Social Development in Rural Daudkandi, Bangladesh: Association for Social Advancement Approach to Empowerment of Poor Women

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the social development of poor women in rural Daudkandi Thana, Kumilla District, Bangladesh.

This paper analyzes previous studies and interviews conducted during 1997-2012, with the primary focus of this study being ASA's philosophy and activities of Samity (a small group) for poor women who have been living in P village, Daudkandi Thana.

ASA is one of the largest microfinance institutions and NGOs in Bangladesh. Since 1993, staff members of ASA have encouraged the formation of Samity and the efficient use of microfinance for the social development programme in P village. In addition, since 2006, they have been organizing landless women who live in the slum area into Samity at the grass-roots level. As of 2010, this Samity is organized by 27 women, 13 of whom live in the slum area, and among them 7 households comprising only a poor mother and children. These women have been participating in the social development programme, to promote their empowerment and to strengthen self-reliance for themselves as well as for their family members, thereby contributing to poverty alleviation. Also, some female members who have never depended on Mahajan (moneylenders), have created self-employment opportunities for themselves through microfinance. On the other hand, some households have been emancipated from exploitative Mahajan as a result of the microfinance of ASA and BRAC.

The slum area in P village is one of the most socially and economically depressed area in Daudkandi Thana. In fact, since 2007, BRAC has also been organizing Samity in this area. However a crucial problem faced by those managing the microfinance programme, as identified by ASA and BRAC, lies in defaults on repayment. Thus, staff members of ASA and BRAC, in collaboration with the staff members of other NGOs, have been deliberating on the issues of defaults on payments, social and human deprivation, and social problems as a whole at cooperative meetings held in Daudkandi Thana.

In conclusion, we conducted an analysis of the situation and concluded that ASA, BRAC, and other NGOs have been cohesively working in cooperation with each other to achieve empowerment for empower poor women in this rural area of Daudkandi Thana. Also, the Civil Society such as NGOs plays an important role in this areas actually even advancing social development in rural Daudkandi Thana, Bangladesh, involved in the endogenous development in the rural areas and the realization of well-being for poor female members as well as their family members.