Formation | 1982 |
---|---|
Headquarters | Dhaka, Bangladesh |
Region served | Bangladesh |
Official language | Bengali |
Director General | A Gaffar khan |
Website | www |
The Bangladesh Rural Development Board, or BRDB, [1] is a government agency responsible for the development in rural areas and is the largest government program involved in rural development in Bangladesh and is located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. [2] [3] [4] The core of the BRDB efforts is the design and implementation of a series of integrated rural development (RD) projects (e.g. RD-5, RD-9 and RD-12) and a Rural Poor Cooperative Project (RPCP). The landless men and women, marginal and small farmers constitute the target population of these projects. In addition to facilitating agricultural co-operative programs, BRDB mobilizes the rural poor, marginal farmers, and women into cooperatives and informal groups, which allow them to engage in income generating activities, and improve standards of living. [5]
Since independence Bangladesh witnessed various experimentation with rural development approaches. In the initial years a number of voluntary and public agencies worked in the form of relief and rehabilitation work. In 1972, the government activated the Integrated Rural Development Program (IRDP) to replicate and expand the Comilla Model in other parts of the country. Later, in 1982, the program was transformed into an institution called Bangladesh Rural Development Board (BRDB). [2] [3]
Microcredit is the extension of very small loans (microloans) to impoverished borrowers who typically lack collateral, steady employment, or a verifiable credit history. It is designed to support entrepreneurship and alleviate poverty. Many recipients are illiterate, and therefore unable to complete paperwork required to get conventional loans. As of 2009 an estimated 74 million people held microloans that totaled US$38 billion. Grameen Bank reports that repayment success rates are between 95 and 98 percent.
The Hunger Project (THP), founded in 1977 with the stated goal of ending world hunger in 25 years, is an organization committed to the sustainable end of world hunger. It has ongoing programs in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, where it implements programs aimed at mobilizing rural grassroots communities to achieve sustainable progress in health, education, nutrition, and family income. THP is a 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable organization incorporated in the state of California.
Grameen Bank is a microfinance organization and community development bank founded in Bangladesh. It makes small loans to the impoverished without requiring collateral.
BRAC is an international development Organisation based in Bangladesh. In order to receive foreign donations, BRAC was subsequently registered under the NGO Affairs Bureau of the Government of Bangladesh. BRAC is the largest non-governmental development Organisation in the world, in terms of number of employees as of September 2016. Established by Sir Fazle Hasan Abed in 1972 after the independence of Bangladesh, BRAC is present in all 64 districts of Bangladesh as well as 16 other countries in Asia, Africa, and the Americas.
Akhter Hameed Khan was a Pakistani development practitioner and social scientist. He promoted participatory rural development in Pakistan and other developing countries, and widely advocated community participation in development. His particular contribution was the establishment of a comprehensive project for rural development, the Comilla Model (1959). It earned him the Ramon Magsaysay Award from the Philippines and an honorary Doctorate of law from Michigan State University.
Nasreen Pervin Huq was a prominent women's activist and campaigner for women's rights and social justice. She died in an accident at her home in Dhaka, when she was crushed by a vehicle. The vehicle was driven by her chauffeur, who was picking her up to go to work as Director of the UK non-governmental organisation Action Aid. Though her death was ruled accidental, some think the driver was paid off by a foreign figure.
National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) is an apex regulatory body for overall regulation of regional rural banks and apex cooperative banks in India. It is under the jurisdiction of Ministry of Finance, Government of India. The bank has been entrusted with "matters concerning policy, planning, and operations in the field of credit for agriculture and other economic activities in rural areas in India". NABARD is active in developing and implementing financial inclusion.
The Comilla Model was a rural development programme launched in 1959 by the Pakistan Academy for Rural Development. The academy, which is located on the outskirts of Comilla town, was founded by Akhter Hameed Khan, the cooperative pioneer who was responsible for developing and launching the programme.
Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development (BARD) Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development (BARD) started its journey on 27 May 1959 as a Training, Research and Action Research institute in rural development. The founder director of this academy dedicated to the leadership of Dr. Akhtar Hameed Khan, some researchers carried out continuous experiments with rural people and developed some model programs for rural development in this country. In the early sixties, the problems that were prevalent in rural areas were identified. The priorities of these programs are:
Tahrunessa Ahmed Abdullah is a Bangladeshi writer and activist. She is notable for her researches and contribution to an uplift in the lives of women in rural Bangladesh through her various levels of involvement with Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development. In 1978, she became the first Bangladeshi to receive the Ramon Magsaysay Award in the community leadership category.
Ayub Quadri is a former advisor for the ministries of Education and Cultural Affairs to the interim Government of Bangladesh that assumed power on January 11, 2007. After serving as an advisor for 11 months, he resigned from the post over a scandal concerning artifact theft.
Bangladesh is faced with multiple water quality and quantity problems along with regular natural disasters, such as cyclones and floods. Available options for providing safe drinking water include tubewells, traditionally dug wells, treatment of surface water, desalination of groundwater with high salinity levels and rainwater harvesting.
Bangladesh is a developing nation. Despite rapid economic growth, poverty remains a major issue. However, poverty has declined sharply in recent history. Shortly after its independence, approximately 90% of the population lived under the poverty line. However, since economic reforms and trade liberalization of early 1990s, along with accelerated economic growth since early-2000s, Bangladesh have experienced a dramatic progress in reducing poverty. The remarkable progress in poverty alleviation has been recognized by international institutions. According to World Bank, more than 33 million Bangladeshi people have been lifted out of poverty since 2000; as measured by the percentage of people living on the equivalent of US$1.90 or less per day in 2011 purchasing price parity terms.
Martha Chen is an American academic, scholar and social worker, who is presently a lecturer in public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and senior advisor of the global research-policy-action network WIEGO and a member of the Advisory Board of the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER). Martha is a development practitioner and scholar who has worked with the working poor in India, South Asia, and around the world. Her areas of specialization are employment, poverty alleviation, informal economy, and gender. She lived in Bangladesh working with BRAC, one of the world's largest non-governmental organizations, and in India, as field representative of Oxfam America for India and Bangladesh for 15 years.
Climate change is a critical issue in Bangladesh as the country is one of the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. In the 2020 edition of Germanwatch's Climate Risk Index, it ranked seventh in the list of countries most affected by climate calamities during the period 1999–2018. Bangladesh's vulnerability to the effects of climate change is due to a combination of geographical factors, such as its flat, low-lying, and delta-exposed topography, and socio-economic factors, including its high population density, levels of poverty, and dependence on agriculture. The impacts and potential threats include sea level rise, temperature rise, food crises, droughts, floods, and cyclones.
The Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives is a ministry of the government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh. It is responsible for the housing and building, regional and rural policy, municipal and cities administration and finances, and the conduct of elections.
The Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board or BREB, is government organization in Dhaka, Bangladesh and is responsible for rural electrification. It is the largest power distribution organization in Bangladesh. BREB has brought all the 461 upazilas on grid under 100% electrification. Ajay Kumar Chakroborty, an additional secretary is the present chairman of the board.
The Government agencies in Bangladesh are state controlled organizations that act independently to carry out the policies of the Government of Bangladesh. The Government Ministries are relatively small and merely policy-making organizations, allowed to control agencies by policy decisions. Some of the work of the government is carried out through state enterprises or limited companies.
Bangabandhu Academy for Poverty Alleviation and Rural Development is a government academy and research institute that is responsible for decreasing poverty in rural areas of Bangladesh and is located in Gopalganj,Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Palli Daridro Bimochon Foundation is a Bangladeshi government foundation. It was established in 1999 in a law passed by the national parliament of Bangladesh with the goal of eradicating poverty. The current chairman of the foundation is Rezaul Ahsan.