver a variety of services including microcredit, essential healthcare, informal education, women empowerment and rights advocacy. This paper traces the evolution of the NGO sector in Bangladesh and evaluates its role in social development.
SAJJAD ZOHIR

I Introduction
The image of Bangladesh has undergone a major transformation from a famine-stricken 'basket case ' during the early 1970s, to a flooded plain land in persistent need of food relief till the late 1980s, to an innovator in the delivery of services to the poor thereafter. The decade of 1990s experienced significant changes in the political structure, as well as noticeable improvements in human development and empowerment of women among the rural population. While nature continues to play havoc and governments often falter, the annual meeting of donors under the umbrella of the Bangladesh Development Forum during May 2004 was unanimous in noting that the economy and society of Bangladesh have attained a high degree of resilience to shocks. Much of the successes are commonly attributed to the activities undertaken by the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the country. However, the government 's relations with the nongovernmental organisations (often referred to as GO-NGO relations) are yet to stabilise. The term 'NGO ' encompasses a broad array of organisations, varying in their specific purpose, philosophy, sectoral expertise and scope of activities. In two important ways the NGOs in Bangladesh stand out from the traditional private voluntary organisations (PVOs). First, NGOs engage in activities, which had traditionally

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Rahman, Atiq (2003): 'The Role of NGOs in Advocacy: Lessons Leamt 4 See CDF (2002). Of the 681 MF-NGOs reporting to CDF on June 2002 from Bangladesh and other South Asian Countries ', Issue Paper 3, DFID. data, management of 117 were headed by women. White, S (1999): 'NGOs, Civil Society, and The State in Bangladesh: The 5 See Zohir (200 1). In the literature, the latter group is identified as 'credit Politics of Representing the Poor ', Development and Change, Vol 30, only ', while the former is referred to as 'credit-plus ' NGOs. pp 307-26. 6 These are often identified as micro-finance institutions (MFIs) in the Zaman, Iftekhar (2003): 'Governance, Organisational Effectiveness and the literature when the emphasis is more on commercial aspects of delivering Non-profit Sector, Bangladesh Country Report ', presented at the financial services. The two terms are treated synonymously in this paper. International Conference on Governance, Organisational Effectiveness 7 A BIDS study in 1990 [Zohir 1991] found threats of disintegration if and the Non-Profit Sector, organised by the Asia-Pacific Philanthropy SB group members were not provided with credit. Consortium, Manila, September 5-7. 8 The estimate is based on CDF data on end of the year cumulative Zohir Sajad (199 1): 'A Study on Swanirvar Bangladesh ', mimeo, Bangladesh disbursement of 17 important NGOs, and the conservative assumption In 'stitute of Development Studies, Dhaka. that they accounted for 85 per cent of total NGO-sector disbursement. _ (2001): 'Strengthening Interlinkages between Rural Credit, Agricultural During 2003, value of US dollar in taka hovered around taka 58 per Extension and Marketing: Bangladesh ' in Grass Roots Synergy in Rural dollar and 100 BDT fetched around 80 Indian rupees. Poverty Alleviation - Why and How?, United Nations, New York. 9 While many MFIs are considered NGOs, Granneen Bank is an exception. _ (2003): 'Private Sector Participation in Delivery of Social Services: The latter is registered as a specialised bank, outside the government Reconciling Experiences with Common Sense Economics ', paper sector. presented at a World Bank-BER seminar on Poverty Reduction Strategy 10 ASA 's Small Enterprise Lending (SEL), Proshika 's Small Economic and Growth in Bangladesh, June, and forthcoming in a World Bank Enterprise Development (SEED) programme, and BRAC 's MicroUniversity Press Publication. Enterprise Lending and Assistance (MELA) programme are some prime Zohir, Sajjad and I Matin (2004): 'Wider Impacts of Microfinance Institutions: examples. Issues and Concepts ', Journal of International Development, March, 11 This sub-section largely draws upon Zohir and Matin (2004). Wiley and Co. UK. 12 Group formation precedes lending programmes by most MFIs. Most common small groups have five members. However there are NGO/MFIs whose primary groups have 15-30 members. 13 Positive effects were established in several studies: on perception and definition of what constitutes women 's work and how it is evaluated; attitude towards desired family size, children 's education, household money management and even consumption decisions. Social attitude towards acceptable age of women 's marriage, domestic violence, dowry, hygiene, etc, have also undergone significant changes in rural Bangladesh, much of which are credited to the NGO roles in social Notes