Women Overcoming Poverty - Central Northern Bangladesh - Year 1
Code:
BGD-SYM-WOP-P01
Country:
BangladeshCause:
Economic EmpowermentPopulation:
164.7 millionHuman Dev Index:
#129 (Aus #5)Overview
Bangladesh has a population of 170 million people. More than 50% of the people are living below the poverty line and those living in rural areas are particularly disadvantaged. The aim of this project is to equip rural communities by improving literacy through functional education, self-help group formation, economic empowerment and encouraging behavioral change.
Why support this
This project is helping poor and marginalised families sustainably overcome poverty. The work is focused on women’s self-help groups providing the structure for a range of development activities such as literacy and basic arithmetic, saving schemes for income generation and learning about important social and environmental issues.
Budget
$19,778 for the first year of a 3-year project. The budget for this project will establish 10 new self-help groups and increase capacity of its members as well as pre-school education for 60 children.
Objectives Include
- This project is situated in a geographically isolated area prone to flooding which regularly damages houses, crops and infrastructure as well as increased spread of harmful diseases such as cholera and diarrhea.
- Limited access to healthcare, poor literacy, little (if any) education, and minimal and unstable incomes result in poor development outcomes for these target communities.
Expected Life Change
- Long term wellbeing and a model of change that is driven by transformation from within.
- Communities learn to work and save together to fund loan schemes to increase incomes through income generating activities.
- 60 children will be integrated into mainstream education having completed preschool learning through the project.