Gaibandha Food Security Project has been continuing in the district since 2009, creating positive impact to hard-core poor women. The objective of the project is to improve the socio- economic condition of the poor women and to ensure their food security all the year round through involving them in various income generating activities.

To create awareness among the poor about disaster preparedness including health and social issues and to help them exercise human rights for their empowerment are also the objectives of the project, office sources said.

Unnayan Shahojogy Team (UST), a reputed organization, is implementing the five-year project at eleven unions of Shaghata and Gobindaganj Upazilas in the district from January 2009 with the financial support of European Union, Inter Church Organization for Development Cooperation, Dark and Light Blind Care and The Leprosy Mission International while RDRS Bangladesh is coordinating it as lead organization, the sources said.

A total of 5,741 poor women, out of targeted 7,300, were brought under this project till March, 2010 and they were given as many as 194 cows, 594 goats, 2,370 poultry birds with feed and shelters, 23,430 saplings, 98 KGs of vegetables seed, 10 sewing machines and different selling items in the grocery shops during the period after imparting them need based training on respective issues, said Kazi Ataul Kabir, coordinator of UST.

After getting the assets from the organization the beneficiaries are rearing cow, goat and poultry, nurturing homestead gardening, operating tailoring and conducting the grocery shops to get economically benefited for changing their livelihoods gradually, he also said.

Jahanara Begum, a beneficiary of the project, at North Singa village under Cochashahar Union of Gobindaganj Upazila in the district said, ” I thank the UST as the organization has given me a cow at free of cost to ensure the food security of my family and change the lifestyle of the family members through selling the milk of the domestic animal”.

Project coordinator Md Atwar Rahman told the BSS that a total of 40,000 ultra poor women of all the seven upazilas of the district would be brought under this project by December next and they would be provided the same support and facilities to ensure their food security
About Unnayan Shahojogy Team

Unnayan Shahojogy Team (UST) is a national NGO working in Bangladesh since 1986. It is registered with NGO Affairs Bureau in Bangladesh (Redg. No.291). It mobilizes available resources for the benefits of the rural poor, especially for the disadvantaged women and children. UST has been working in typical geographical (Char) areas in Bangladesh with the disadvantaged people, especially with women; children and adolescent girls to promote and protect their right. UST also works at grass root level with civil society for strengthening local governance towards sustainable development.

UST believes that it is possible to bring changes in the situation of disadvantaged rural women through empowering them. This empowerment process is essential for shaping people’s capacity to manage and control over all kinds of livelihoods assets in their vicinity, which is centrally important for their sustainable livelihoods.

Key Principles of UST:
UST follows some key Principles to work with the disadvantaged people, which are:

Outsider may help, but insiders must do the job.
Go to the people, live with them, learn from them, and plan with them.
Start with what the people know.
Build on what the people have.
Teach by showing, learn by doing.
All development activities need to be designed putting the nature and people in the centre.
Programme of UST:
People’s Organization Development
Grassroots Governance
Sustainable Livelihoods
Sustainable Environmental Health
Child Rights
Education and Training
Disaster Preparedness & Risk Management

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Tags: Assistance, food security, hard-core poor women, human rights for empowerment, NGO, Support, Unnayan Shahojogy Team (UST)

This entry was posted on Monday, April 19th, 2010 at 9:24 am and is filed under Bangladesh, Bangladesh, food security. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.