MDS 507: Research Methodology: Doing Developmental Research

Name ID No

Samiha Fairooz 2212091041

Iren Akter 2212091051
Khadija Akther Shopna 2212091053
MD Imtiaz Ahmed 2212091075
Samira Mehnaz 2212091083
Eftakhar Ahamed 2212091027

Section-A
Working Title: Role of NGOs in Formulating SDGs in Bangladesh: Health, Education and
Gender Equality

Problem Statement:

To achieve the SDGs, Bangladesh faces some considerable challenges. In terms of health,
Bangladesh has managed to achieve its performance by establishing an extensive network of
over 13,000 community clinics, which provide primary care for a significant number of people.
There is no doubt that preventive medicine, by means of primary care, is the key to achieving all
the targets. However, the nine years that we have left will not be enough to develop the complete
infrastructure required to deliver the entire spectrum of preventive healthcare across the country.
In Education sector though Bangladesh Government did tremendous job for past few years
especially in rural area. More girls are interested in education other than household works
moreover parents are also concern about that which was unseen in past. However after COVID-
19 hit in 2020 the education structure got huge shake. Many school going girls and also boys left
their study because their parents don’t have enough money for their education as huge amount of
people lost their job during this period. So it will be a challenge for Bangladesh to meet up their
goal in education sector. Lastly in gender equality sector, Bangladeshi women have been
struggling to establish their rights in family, society and in the state. In reality, women are still
facing discrimination, exclusion and injustice and have a negligible influence in decision-making
processes in a male-dominated society of Bangladesh. Discriminatory laws and policies hinder
formal equality and socio-political conditions prevent women from exercising their rights. Girls
are often considered a burden, especially for poor households, where they are at risk of marriage
at an early age and where the practice of dowries though illegal continues and is burdensome.
Women are usually the last to eat at mealtimes and 30 per cent of the women are chronically
malnourished. Furthermore, violence against women makes women socially vulnerable and
prevents them from fully taking part in society.
Research Question

The following is the central question of the research topic:

 What are the roles of NGOs to implement Sustainable Development Goals in

Bangladesh?
There are some associated sub questions of the research topic. The questions are:

 What are the steps taken by NGOs in promoting Sustainable Development Goals in
Bangladesh?

Literature Review

NGO plays enumerable activities to develop state wise social development and it’s
typically referred because the inconvenience of resources for meeting the fundamental living
standard. The lack of access to higher education needed for good standard of living is related to
income and as such NGOs started initiative such as Higher Education Loan programme for
pursuing higher education at the graduate and postgraduate levels. The loans are intended to
cover all expenses incurred by the students from the beginning to the end of the study period.
Nobel Prize panel awarded the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize to Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen
Bank "for their endeavors to make financial and social improvement from beneath." The
microfinance revolution has made considerable progress since Yunus first gave financing to the
poor in Bangladesh. The board of trustees has perceived microfinance as "a significant liberating
power" and an "always significant instrument in the battle against poverty." Then again,
Grameen Microcredit is assisting with expanding privilege of microcredit program households
on education through expanding ability to spend more on education of children. The normal
yearly educational consumption of microcredit program households is Taka 1669.30 and the co-
effective of variety is 1.72. While the normal yearly instructive use of without microcredit family
units is Taka 711.53 and the coefficient of variety is 1.57. The normal yearly educational
expenditure of Microcredit program households is 135% higher than the normal yearly
educational consumption of without microcredit households (Chowdhury, 2001). By the end of
the year under review 53,175 students pursuing courses in disciplines were provided loans under
this program (Roy, Raquib and Sarker, 2017). This initiative was taken by Grameen Bank. The
largest NGOs in our country, BRAC has started satellite school system based on informal
education policy. From the beginning till to the date, BRAC has been providing basic education
nearly ten million students in Bangladesh. In 2012, total number of students, passed from
BRAC’s primary schools at PSC examination is 206336 (BRAC, 2012).

In a collective effort to make public health a frontline agenda, United Nations has
incorporated multiple health components in its Sustainable Development Goals, emphasizing
ensure healthy lives & promote well-being for all ages. In the line with the government, NGOs
have been contributing huge role in various circles of development programs remembering
health sector of Bangladesh for last five to six decades (Ahmed, 2012). Activities of NGOs
massively thrived following the liberation war in 1971 since numerous associations approached
to stretch out extraordinary help to needy individuals of war-torn nation for help and restoration,
poverty alleviation, advancement of health and other formative activities. As of now, in
Bangladesh, there are some noticeable NGOs who are tremendously perceived over the world for
their gigantic commitment in the parts of primary health care, microfinance, non-formal
education and other developmental sector. Among the main NGOs in the nation, BRAC, The
Grameen Bank, Association for Social Advancement (ASA), SOS Children's Villages
International In Bangladesh have set up an extraordinary occurrence of good example of NGOs
for developing countries in the world as a result of their excellent job in poverty alleviation,
promotion of public health, socio-economic development and so forth (Zakaria and Azad, 2016).
in Bangladesh, NGOs initiated to extend their special functions of health care services from the
mid-1970s. Since then and later years, they have given much emphasis on maternal and child
health (MCH), immunization and family planning (Barkat, Karim, Khan and Hoque, 2000).
Bangladesh achieved a great success in health especially in the improvements in the survival of
infants and children under 5 years of age, life expectancy, immunization coverage and
tuberculosis, even in the South Asian countries despite of being poorest country in the world.
The rate of women dying in children has dropped by 75 percent since 1980 in Bangladesh, while
infant mortality has more halved since 1990, life expectancy has increased to 68.30 years
(Lancet, 2013).

BRAC became the first NGO in the country to sign a memorandum of understanding
with the government to expand directly observed treatment short course (DOTS) services across
the country. BRAC also became a principle recipient of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS,
Tuberculosis and Malaria along with the government. The aim of the program is to reduce the
morbidity, mortality and transmission of TB until it is no longer a public health problem.
BRAC's frontline community health workers play a pivotal role in connecting individuals with
TB control services during household visits and health forums. They disseminate TB-specific
messages to the community, identify presumptive TB patients and refer them for sputum
examination to the government’s sub-district health complex or peripheral laboratories of BRAC.
Currently, BRAC covers 297 sub-districts from 42 districts, 7 city corporations with a population
of 92.9 million people including 31 academic institutes, 41 prisons, 405 peripheral laboratories
and 26 external quality assessment centres.

As the women are the half part of human society and it is their right to move them into
the main stream of development. Of the total population of Bangladesh around 49% are women.
As this kind of sex forms the half of our population almost; therefore, it is hardly possible to
achieve the comprehensive, sustainable, social and economic development without the
participation of women in all spheres of life (Southard, 1996). Their capacity to make the most of
chances that will prompt increment in their income or financial status, to secure themselves
against different dangers and to expand their capacity to adapt to these when they happen is
significant. Reduction of poverty is somewhat a procedure of expanding salary and economic
stability which empowers satisfaction of fundamental needs and access to various types of
services. NGOs have arranged many income generating activities like silk production
embroidery, fishnet matching, poultry and livestock to increase the socio-economic condition of
women. Various programmes related to women’s’ empowerment, promote vegetable gardening
by ensuring the participation of women (Hamid, 1996). A good number of studies have revealed
the extent to which microfinance has contributed to women’s empowerment to control family
decision. Zaman has made conclusion that Grameen microfinance has created an impact on the
women borrowers to increase their involvement for controlling assets and social welfare (Zaman,
1999). Caritas Bangladesh has successfully introduced an idea to incorporate women in
aquaculture technologies, notwithstanding the way that their role in aquaculture development has
not been adequately perceived and remains insufficiently addressed. To guarantee sustainability
in aquaculture, it is important to comprehend related issues and create gender sensitive
interventions. Caritas Bangladesh has sorted out an aggregate of 18269 beneficiaries under its
Aquaculture Program from 1998 to 2000, out of which 8603 were women (47%). It has been
seen that vital capacity building support followed by some extraordinary arrangements to defeat
socio-cultural restrictions have been effective in getting women engaged with aquaculture
(Shelly and Costa, 2002).

Conceptual Framework

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are occupied with multi-dimensional endeavors

that have been recognized all around during a range of development sectors, i.e. education,
health, gender quality etc. The NGOs are laid out here as given the social services through totally
extraordinary contributor supported undertakings. In any case, this development path of NGOs
will proceed inside the future with a huge commitment of a nation in accomplishing feasible
advancement objectives. Even, long term role of NGOs is currently confused with several people
within the developing country when a country like Bangladesh has achieved a standing of
middle-income country. But still people are suffering from health issues and still the rate of
education and participation of women in every sector are very low.

NGOs are seen as the advocates of the solution of this problem. NGO is defined as group
of players who are active in the efforts of international development which aims to increase the
welfare of poor people in poor countries and they work both independently and alongside
bilateral aid agencies from developed countries, self-help associations, and local governments
(Ahmed 2007). The NGOs in Bangladesh such as BRAC, SOS Children’s Village Bangladesh
etc. are working for the betterment of the condition of the people in the rural areas as well as in
urban areas. However, it was difficult for the government alone to solve the problem so, NGOs
came into the scenario and took the responsibility of solving different social problems like
illiteracy, inequality and health issues.

NGOs in Bangladesh perceive development as not only establishment of organization but

also self-development that would enable them to tackle the critical problems. The NGOs have
taken some steps to develop the condition of Bangladesh and to eradicate illiteracy, inequality
and health issues. These are the steps taken by NGO’s in eradicating the above-mentioned
problems:
Reference

Chowdhury, A., 2001. The Role of Micro-Credit in Alleviation of Poverty: A Study of the
Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. Department of Finance and Banking, University of Dhaka,
Bangladesh, Dhaka.

Roy, I., Raquib, T. and Sarker, A. (2017). Contribution of NGOs for Socio-Economic
Development in Bangladesh.

BRAC Annual Report 2012.

Ahmed, Salauddin, 2012. “Non-Government Organization,” Banglapedia (2nd ed.),

Asiatic Society of Bangladesh, Dhaka.

Zakaria, M. and Azad, M., 2016. Health Communication Activities of NGOs in Public
Health in Bangladesh: An Analysis. Asian Profile, Vol. 44, No. 2.

Barkat, A., M.A. Karim, S.H. Khan and M. Hoque, 2000. “Role of NGOs in Delivery of
Essential Services Package: An issue Paper,” Human Development Research Centre (HDRC)
and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW), Dhaka.

The Lancet, Volume 382, Issue 9906, Pages 1681 - 1682, 23 November 2013

Shamim Hamid (1996) Why Women Count: Essays on Women in Development in

Bangladesh, the University Press Limited, 114 Motijheel C/A, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Zaman, H., 1999. Assessing the Poverty and Vulnerability Impact of Micro-Credit in
Bangladesh: A Case Study of BRAC. Washington D.C, World Bank.

Shelly, A. and Costa, M., 2002. Women in Aquaculture: Initiatives of Caritas

Bangladesh. Worldfishcenter.org.