RURAL BANGLADESH - PreventionWeb

Socioeconomic Profile Findings
invisible poor have memberships in NGOs and/or CBOs. A higher proportion of households
from each of the other three categories, including the least vulnerable households, participate
in activities as NGO/CBO members. The Chi square value (26935.911) suggests that
membership in NGOs and/or CBOs depends on socioeconomic status of the households; the
better off a household is, the greater the chance of participation in NGOs and CBOs.
In recent years, as donor funds have been receding in Bangladesh, NGOs and CBOs are
facing increasing pressure to become self-sustained organizations. A majority of the NGOs
and CBOs transformed themselves into Micro Finance Institutions (MFI) in an effort to
compete more effectively by offering micro-credit services as their primary activity. The
most vulnerable households frequently do not qualify for micro-credit loans because of their
risk-prone financial conditions, and hence they are effectively excluded from the NGO
activities.
NGO and CBO membership patterns vary significantly by region as well. Approximately
one-third of CHT households are NGO/CBO members, the highest regional membership
rate. The lowest membership rates are found in the Haor zone, where only approximately
one-fifth of the total sample households have NGO/CBO memberships. Interestingly, in the
Chittagong Hill Tracts, approximately 56 percent of NGO/CBO members are Bengalis even
though they account for 45 percent of the population in the region.
Households across rural Bangladesh continue to participate in Grameen microfinance
groups, as noted above. More than one in every 10 households in the study area is a
Grameen member. However, only approximately six percent of invisible poor households
are members of Grameen groups compared to approximately 12 percent of the households in
the other three combined socioeconomic categories. Like other NGOs and CBOs operating
in rural Bangladesh, Grameen is failing to bring the most vulnerable households into group
activities. The Grameen Bank has yet to make effective inroads into the CHT, where fewer
than five percent of households have joined the Bank’s activities, far fewer than in any other
WFP zone.
Figure 18: Safety Nets Programme Participation by Socioeconomic Status
% of Households
20
15
10
5
0
P articip atio n in S afety N ets
Non Vulnerable O n-the-edge Vulnerable Invisible Poor
VGD Card
Socioeconom ic Class
R u ral R oad M ain ten an c e
Old Age Pension
Food for Education
Allowance Scheme for W idowed
The only organisational membership explored in this study to have (partially) successfully
targeted vulnerable households for participation is the Government welfare recipient group.
The group includes eight percent of invisible poor households, which can be contrasted with
59