Draft for comments only Reviewing existing NGO services for the ...

programmes. International donor agencies fund most of these relief activities. These donor
agencies don't usually rely on government bodies and are willing to involve NGOs in its distribution.
Resettlement in Govt. khash land
A significant proportion of the ultra poor does not have any permanent residence and this creates a
barrier to participation in the development programme activities of NGOs. Land in Bangladesh is
generally held as private property; an exception are newly rising lands in char areas which are
Government property. There is no published official document describing the total amount of
khash land available. Access to land is significantly correlated with poverty and, therefore, getting
land is priority for the landless ultra poor. Social Organisation for Voluntary Advancement , Shamata,
Rajbari Unnayan Sangstha and Daridra Manab Kallyan Sangstha in Rajbari and Friend Program in
Kurigram/Lalmonirhat worked for rehabilitation of the ultra poor in Govt. khash land. There are
also other NGOs working for the rehabilitation of the UP people. Proshika, among the large NGOs,
has provisions for relief and rehabilitation. 3
Income and employment generation
As part of their development initiatives, NGOs offers different packages of services that can be
divided into three broad categories. Provision of small scale credit (lower than the amount offered to
other poor) for different income-generation activities is a strategy followed by some big players like
Grameen Bank, Proshika and is also followed by other small local level development agencies 4 . Micro-
3 Since 1984 PROSHIKA has been providing relief and rehabilitation support to the distressed poor victims of various
calamities and has gained considerable expertise in disaster management. During 2000-2001 a total of Tk.9,806,775 was
disbursed to 42,016 families in 30 unions under nine ADCs and 70 unions under 34 local NGOs. RRC in Jessore and
Uttaran in Satkhira district actively coordinated the local NGOs with PROSHIKA in this respect.
Moreover, four schools have been upgraded as flood shelters and 25 kilometers of embankment covered with
afforestation in three ADCs under the disaster preparedness programme during this period. Besides, seven disaster
shelters have been built in the coastal belts of the country.
Proshika also campaigns for resettlement of the poor both in rural as well as in urban areas. A large majority of the
people in Bangladesh has no land. They also do not have access to common property resources (such as open water
bodies, forest, grazing land) and public services provided by the state (health, education and legal facilities). They lack
bargaining power and cannot compete in the open market and, therefore, have to accept low prices for equal labour and
for the commodities they produce. Proshika’s role in these issues is to mobilize society for land reform and access to
common public properties in favour of the landless. It has undertaken several awareness raising and employment
generating programmes such as landless water selling programme, community based fisheries management, microcredit
services, health and education programme for the poor, providing legal aid to the poor, campains for the formulation of
pro-poor budget, pro-poor health policy, establishing village court, special court for dealing with women and child
abuse, implementing the Beijing platform and so on. In 1999, Proshika under the umbrella of ADAB mobilized the
NGOs and organizations of urban poor as well as civil society and media against eviction of the urban poor living in
Dhaka slums and the sex workers in Narayangonj. (PROSHIKA update).
4 Different study results demonstrate that the ultra poor do not have the capacity for productive use of the minimum
amount of loan offered to them. As a result, they divert part of the borrowed amount to non-productive activities
including consumption. Further, they cannot afford to invest the amount in activities with a high gestation gap as they
lack a continuous source of income and need to get quick returns in order to follow the NGO’s repayment schedule.
The current generation of micro-credit with relatively high interest rates and its strict repayment schedule are therefore
not suitable for the ultra poor.