Background of Establishment:
Village Initiative for Empowerment of Women (VIEW) began with a few welfare programs comprising of consciousness raising, Non- Formal Education, Fish, Culture and Agricultural activities, Water and Sanitation, Micro credit, paucity of funds, Lack, of adequate skill manpower etc was some of the major hardness that VIEW had to contend with in its path of growth and development for the most disadvantaged section of Community. However, with the help of our development partners, well- wishers, Donor, Participant population, Collaborator VIEW gains its path of growth in strength slowly but steadily progressing for the development participant population.
Executive Director is having 37 years significant experiences in the field of rural development since 1977. Prior in establishment of VIEW (NGO) he had served in 8 International Development Organization in senior management level for a period of 28 years.
A Scenario of Kurigram District
Northwest part of Bangladesh is still acknowledged one of the poorest areas in the country.
Kurigram District is located in the Northwest part of Bangladesh. The District with 09 Upazila, covers 2, 28,800 hectors of land (2290 sq. km) the population of the District is 1.8 million with a density of people per hectare. Landless (cultivating less then 0.50 acres) and marginal (cultivating between 0.51 to 1.50 acre) farmers account for 45% and 19% households respectively. Small farmers (1.51 acres to 2.50 acres) represent a further 11% household. The average size of the household is around 5.7 persons. The labour Force is predominantly/ agricultural and it is as high as 8% this labor force suffers from a high level of underemployment.
Three quarters of households are completely landless or own less then one acre of land. Most of these households live in chronic poverty and 35% household are hardcore poor. Women and children are the most disadvantaged in condition. Marginalization is steadily increasing due to population growth; fragmentation of land inheritance that further reduces agricultural wage employment opportunities tent not to reach the poor, due to so-called socio political situation. The poor usually have to depend on village Moneylenders with and exorbitant rate of interest. As a result they become victim to a downward spiral of continuing marginalization and impoverishment. Therefore agricultural sector and services remain the main source of wage income and employment.
Year of Establishment: 1980
Place of Establishment: Kurigram Bangladesh.
Legal Status: Registered with DSS No –Kuri/ 229/80 Dated December 17, 1980,NGO Affairs Bureau, Number 1833,Dated: 24 May 2003 and Department of Youth, registration # 40,Dated: 14 July 2009.
Vision: Enabling growth and integrated development of disadvantaged with their active participation to empowerment in all spheres of human life.
Mission: VIEW seeks to improve the living condition of the rural poor by supporting multidimensional development effort and promoting social justice, equity, gender and development, human right and advocacy in different levels to achieve socio- economic empowerment in a comprehensive development package. VIEW are of the firm believe that development is not technological change or economical growth but rather change in the people their attitude, and their organization where people participate in their own development for the integrated human development of the socio- economically disadvantaged, underprivileged and marginalized section of community.
Objectives : To achieve sustainable condition in living standard of the rural poor people enabling socio-economic empowerment with appropriate skills, understanding, confidence, human rights, justice, individuals into groups providing necessary strength/ solidarity leading to self- help approaches.
VIEW Governance: The General Committee (GC) of VIEW is consisted of 31 members are the supreme authority to make a decision for the organization. The committee holds a meeting bi- annually. Besides Executive Committee (EC) consisted of 7 members is elected bi- annually out of general committee members. Executive Committee is empowered by the GV and responsible for guiding and policies making bi- monthly to review the progress of activities. During the meeting work done is evaluated, problems are threshed out, future policies are chartered out for the well functioning of the project activities. During the meeting work done is evaluated, problems are threshed out, future policies are chartered out for the well functioning of the project activities. The General Committee (GC) & Executive Committee (EC). He is responsible to Executive Committee (EC), Different professional and support staffs the Executive Director. He is also responsible for overall management includes budgeting, recruitment, supervision, monitoring , financial control and personnel management of the project are the day to- day routine management of the organization.
VIEW Development Partners:
VIEW is presently financed in both Government and private contribution in their respective countries. Some of the `financed is raised directly by the VIEW through set oral focused interventions funded by the UN agencies, local founded by the UN agencies, local foundation, NGO’s, Governmental agencies in Bangladesh, local contribution from participating beneficiaries and earned from Income Generating Project of the organization.
There is some turnover of development partners as:
- ABILIS Foundation (Disabilities in Development project).
- European Union(EC)/PRIP Trust, (Community Bases Disaster Preparedness Programme)
- DFID/LCD-UK/CDD. Promoting Rights Access to Inclusive Education
- Department of Youth, GO Networking Project
- ASHOKA-USA , Project Development through Self-Help
- World Fish Center (USAID), Aquaculture (Concluded)
- Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), (Anti- Trafficking). (Concluded)
- NGO Forum for Drinking Water and Sanitation/ UNICFF, (Sanitation Project) .
- BRAC- ESP, Non Formal Primary Education (NFPE).
- BRAC- HR& Advocacy Unit (Targeting Ultra Poor) (Concluded).
- Gono Shahasthaya Kendra (GK), Health, Education and Micro finance.
- Department of Primary and Mass Education, Government of Bangladesh (Reaching Out of School Children).
- Manusher Jonno (MS)/ Steps towards Development (STD), (Gender and Development Project).
- Manusher Jonno (MS)/ ESDO, (Child Rights Project).
- World Food Programme (WFP) School Feeding Programme.
- CAMPE ,Education & Environment
Currently undertaken some Interventions:
- Organisational Capacity Building Initiavives under Empowering Local and National Humanitarian Actors (ELNHA) supported by MJSKS financed by Oxfam-Bangladesh.This initiatives has been implemented in 2017 as Lead Actor under the ELNHA Project.
- Community Health Project: This project is being implemented by VIEW since early 2012 with the support of Island Aid for World Children,Jersey,UK a Kurigram Sadar Upazila in Kurigram District.
- “We Can” Mobilize Youths towards Ends Early Marriage and Violence since November,2017 with the support of Action Aid –Bangladesh at Kurigram Sadar Upazila in Kurigram District.
- Formal Primary Education: This project is being implemented by VIEW since early 2012 at Sadar Upazila in Kurigram District with the support of Island Aid for World Children,Jersey,UK
Development Programs/ Activities:
Peoples Organization:
Since VIEW organized individual into group are to gain in strength through mutual support and economies of skill leading to promotion of internal resources mobilization and development the project areas. VIEW encouraged to men and women belonging to the target population to from their own group. Each group constituted of 15 to 20 members those who are distressed, disadvantaged and vulnerable in the communities.
Water and Sanitation:
The Project area in Kurigram in contains high level of iron and some areas Arsenic contamination has already been detected. To combat the situation VIEW has lunched a program on Arsenic mitigation project seeks the raise community awareness, test tube well water for arsenic contamination and implement safe water strategies with the technical backstops of department of public Health Engineering and NGO- Form. VIEW is working closely with NGO- Forum and the Line Ministries, to achieve the goal of 100% sanitation in villages / project areas fit with the Government national plan.
Income Generating Activities:
The income generation for vulnerable group development programs covers the poorest women who own no lend, have little or no income are to alleviate poverty of the hard – core poor provided with substantial income and substantial income and employment opportunities through soft credit support and training off farm sector.
Legal Aid Services: Affiliated with institute of democratic Right (IDR) VIEW has already established a paralegal cell in community aiming to facilitate local dispute the case at grass – root level rather in court. VIEW assists the poor peoples who are not in a position to file a case in the court through Legal Aid Cell.
Disabilities in Development: The project is implemented to develop with disabilities by under king different development interventions are Community Meeting, Micro Enterprise Development, Food Processing, Small Seale Footwear and Computer Literacy Training,. The project finances by ABILIS Finland.
Development through Self Help Group Approach:
The approach is basically development to reduce participant, population drudgery and to ensure food and income security for their sustainable livelihood. To make them able for a strong leadership among the community, promote regular savings to raise a capital. The approach is based on local available resources linked with Union Parishad and Upazila administration. The project is finances by ASHOKA- USA.
Food Processing: Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG) Bangladesh has provided technical assistance to VIEW staffs and beneficiaries for skill development in the field of making pickle, Chanachur, Jam, Jelly & Chatni, Food processing activities have been undertaken as an IGA for a means of means of income and foot security.
Aquaculture:
In Kurigram District there is many distract pond or water bodies have been brought under intensive fish cultivation by the potential group members to increase their income and to created self – employment round of year. Technical expertise is developed with the assistance of World Fish center a project of USAID. Local department of fisheries, Government of Bangladesh in involved boosting up the cultivation.
Targeting the Ultra Poor – Pushing Down the frontiers of Poverty Reduction:
TUP aim the push down its interventions by development new instruments relevant to the livelihoods ultra poor households. Five major components of TUP are Enterprise Development, Training, Asset transfer, Social Development, Essential Health care and action Research project through BRAC Advocacy & Human Rights Union View implementing different interventions in communities like Popular Theater, Workshop, Community Meetings, Audio Visual Animation Program, Live Theater, Formation of communication Forum and Advocacy/ Lobbying to all level.
Primary Health Care Services:
The goal aim of the program is to entrust health care and health and maintenance needs meets to the peoples in the community/ family and not leave it entirely in the hands of professional that are first becoming a major exploitative force. The concept of preventive and primitive health care should be emphasized along with safe- drinking water, personal/ environmental hygiene, nutrition/ balanced died, weaning foods, dole strum. ORS home remedies, for diarrhea, scabies, common cold fever, immunization, worm infestation. Acute Respiratory Tracks Infections (ART), sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD) AIDS HIVS and natural family planning. Regular follow – Up of neonates to monitor their health status and treatment foot minor ailments and refer complicated cases to local clines/ hospital.
To impalement the programme several out reach / satellite centers will be established at villages to ensure effective health delivery systems at the people’s doorstep. Intensive training on health related issues will be given to staff and stakeholder high- risk cases referral system and linkages with other clinics have been developed. To minimize the project cost a community financing system has been development aiming to reduce the dependency.
Women’s Rights and Gender Awareness:
The ultimate objective of the programme is to raise a level of consciousness and to acquire skills so as to reduce their dependence and drudgery to improve their lot through self- efforts to access of locally available resources to promote and facilitate emerging of their won leadership ultimately leading to their sustainable development. There is gross discrimination against women such discrimination has contributed to the perpetuation of gender inequity and restricted women full participation in the community, economy and in the development growth. To reach these objectives women stakeholders and their husbands will be given training on women and Gender Awareness. The training course aims to broaden perspective to the participants on nature and social norms of gender equity and to enhance their analytical skills to integrate different issues in formulation and empowering in all of human life in the – development process.
VIEW has been produced a well- defined Gender Policy to guide is staffs and beneficiaries in order to remove the inequities in relation to gender perspective.
Primary Education (Formal)
Education has been addressed children’s in rural areas in consonance with the cultural and intellectual level of peoples and buildup on their innate artiste perception and skills leading to their functional capability. This program is being implemented with the financial and technical assistance of Island Aid for World Children and JOAC-UK since 2012 Teaching curriculum and materials is been used Department of Primary Education, Government of Bangladesh.
Primary Education (Non-Formal)
VIEW Non-Formal Primary Education was initially implemented for children who are disadvantaged and vulnerable in rural communities where there was no access of education. Children considered
Children were considered those aged 6 to 11 years and to progress them through Grade-I to Grade-V. The ratio of girls to boys was 60:40.Teachers strongly considered from the vicinity based on their experiences and qualification. Each school composed of 30 learners.
Livelihood for the Extreme Poor:
There has been some positive trend in poverty reduction globally, regionally and nationally. The number of people living in poverty has come down to 836 million in 2015 from 1.9 billion in 1990. In Bangladesh, poverty ratio has come down to 24.8% (GED 2015) from 42% in 2000. Still millions live in extreme poverty in the hard to reach areas (HTR) and in the climate affected zone e.g., coastal area and off-shore islands, haor basin, riverine charland, hill areas, drought prone upland and in urban slums. Many of them do not have good employment, adequate income, access to safe water and sanitation, health service and suffer from insecurity, deprivation and injustice. Human induced rapid climate change are affecting their lives and livelihoods making them most vulnerable. The poor has very limited livelihood assets, capacity and options, which are affected by many externalities including market force and climate change making the livelihoods and outcomes fragile and un-sustainable. This process pushes with different insecurities and uncertainty. Three main aspects have been identified in relation to poverty dynamics in Bangladesh.
Considering the circumstances VIEW implemented a project in Kurigram Sadar Upazila Kurigram following are key features of the project:
Photo Gallery
