Bangladesh is characterized by poverty; on the Human Development Index, 35 million Bangladeshis live below the extreme poverty line. This extreme, often chronic, poverty is synonymous with hunger and malnutrition: nearly 50% of Bangladeshi children are underweight and nearly a third of the entire population is malnourished. Nonetheless, between 2000 and 2005, the number of people below $1.25 a day in Bangladesh declined from 58% to 50%. Bangladesh has reduced hunger by a significant margin, but the severity of hunger still remains serious, according to a report published by Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2019. With a score of 25.8, Bangladesh ranked 88th in the index, among 117 qualifying countries. Its previous score was 30.3 in 2010 (Source: Global Hunger Index-2019).Based on National Poverty Level of Bangladesh of $1.90 per person per day, poverty declined from 44.2 percent in 1991 to 13.8 percent in 2016/17 (Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics-(BBS). This significant poverty reduction was coupled with high levels of economic growth and increases in per-capita consumption expenditure. Although there has been a substantial decline in households living in poverty over the last decade in Bangladesh, a significant part of the population still live below the poverty line. They are suffering from acute rural-urban economic disparity coupled with illiteracy, lack of health and sanitation facilities. In Bangladesh, development process is mainly to ensure socio-economic promotion of poor people. It has been evident that lack of access to resources is one of the major reasons of re-development. The access of the poor people to formal financial institutions/Bank is denied for the lack of collateral and other security. The formal banking system deprives them of borrowing, saving and investing in income generating activities, which is why poor people remain poor.
Livelihood, Microfinance and Targeting Ultra Poor (TUP) Projects help them get different trade based tools and goods by which they get involved in income generating activities and thus to be self-reliant. In reality, these projects are providing a very successful intervention of NGOs in poverty reduction strategy. It gives marginalized people a space, not available at all in formal process, to create resources.
To build sustainable livelihoods and food security of the poor, extreme poor and the disadvantaged communities living in the poverty stricken areas in Bangladesh, SAWAB has been implementing Livelihood, Microfinance and Targeting Ultra Poor (TUP) Project. It is projected to eliminate extreme poverty as poverty disproportionately affects women particularly widow, divorced or separated female-headed households who face a considerably higher incidence in relation to poverty.
- Livelihood Program
SAWAB’s one of the objectives is to promote income generation opportunities for the marginalized group for improving the socio-economic condition by providing different types of technical and vocational skill development training and then provided the targeted group of population with the asset. To build sustainable livelihoods and food security of the poor, extreme poor and the disadvantaged communities living in the poverty stricken areas in Bangladesh, SAWAB has been implementing livelihood program. SAWAB is projected to eliminate extreme poverty among the poverty disproportionately affects women particularly widowed, divorced or separated female-headed households who face a considerably higher incidence of poverty relative to others.
SAWAB also started its microfinance program in 2015 with a vision to help the poorest people of the society to graduate from poverty. The general objective of SAWAB microfinance is to reduce poverty through the provision of micro and small investment without interest, savings scheme following the principles of Islamic financing. The broader objective is to ensure financial inclusion of marginalized people and promote socially responsible lending. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and agro based microfinance were integrated into the program to build entrepreneurship at local level. On the other hand, it also introduced special microfinance projects to support people living with hard core poverty.
- Targeting Ultra Poor (TUP) Project
Bangladesh is making progress in reducing its poverty rate and there is a big chance of overcoming extreme poverty rate by 2030 according to the World Bank. Bangladesh with its around 24.9% people living below poverty line in which around 12.8% living in extreme poverty in suffering from acute rural-Urban economic disparity coupled with illiteracy, lack of health and sanitation facilities.
Considering the fact, SAWAB started the livelihood program for two years on Targeting the Ultra Poor (TUP) in Bangladesh from this year. The program gives recipients a 24, 36, 48-month period to develop sustainable livelihoods and ‘graduate’ out of extreme poverty by delivering Livelihood Technical training, Business Skill Training, Life Skill training and other relevant training through receiving Milk Cow, Small Trade and Electric Rickshaw under this program.
The Targeting Ultra Poor (TUP) Project aims at assisting the ultra-poor population living in rural of Bangladesh. The main objective of the project is to enhance HHs rural dwellers accessing to skills training and capacity enhancement for creating livelihood opportunities and contribute in socio economic development.
After project period, beneficiaries will be benefited by enhancing self-employment and income generating activities for the ultra-poor families in target areas; rescuing the ultra-poor families from the various cycle of extreme poverty; creating economic opportunities for the target ultra-poor; educating and empowering under privileged and suffering humanity; developing awareness regarding values, rights, freedom, importance of education, health and other basic needs; ensuring dignity of women in the target areas; promoting egalitarian values in the society through development and social welfare activities and also strengthen the social tie.
Every year SAWAB provides cows, goods for grocery shop and rickshaws among the vulnerable families consisting of disadvantaged and distressed beneficiaries to make them self-reliant through income generating trades and up-lift their socio-economic status in society.