Concern Worldwide Bangladesh

Operational Advocacy Strategy for Char Context

“It is not enough to dream.

It is necessary to know how to dream”

---Paulo Freire

M. Anowar Hossain

Khalid Hussain Ershad

Imran Ansari

April 2013

ii

Acknowledgements:

This is an opportunity to express our gratitude to people who contributed to the process of developing

the operational advocacy strategy for Char program of Concern Worldwide Bangladesh. At the outset,

we would like to offer our heartfelt gratitude to the program participants who have helped us

tremendously in identifying their problems, making it easier for us to identify advocacy issues.

Secondly, we would like to thank our partner organizations’ staffs for their contributions at every stage

by providing time to time information and feedback, especially for their effective and cordial participation

in group exercises to identify advocacy issues and possible interventions to address those issues. They

also ensured their support by sending us their annual activity plans, types of activities they are

implementing at different levels, etc. as per our requests while drafting the strategy. Thus, we would

really like to thanks these partners because without their support, the strategy development would not

have been possible at all.

Our program staffs also deserve our sincerest appreciation since they have all helped in organizing

workshops and ensuring participation from partners while taking part in these workshops themselves.

Last but not the least, we would like to express our earnest gratitude to our Country Director and

Assistant Country Director - Programs for their guidance, suggestions and comments which really

helped us develop this Char context operational advocacy strategy.

iii

Acronyms

ADP Annual Development Plan GBV Gender Based Violence ANC Antenatal Care GO Government Organization BADC Bangladesh Agricultural

Development Cooperation GoB Government of Bangladesh

BARRI Bangladesh Agricultural Rice Research Institute

HH House Holds

BBS Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics HY High Yielding BGMEA Bangladesh Garment

Manufacturers and Exporters Association

LCA Local Char Alliance

BIRRI Bangladesh Rice Research Institute MA Medical Assistant BKMEA Bangladesh Knitwear

Manufacturers and Exporters Association.

MO Medical Officer

CARE Cooperation for American Relief Everywhere.

MOEL Ministry of Employment and Labour

CBOs Community Based Organizations MoDMR Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief

CCA Char Contextual Analysis MoF Ministry of Finance CCMG

Community Clinic Management Group

MoP Ministry Planning

CED Chronic Energy Deficiency MoPME Ministry of Primary and Mass Education CHWs Community Health Workers MoWCA Ministry of Women and Children Affair CHVs Community Health Volunteer MoSW Ministry of Social Wellfare CIP Char Integrated Programme MoU Memorandum of Understanding CLP Char Livelihood Programme MP Member of Parliament CLTS Community Led Total Sanitation NCA National Char Alliance CSP Country Strategy Paper NGO Non-Government Organization CSR Corporate Social Responsibility NoJ Nodi O Jibon DAE Department of Agriculture Extension PNC Postnatal Care DFID Department for International

Development PRSP Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper

DG Directorate Generals PTA Parents Teacher Association DMC Disaster Management Committee SAAO Sub-Assistant Agriculture Officer DLS Department of Livestock SFYP Sixth Five Years Plan SHGs Self Help Groups DPHE Department of Public Health

extension SHOUHARDO

Strengthening Household Ability to Respond to Development Opportunities

DRR Disaster Risk Reduction SLIP School Level Implementation Plan

EPI Expanded Programme on Immunization

SMC School Management committee

FWA Family Welfare Assistant SRGBV School Related Gender Base Violence FWC Family Wellfare Centre SSNPs Social Safety net Programmes FWV Family Welfare Visitor STW Shallow Tubewell FY Fiscal Year UDMC Union Disaster Management Committee IGA Income Generating Activities UESC Union Education Standing Committee INGO International Non-Government

organization UFP Upazilla Family Planning

IP Implementing Partner UHC Upazilla Health Complex

iv

UHC Union Health Centre UHFWC Union Health and Family

Welfare Centre

UHSC Union Health Sub Center UN United Nations UNDP United Nations Development

Program

UNICEF United Nations Children's Fund UNO Upazilla Nirbahi Officer UP Union Parisad URRAP Union Risk Reduction Action

Plan

US Unnayan Shamannay USAID United States Agency for

International Development

UzADP Upazilla Annual Development Plan

UzCDC Upazilla Char Development Committee

UzDMC Upazilla Disaster Management Committee

UzEC Upazilla Education Committee UzEO Upazilla Education Officer UzRC Upazilla Resource Committee UzRC Upazilla Resource Centre UzRRAP Upazilla Risk Reduction Action

Plan

UzRT Upazilla Resource Team VGD Vulnerable Group Development VGF Vulnerable Group Feeding WASH Water and Sanitation Hygiene WDB Water Development Board WATSAN Water and Sanitation

v

Table of content

Content Pages Executive summary 1-2 1.Bangladesh and Char as background 3

2.Working Areas of Concern Worldwide Bangladesh 4

3.Location of Char Program 4

4.Methodology 5

5.Problems in Char Areas 6-7

Advocacy Under Char Context

6.1- About Advocacy issues of Char context

6.2- Stock taking about what are we doing at different levels? Are we doing

the right things?

6.3- Our Approach to Advocacy

6.4-Strategic Guidance: What should we be doing? Many things we are

already doing and

need to put more attention in some areas

8-26

Role of Unnayan Shamannay, JOBs-Bangladesh, Implementing Partners and

Concern Worldwide Bangladesh

7.1- Unnayan Shamannay

7.1.1-Outline of major deliverables from US years(2013-2015)

7.1.2- Expected Output/Result from Unnayan Shamannay

7.2- JOBS-Bangladesh

7.2.1- Outline of major deliverables from JOBS-Bangladesh

(years:2013- 2015)

7.2.2- Expected Output/Result from JOBS-Bangladesh

7.3 Implementing Partners

7.3.1 Outline of major deliverables from Implementing Partners.

7.3.2 Expected outputs / result from implementing partners

7.4 Role of Concern Worldwide Bangladesh

27-30

8.Roll out of this strategy 31

9.Monitoring of Advocacy 32

10. Bibliography 33

11.Annexure vi-x

1

Executive Summary

Introduction and objectives: Concern Worldwide acknowledges that the root causes of poverty and

vulnerability cannot be addressed by service delivery activities alone. Advocacy can play an important role in

tackling some of these root causes. In addition, Concern has built a wealth of experience at the ground level

over the past four decades and we feel that it is important that we use our position and speak out to have a

solid impact on the causes behind the problems we are attempting to address. Advocacy enables us to have

a bigger impact - for example, if we manage to contribute to a national policy change, it has the potential to

affect the lives of many more people than we could have reached through service delivery alone.

The role of NGOs has also been changing as we have learnt from our work over the years. There is a

movement toward INGOs attempting to facilitate a more sustainable impact with empowered communities

demanding their rights and duty-bearers fulfilling them. This shift has been formalized in the human rights-

based approach to development which many organizations have adopted, including Concern Worldwide.

Advocacy in Concern can never be separated from its programmes. Our approach to advocacy is working at

three levels i.e micro - on the ground, meso - at sub-district and district level and macro - the national

level. We do advocacy in order to establish rights of the extreme poor people in decision-making process

and to create an institutional environment that understands and responds to the rights of these people. The

ways we do advocacy are by ensuring rights holders’ participation through people’s institution building,

enhancing capacity of local partners and forging diversified partnership, strengthening different local

structures and committees under local government structure, persuading government institutions and

influencing in developing pro-poor policies by the government.

The focuses at micro level are - realizing rights, people’s institution building, people’s mobilization and

strengthening LGIs; focuses at meso level are - civil society led alliance building, strengthening LGIs and

improving governance; and the focuses at macro level are - influencing policies, resource mobilization and

investment through research sharing, lobby and innovation.

In order to use advocacy as an approach in a more effective and result-oriented method, this strategy has

been developed as an operational policy which will make it easier for every concerned person to translate

advocacy approach into actions. The strategy has been developed to meet the following objectives:

To provide strategic guidance to all concerned, including partner organizations and CWW, about the

ways and means through which collectively we can achieve our result using advocacy as an approach.

To identify advocacy issues regarding the Char context, its perspectives, causes status and supporting

information.

To have a stock-taking about what we are doing at different levels against Char program advocacy.

To provide strategic guidance about what we should be doing at different levels (micro-meso-macro).

To set an approach/model to advocacy.

To identify the roles, expected results and possible interventions for different organizations including

technical partners, implementing partners and Concern Worldwide Bangladesh itself.

Methodology: The strategy development process followed both primary information collection and review of

public documents and primary documents like organizational and program driving instruments. The

methodology included a series of steps - brainstorming and conceptualizations, primary & secondary

literature review, primary information collection through organizing workshops, drafting of strategies, inflow

facilitation of feedback while drafting, draft-sharing workshop, feedback incorporation and finalization.

Conceptualization through brainstorming was the initial stage of the process, which included judgment about

how to proceed, types of information to be collected and the whole sequence to be followed. Review of

primary documents covered papers like Concern Worldwide Bangladesh Country Strategy Paper 2011-2015,

Char Contextual Analysis, Char Integrated Program, Char Program Result Framework, Baseline and Project

Proposal of different projects, Annual Activity Plan of different partner organizations, etc. while review of

public documents included Sixth Five Years Plan 2011-2015, National Education Policy- 2009, National

Health Policy 2009 & 2011, Implementation Guideline of PEDP-III and many other documents. Secondary

2

Literature Review was focused on reviewing the existing knowledge related to the tasks including available

policies in support of the related programs and projects and to identify existing gaps at national and

institutional context.

Primary information was collected through a workshop conducted at the field level ensuring participation of

program team and senior level representatives of partner organizations. A set of tools (see Annexure: 3) was

used to collect information through facilitating group exercise. Prior to the group exercise, a session was

facilitated to have common understanding about advocacy and to ensure effective contribution of participants

in the workshop.

While drafting the strategy, we had facilitated the inflow of feedback and information to fill up the gaps. A

draft strategy-sharing workshop was organized at the field level where partner organizations provided

feedback and got the opportunity to share their agreement or disagreement to the set role, activity and

results and finally came into chock-full consensus.

Structure of the strategy: The strategy started with providing a background of Char program of Concern

Worldwide Bangladesh, working areas of Char program and identifying problems in Char areas. It has

included advocacy issues for Char areas, perspectives and causes of those issues, current situations and

supporting policies or information related to those issues. The strategy includes stock taking as baseline of

what we are doing against each advocacy issue at different levels, ie. at the micro, meso and macro level. It

also provides an approach/model to advocacy as a whole for the Char program to be followed by its

partners’ and Concern itself. Strategic guidance about what we should be doing at different levels against

advocacy issues has been provided in the strategy. It also tried to be specific in mentioning roles, expected

results and possible interventions for different partners’ including technical partners, implementing partners’

and Concern Worldwide Bangladesh itself. Finally, it also provided guidelines about how to roll out this

strategy and the process of monitoring of implementation of this strategy and the ways/status of achieving

results.

Broader Advocacy issues for Char context: The identified advocacy issues are as follows:

Lack of/poor allocation of national budget that are not proportionate and equitable to extent of

poverty in char contributing to poor livelihoods of extreme poor char dwellers.

Lack of education services in Char areas.

Char people are being deprived of realizing their basic rights to quality health services.

Inequality exists in allocation and distribution of resources from government for island chars

especially for safety nets and agricultural services.

Lives and assets of Char dwellers frequently damage to natural disasters.

Lack of income and employment opportunities keep Char dwellers in extreme poverty.

Lack of investment from foundation donors and from business communities (as form of CSR).

Char people are being deprived of getting service providers to provide improved water and sanitation

facilities.

Role of partner organizations and Concern Worldwide Bangladesh: The Char program is being

implemented through partnership, including local organizations, to execute specialized i.e. advocacy partner

for capacity building of implementing partner, develop civil society platform at different levels and carry out

national level advocacy, with the agreement and guidance of Concern Worldwide Bangladesh and the

organization for skill transfer to Char dwellers to create employment opportunity. Thus, with a view to ensure

the right implementation of the programme in terms of achieving the advocacy objectives, a collective

strategic effort is essential which has also been broadly outlined in this strategy.

Roll out of this strategy: Concern Worldwide Bangladesh will organize a sharing workshop to ensure that

all implementing partners, US and JOBS Bangladesh have mastered the strategy in terms of understanding

the advocacy issues, what processes they need to follow and expected deliverables and results from each

organization. In addition to this workshop, Concern will organize a six-monthly review and coordination

meeting with all partners under Char context to review the progress against deliverables and results and

identify gaps and difficulties to implement the strategy. Concern will also ensure its support for implementing

the strategy. In addition to achieving the results set for US and JOBS Bangladesh, it is also responsible to

ensure technical support to implementing partners where it is crucial and mentioned in the strategy.

3

1. Bangladesh and Char as background:

“Over the past 40 years since independence, Bangladesh has increased its real per capita income by more

than 130 percent, cut poverty rate by sixty percent, and is well set to achieve most of the millennium

development goals. Some of the underlying specific achievements include, reducing total fertility rate from

7.0 to 2.7; increasing life expectancy from 46.2 years to 66.6 ; increasing the rate of economic growth from

an average rate of 4% in the 1970s to 6% in the 2000s; increasing the savings and investment rates from

below 10 percent each in the 1970s to 24 percent (investment rate) and 30 percent (savings rate) in FY10;

achieving gender parity in primary and secondary education; and more than tripling of the production of rice

(from 10 million tonnes in FY73 to 32 million tonnes in FY10) thereby achieving near self-sufficiency in

normal production years. The economy today is lot more flexible and resilient, as indicated by the ability to

withstand the global financial crisis with minimum adverse effects. Bangladesh also is now much more

capable of handling natural disasters with minimum loss of life. Bangladesh achieved this remarkable

progress with development despite numerous internal and external constraints”.1

Despite having this progress is on track, there are few areas still are struggling with extreme poverty and

treated as extreme poverty pockets (mentioned in PRSP). One of those is ‘Char’. Most of Bangladesh is

made from delta and flood plain deposition, with much of the land relatively stable. On the contrary, Chars

are the highly unstable areas of deposition/accretion and are essentially new sand or silt islands within the

meanders of the large rivers or the river channels; landmasses that are deep, isolated or detached and

surrounded by water either year round or at least a significant portion of the year. As is the nature of rivers,

many constantly change courses, which results in some chars eventually becoming parts of the mainland

and are then referred to as mainland (or attached) chars. An estimated 6 million people, around 5% of the

Bangladeshi population live in the Chars and of the total land area of the country, 5% is Char, which comes

to about a total area of approximately 7,200 square kilometers. These islands attract the very poor who do

not have access to other land and have no other opportunity other than risk living somewhere constantly

vulnerable to flooding and erosion. In addition to the major physical risks associated with the rivers, Char-

dwellers in particular are marginalized from the benefits of mainland Bangladeshi society due to poor

communication networks.2

Char dwellers are with inadequate earning and employment opportunities, being adversely affected by increasing frequency and intensity of natural disasters, having lower access to government and private services due to geographical isolation and poor governance. Women living in char areas are frequently denied an equal say in family decision-making and resource allocation, rarely accepted in community decision-making structures, face illegal practices such as dowry, child marriage, gender based violence and are prevented from many forms of work and restricted in their movement. Inequality in char areas is higher than mainland areas3 due to the ability of wealthy interest groups to control access to assets, particularly land. Social safety nets, targeted at the extremes poor, are frequently captured by the non-poor.

While the chars have started to receive increased national attention as a poverty pocket, government and other key decision-makers do not consider the specific needs of char areas in policymaking. Budgetary allocations for infrastructure and services are made on a nationally standardized basis without consideration of the additional requirements imposed by the geographical situation or the elevated levels of need in the chars. Access to health and education services and agricultural extension are sparse in char areas due to isolation and lack of accountability of the service providers. The number of schools and health facilities relative to the population is very low and travel to these facilities is restricted during the monsoon. The remoteness of chars lead to high staff vacancies and absenteeism due to poor supervision and weak accountability. The Multi-indicator Cluster Survey 2009 by UNICEF and BBS shows that education and health indicators in Char upazillas are below the national average.4

1 1SFYP-final –Part-I, p-1 .

2 CCA:P-10 3 CLP baseline survey, 2005 4 CSP :2011-2015

4

2. Working Areas of Concern Worldwide Bangladesh in Chars :

Concern Worldwide has been in operation in Bangladesh since 1972. It is well recognized as an international

NGO with long-term commitment to the country, and for its focus on empowerment of the extreme poor.

It has selected Char context based on information on poverty mapping by district across Bangladesh and

Concern’s on-the ground analysis and experience. Our context-based programme approach is designed to

ensure that the programmes are able to address the multidimensional nature of poverty and to tackle the

context specific barriers that face the extreme poor in escaping poverty. This approach uses a people

centered approach that places poor people at the centre of processes to identify factors that shape their

unique experience of poverty and to design interventions that offer pathways out of it. In order to realise the

benefits of such an approach, Concern will ensure it implements all the appropriate set of sectoral activities

in a manner that ensures greater convergence, working in the same areas with the same people in a

coordinated fashion. Work in Char context will consist of discrete projects, structured according to

management requirements and funding opportunities, but will be analysed, managed and measured as a

programme.5

Although the Char riverine areas have in recent years since 2005 witnessed an increased allocation of

resources for livelihood improvements of poor Char dwellers notably under the DFID funded Char Livelihood

Project (CLP) and the USAID funded SHOUHARDO project being implemented by CARE as well as Nodi O

Jibon implemented by Concern Worldwide, extreme poverty still persists in the area posing challenges to key

development actors. Henceforth after an extensive consultation and design process, Concern Worldwide

Bangladesh has decided to continue efforts in the island Char9 area, which are surrounded by water most of

the time in a year but with a focus more on key agricultural/agribusiness activities for extreme poor Char

dwellers and increased linkage to markets to facilitate more households graduating out of extreme poverty.

It also aims to cover new island char areas where until now no extensive support mechanisms for poverty

alleviation have been established neither by Concern Worldwide, CLP or CARE SHOUHARDO. In order to

concentrate efforts on new and existing areas without duplication of efforts, Concern Worldwide Bangladesh

will be working focusing in following areas:

3. Location of Char Programme: Char Program by Districts, Upazilas and Unions :

5 CSP:2011-2015

Districts Upazila Union

Rajshashi

Bagha Gorgori, Pakuria, Monigram

Godagari Char Asharidaha

Pabna

Bera

Haturia Nakalia,Dhalar Char,Ruppur Nutun Bharenga,Puran Bharenga Masumdia

Pabna Sadar Varara, Hemayetpur

Lalmonirhat Lalmonirhat Sadar Kulkaghat,Mogolhat,Rajpur

Hatibanda Duabari,Patikapara,Sindurna

Aditmari Mohiskhocha

Kaliganj Votmari

Chapai Nawabganj

Chapai Nawabganj Sadar Narayanpur,Alatuli

Shibganj Paka,Durlovpur

4 10 24

5

4. Methodology:

The strategy development process followed both primary information collection and review of public

documents and primary documents like organizational & program driving instruments. The methodology

included a series of steps - brainstorming and conceptualizations, primary & secondary literature review,

primary information collection through organizing workshops, drafting the strategy, facilitate inflow of

feedback while drafting, draft sharing workshop, feedback incorporation and finalization .

Conceptualization through brainstorming was the initial stage of process which included judgment about

how to proceed, types of information to be collected and about the whole sequence to be followed. Review

of primary documents covered documents like Concern worldwide Bangladesh Country Strategy Paper

2011-2015, Char Contextual Analysis, Char Integrated Program, Char Program Result Framework, Baseline

and Project Proposal of different projects, Annual Activity Plan of different partner organizations, etc while

review of public documents included Sixth Five Years Plan 2011-2015, National Education Policy-2009,

National Health Policy 2009 & 2011, Implementation Guideline of PEDP-III and many other

documents.Secondary Literature Review was focused on reviewing the existing knowledge related to the

tasks including available policies in support of the related programs and projects and to identify existing gaps

at national and institutional context.

Primary information was collected through a workshop conducted at the field level ensuring participation of

program team and senior level representatives of partner organizations. A set of tools (see annexure: 3 )

was used to collect information through facilitating group exercise. Prior to the group exercise, a session was

facilitated to have common understanding about advocacy and to ensure effective contribution of participants

in the workshop.

While drafting the strategy, facilitated inflow of feedback and information to fill up the gaps.

A draft strategy sharing workshop was organized at the field where partner organizations provided

feedback, got opportunity to share their agreement or disagreement to the set role, activity and results and

finally came into chock-full consensus.

Finally, feedbacks that we all agreed to incorporate have been incorporated and the strategy is in the phase

of finalization.

6

5. Problems in Char Areas :

The Char people have been experiencing difficulties in terms of securing livelihood due to inadequate access

to resources (land and productive assets) and services (safety nets, agriculture, education and health etc.).

Remoteness and vulnerability to disaster are the main reasons for the persistence of extreme poverty in

Char areas. By far the highest poverty rates are found in remote island Chars compared to mainland.

Relative powerlessness of the extreme poor leads to poor access to resources, representation and decision

making process. Women’s position and roles are restricted due to religious and social taboo that hinders the

development of Char dwellers. The government, foundation donors and private sectors pay less attention to

Chars in terms of investment and allocation of resources and services due to remoteness and vulnerability.

In addition, the existing policies for poverty pockets are not fully implemented and there are opportunities to

review and incorporate pro-poor issues.6

In the Char contextual analysis, food security, access to education and health services have been identified

as priority areas in the selected island Chars of Lalmonirhat, Pabna, Rajshahi and Chapai Nawabganj

districts. It also revealed that in the Chars of Rajshahi and Chapai Nawabganj districts the presence of

development actors are minimal with attention of government and private sectors also found to be low due to

remoteness and disrupted communication. Although there are development actors working in the Chars of

Lalmonirhat and Pabna, however there is still significant need of development support for the extreme poor.7

The problems to be addressed by the actions are inadequate food security, quality primary education and

maternal and child health of the extreme poor households in 24 unions of 10 upazilas in 4 districts.8

The extreme poor of the selected Chars of those four districts lead a miserable life with only 44% of

household members having 3 meals per day around the year and rest of 56% of household members having

less than 3 meals with no dietary diversity around the year. Only 10% of households adapt the improved

crop production and marketing in collaboration with DAE and Research Institute. The average annual income

per household is BDT 31,183 derived from the diversified productive and income generating activities and the

total assets’ value per household is only BDT 19,879 and this assets include household possessions,

livestock, standing crops, savings and land9. Therefore, the severe food insecurity is a pervasive problem to

the Char population.10

It is estimated that the gross and net enrolment rate is 85% and 60% respectively, only 10% of SMC and PTA

members are able to carry out their role and responsibilities with only 40% students achieve the set learning

competencies in the selected Chars11. So, it clearly indicates that barriers related to access to education,

attendance, competencies and primary cycle completion exist in the Chars.

In addition, the Char people are being deprived of realising their basic rights to quality health services and

hence make them vulnerable. Only 60% children aged 12-23 months received DPT 3 /PENTA 3; 5% children

aged 0-23 months whose births were attended by skilled health personnel and only 15% women who had

four or more antenatal care visits by skilled health personnel in the selected Char12. This indicates the acute

health problems of the selected Chars in above stated four districts.

The key factors for the extreme poverty in remote island Char are as follows:

The target population has been classified in the Chars as 20%, 59% and 21% households are welfare; day

labour and long term migrant households respectively. They suffer a lot due to lack of or very insufficient

assets and return on assets which drive them to moving inside the vicious cycle of poverty. Most of the Char

dwellers have no land and or livestock assets to produce foods for addressing their requirements/ needs of

foods. So, they are to depend on common natural resources such as government owned land and open

water bodies as well as day labour to meet their foods’ requirements. In many cases the extreme poor do not

have access to the economic, social or political assets to ensure control over these natural resources. In

addition, lack of basic education and skills, poor health, inaccessible to the modern technology prevent them

6 CIP ,p-16 7 ibid 8 ibid 9 NoJ II Baseline survey conducted in 2011 10 ibid 11 Char contextual analysis, Jan 2012 12 Rapid assessment, Concern Worldwide, Sep’11

7

to access into the employment in formal sectors and which also largely contribute to make them incapable to

come out by breaking the vicious cycle of poverty.13

Inadequate earning and employment opportunity due to the difficulty of accessing land for cultivation, low

productivity of soils and limited cropping seasons, the difficulty of access to improved and diversified

varieties and the barriers to market access caused by geographical isolation.14

Access to services is poor and quality low, due to geographical isolation and poor governance. These

include health and education services and agricultural extension, both of which are sparse in Char areas due

to isolation and lack of accountability of the service providers. The remoteness of Chars leads to high staff

vacancies and absenteeism due to poor supervision and weak accountability.15

Women are frequently denied an equal say in family decision-making and resource allocation, rarely

accepted in community decision-making structures, face illegal practices such as dowry, child marriage,

gender based violence and which prevent them to access in works as well as restrict their movement.16

Inequality in Char areas is higher than mainland areas due to the ability of wealthy interest groups to control

access to assets, particularly land. Social safety nets, targeted at the extremes poor, are frequently captured

by the non-poor.17

Government and other key decision-makers do not consider the specific needs of Char areas in

policymaking. Budgetary allocations for infrastructure and services are made on a nationally standardised

basis without consideration of the additional requirements imposed by the geographical situation or the

elevated levels of need in the Chars.18

Natural disaster and adverse effects of climate change, including floods, drought and the constant problem

of river erosion force the extreme poor to constantly shift agricultural activities as well as dwelling and

migrate to urban areas. Due to disaster, the loss of assets and lives compel the Char people to enter the

vicious cycle of the poverty.19

The programme actions will address the above mentioned problems by improving assets and return on

assets, inequalities as well as decrease the risk and vulnerabilities of the extreme poor Char dwellers.20

13 ibid,p-17 14 ibid 15 ibid 16 ibid 17 ibid 18 ibid 19 ibid 20 ibid

8

6. Advocacy Under Char Context :

6.1 About Advocacy Issues of Char Context :

Advocacy Issue-1

Lack of / poor allocation of national budget that are not proportionate and equitable to extent of poverty in char contributing to poor livelihoods of extreme poor char dwellers.

Addressing strategic objectives:1,2,3,5

Advocacy objective

To increase allocation of national budget proportionate and equitable to extent of extreme poverty in the island char areas.

Perspective & causes

Government and other key decision-makers do not consider the specific needs of char areas in policymaking. Budgetary allocations for infrastructure and services are made on a nationally standardised basis without consideration of the additional requirements imposed by the geographical situation or the elevated levels of need in the chars. Access to health and education services and agricultural extension and services are sparse in char areas due to isolation and lack of accountability of the service providers. The number of schools and health facilities relative to the population is very low and travel to these facilities is restricted during the monsoon. The remoteness of chars lead to high staff vacancies and absenteeism due to poor supervision and weak accountability. The Multi-indicator Cluster Survey 2009 by UNICEF and BBS shows that education and health indicators in Char upazillas are below the national average. Separate or more allocation of budget is essential for reducing hardship and vulnerabilities of char dwellers . Causes: Current budget allocation does not meet the needs of extreme poor in char High concentration of extreme poverty compared to mainland Poor production, income, employment and market opportunity No special attention of Government in order to reduce poverty in the pace of other parts of the country Inadequate presence of development actors including donors and private sectors Meet up minimal rights (basic services) and needs of the extreme poor living in Chars Remoteness and vulnerability

Current status and supportings

Government declared for the first time in the fiscal year 2009-2010 that separate and special allocation for char development ie for char dwellers would be kept. But in reality, no specific allocation or services made for char development for last two consecutive national budgets. It was not possible to know any kind of information on allocation and expenditure due to lack of item specific allocation. Even there was not mentioned in the national budget documents of fiscal year 2011-12 about separate allocation for the char people’s developments despite it was mentioned in successive two years of first announcement.

Advocacy Issue-2

Lack of Education Services in Char areas Strategic objective-3

Advocacy Objective

-To increase allocation of resources and investment from government and donors for island chars. -To ensure that existing opportunities and services are reaching to char areas and well functioning. -Translate National Education Policy into Actions

9

-To execute contextual / seasonal school calendar

Perspective & causes

The situation of primary education in char areas is poor, with net enrolment rate at 60%, which is very low in comparison with national level enrolment (95%) and the primary completion rate at 50%21 is also comparatively lower than the national level. Only 40% students achieve the set learning competencies in char areas 22. So, it clearly indicates that barriers related to access to education, attendance, competencies and primary cycle completion exist in the chars .

Causes : -Lack of education budget

-Insufficient number of schools (only under half of the villages contain a school)

-Poor quality of school facilities including poor water and sanitation facilities, irregular teacher attendance, low quality of teaching, high ratio of teacher to students, distant schools, and lack of child friendly educational atmosphere. The latter includes corporal punishment, School Related Gender Based Violence (SRGBV) and low female participation, especially from the poorest families.

-Less functional and inactive SMC and PTA. Only 10% of SMC and PTA members are able to carry out their roles and responsibilities23

-Hiring of proxy teachers, late attendance of the teachers, insufficient visits of government officials, few NGO Education Programmes and insufficient high schools (children especially boys are interested to continue study, but as the high school is on the mainland few children, less than20%, can continue to high school, and very few children can get the opportunity to get tertiary education).

Supporting Article 19, 28 and 41 of the constitution ensures child rights to education. In 2010, GoB has passed the National Education Policy where Government has made the commitment to ensure equal opportunity for all children irrespective to class, race, disability, gender etc. There is also the provision to address issue of drop out through increasing stipend for poor children, cheering school environment and special arrangement for backward location. So, translation of this policy into actions is the important advocacy issue.

Advocacy Issue-3

Char People are being deprived of realizing their basic rights to quality health services. Strategic objective- 2

Advocacy objective

-To improve maternal and child health status of the participants through strengthening health systems.

-To increase allocation of resources and investment from government and donors for island chars for health services

Perspective and causes

Char dwellers are suffering with lack of health services and prevention programs. In terms of maternal and neo natal health the Char witnesses a high rate of infant mortality, 66/1,000 life-births under five mortality, 37/1,000 life-births neonatal mortality, 67.7% chronic energy deficiency (CED) for mothers, and the status of under five years e.g. 53.6% stunted, 45.8% under-weight (both acute and chronic) and 81.7% either stunted, under-weight, wasted or anaemic24. Only 60% children aged 12-23 months receive DPT 3 /

21 CCA, Jan2012 22 CIP-Irish Aid Program proposal 23 ibid 24 CLP baseline survey 2010

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PENTA 3 , 5% children aged 0-23 months whose births were attended by by skilled health personnel and only 15% women who had four or more antenatal care visits by skilled health personnel in the selected Chars 25. This indicates the acute health problems of the selected chars where Char program is being implemented.

Causes :

-Lack of resource & investment from government and donors.

-No special attention of government for health purpose of char dwellers. -Less number of Community Clinic, and these are still non-functional.

-Absence of human resources in Upazila Health Complex, Union Family Welfare Centre, Lack of required medicines and equipment’s.

-Less coverage for ANC and PNC

-No allowance for Health Assistant to visit to community.

Supporting Article 15 (Ka) ,18 (1) of the constitution ensures rights to health services of all citizens of this country . In 2011, GoB has passed the National Health Policy where Government has made the commitment to ensure equal opportunity for all citizens’ health rights irrespective to class, race, disability, gender etc. Government has made the commitment to establish Community Clinic as a part of ensuring health services to remote areas and in this regards government has initiated a comprehensive program to establish community clinic. In many areas including Chars, infrastructure has been established and now time to make those functional .

Advocacy Issue -4

Inequality exists in allocation and distribution of resources from government for island chars specially for safety nets & agricultural services.

Strategic objective 1 and 5 Advocacy

objective -To reduce inequality in allocation & distribution of government resources for island chars specially for safety net and agricultural services.

-To bring change in government safety net policy to ensure allocation based on extreme poverty situation instead of administrative area.

Perspective and causes

Char dwellers produce crops following traditional method without any external support from GO or NGO or private sectors. They get low production due to lack of external support like advice, orientation of improved and HY species of crops, equipments for producing and protecting the crops from disasters. Generally the government officials are reluctant to visit the Chars due to poor transport / communication facilities. According to baseline survey of NoJ-II project, only 5% respondents mentioned that they got services from DAE. In most cases, people don’t know the assigned officer of their area and eventually they do not know who to contact for any advice related to agriculture production. Government safety net services are insufficient and the distribution process does not consider the extreme poverty pocket rather follows the administrative area. According to NoJ –II baseline survey, 7% of the households is covered under VGD and 4% -VGF, 3% receiving widow allowance and 1.5% elderly allowance among the extreme poor households. It clearly indicates that in island chars, social safety net services are very low comparative to deserving people.

25 Rapid Assessment , Concern Worldwide Bangladesh , Sept -2011

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Causes :

-No additional allowance for transportation of government officials visits to char areas.

-Allocation of social safety net is very lower compare to the need.

-Lack of good governance in the distribution process.

Supporting National Agriculture Policy talks about protection of interests of the small, marginal and tenant farmers by ensuring support services.

Social Safety Net Programs(SSNPs) : The major ongoing Social Safety Net Programs is divided under four broad categories :i) employment generation program ii)programs to cope with natural disasters and other shocks iii) incentives provided to parents for their children’s education iv) incentives provided to the families to improve their health status . These four categories are again divided into two types : a) cash transfer , including conditional cash transfers (Food for Education Program , Primary Education Stipend Program , Female Secondary School Assistant Program ) and b) Food transfers (Food for Work Program, Vulnerable Group Development Program , Vulnerable Group Feeding Program , Test Relief and Gratuitous Relief )

The National Food Policy emphasizes the important linkages between availability, access, and nutrition outcomes, in line with the definition of food security adopted by the World Food Summit of 1996. It also recognizes that a combination of measures is needed to effectively reduce hunger and malnutrition, e.g. providing immediate access to food to the most vulnerable and promoting agricultural development and income growth.

The policy represents an unprecedented effort to address food security in a comprehensive manner in Bangladesh and fills the gaps of previous food and nutrition policy frameworks. The overarching goal of the National Food Policy is to ensure, in coordination with partner ministries, development partners and NGOs, “dependable and sustained food security for all people of Bangladesh at all times”.

Advocacy Issue -5

Lives and Assets of Char dwellers frequently damage to Natural Disasters Strategic objective 1 & 5

Advocacy Objective

To reduce risks and vulnerabilities by ensuring effective DRR and emergency response to char areas

Perspective and causes

Char is an area highly prone to natural disaster due to river erosion, flood and cyclones which subsequently cause loss of assets and lives. This negatively impacts on lives and livelihoods of Char dwellers. In addition, poor health and education services contributed to a low level of wellbeing in terms of frequent poor health and low literacy. Climate change, GBV and HIV & AIDS make the lives of Char dwellers more susceptible to risks and vulnerability.

According to NoJ-II baseline, 98% chars face river erosion, 88% seasonal flooding, cold damage to rice; 69% face drought. Flood and river erosion are most damaging. 43% of NoJ households had to shift their houses due to flooding and river erosion in last four years.

Supporting GoB has approved the Disaster Management Act on 24th September 2012 of which objective is to ensure reduction of disaster risks and vulnerabilities in a coordinated way mainstreaming DRR interventions through almost 28 ministries and strengthening capacity and systems at every level of government structures . There is SoD under which tasks of different departments, DM committees are

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clearly directed. Ministry of Disaster Management has a Comprehensive Disaster Management Program with UNDP.

Advocacy Issue-6

Lack of employment opportunities keep char dwellers in extreme poverty Strategic objectives 1 and 5 Advocacy

Objective To ensure that extreme poor households are employed through promoting private enterprises and employment opportunities in and outside Char areas

Perspective and Causes

Char dwellers are with: lack of job opportunities in the char area or outside cahr areas, very low income due to lack of diversified working opportunity, lack of skill trainings. Their involvement is mainly in agriculture related activities which are basically seasonal involvement .According to NOJ-II baseline survey, 55% of HH members (male and female together) aged 14 years and above, are fully employed; 15% have seasonal or part-time employment and 30% are unemployed.

Supporting Char is under consideration of getting additional attention from government.

Advocacy Issue-7

Lack of investment from foundation donors and from business communities (as from CSR fund)

Strategic objectives 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 Advocacy

objective To create attention of donors and mobilize CSR fund for creating opportunities for char dwellers

Perspective and causes

Char peoples’ sufferings issues are not getting proper attention due to not raising the issues across the country due to lack of attention of foundation donors. There are scope of mobilizing CSR resources from different corporate organizations, Banks and other private sectors.

Supporting Bangladesh Bank circular on Banks for CSR fund mobilization / utilization. Other corporate organizations have also started using CSR funds for addressing peoples’ rights issues.

Advocacy Issue-8

Char People are being deprived of getting services by service providers to get improved water and sanitation facilities.

Advocacy Objective

- To increase access to improve water sources, sanitation facilities and knowledge on hygiene practice to the community and schools students in the char area.

Perspective and causes

The overall water and sanitation situation in the char areas is extremely poor. Over 80% households depend on neighbours’ water points and spend an average of 2 hours daily with travelling up to ½ - 1 Kilometer. The shallow tube wells have limited functionality 7-8 months a year from July to January and do not function due to decline of underground water table (layer). The platforms of the STWs are absent or damaged and 80% STW have no water drainage systems. People are accustomed to preserving water in earthen pot and aluminum jar without following proper safety measures. During dry season, community people sometime drink and use river water without purifying it. Women and adolescent girls usually collect water from distant locations and are prone to gender-based violence, sexual harassment, abuse and exploitation.26

Water and sanitation situation is worse in the educational institutions. Primary schools including Madrashas (religion educational

26 Wash Project Proposal of Char Context

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institutions) usually get water from STW which are arsenic and iron contaminated. Over 50% STW are out of order and have no platform. Therefore students, teachers, school managing committees are forced to fetch water from nearby communities, or more distant locations and lose contact for hours, and girl students often face teasing and harassment that contribute to poor quality education, decrease enrolment, attendance and learning achievements.

Over 90% community people do not have proper sanitation facilities and often use open space and unhygienic latrines in the Char. Knowledge and practice of WASH at personal, households and community levels are poor. Outbreak of dysentery, diarrhea and other water borne disease is common in the Char area.

Causes : - Lack of support and response by DPHE for water and sanitation facilities in the char areas.

- Less involvement of LGIs in the Sanitation Campaign

- Allocation for ADP grant is very lower for of LGIs for Sanitation

Supporting Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives has approved National Water Supply and Sanitation Policy 1998.

Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives has prepared and approved the National Strategy for water and Sanitation Hard To Reach Area of Bangladesh-2011,

In National Strategy for water and Sanitation Hard To Reach Area of Bangladesh-2011, char areas are recognized as hard to reach areas and has given the importance to ensure access to safe water and sanitation.

Considering six indicators and their respective criteria and ranking, from Multi Criteria Analysis, National Strategy for water and Sanitation Hard To Reach Area of Bangladesh-2011 identified 353 unions under 88 upazillas of 20 districts of Char areas as hard to reach areas in terms of ensuring access to safe water and sanitation facilities. So in government policy documents, char areas water & sanitation aspect has got proper attention.

NB: Didn’t put any advocacy issue related to inequality as Equality desk is working to prepare context equality objectives and will identify activities

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6.2 Stock taking about what are we doing at different levels? Are we doing the right thing?

SL Advocacy issues Micro level Meso level Macro level

1. Lack of / poor allocation of national budget that are not proportionate and equitable to extent of poverty in char contributing to poor livelihoods of extreme poor char dwellers.

-Rising rights awareness at the community level. - CBOs and SHGs representatives participate in joint planning with Union Parishad through sharing fact findings and evidence and demand more allocation of VGF, VGD, old age allowance …. for char areas . - Facilitate enrollment of CBOs and SHGs representatives at different standing committees of union level, SMC, PTA, CCMG with a view to ensure their representations in demanding more allocation

-Sensitization of Upazila and District administration for ensuring the separate allocation of budget for char people. - Regular fact findings sharing and joint planning meeting with administration and relevant GoB departments at Upazila level. - Engage LCA for sensitizing Upazila duty bearers through Planning and coordination meeting at the upazilla and district level -Developing and activating Upazila Char Development Committee (UzCDC) for ensuring more allocation and services that contributing to poor livelihoods of extreme poor char dwellers. -Engaging civil society, NGOs, journalists, private sectors and other actors in the process of raising the issue for separate allocation of budget for char dwellers.

-Conduct policy and budget analysis to develop research documents and fact findings -Sensitizing line ministries, departments, engaging MPs and Parliamentary Standing Committee through sharing fact finding from policy and budget analysis, study findings; -Consultation on different issues through roundtable discussion by National Char Alliance (NCA); -Engaging journalists to raise the char peoples’ sufferings issues in national print and electronic media to create more attention of government.

2. Lack of Education Services in Char areas

- Enhance the capacity of the SMCs, PTAs, Community (parents, education patronizing persons and community leaders) by providing training on roles and responsibilities.

- Facilitate enrolment of SHGs and CBOs leaders to the committee of SMCs, PTAs

for their active participation to ensure quality education at the community level.

- Developing volunteer teachers and enhancing their capacity to provide additional support to low-performing and poorest children for education.

- Mobilizing community resources for

- While organizing training for SMC, PTAs, mobilizing resources from upazila level education departments in particular from Upazila Resource Centre and upazila education department.

There is no specific intervention on Education issues at National Level.

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ensuring sustainable quality education.

3. Char People are being deprived of realizing their basic rights to quality health services.

-Activating Community Clinic Management Group through training by managing resources from Upazila Health and Family Planning Department.

-Meeting with Union Health Standing Committee to ensure effectiveness of CCMG and providing support to community clinic and EPI program.

Meeting with UHC, UFP to ensure primary health care and ANC, PNC services for children and mother –only BOSS.

Meeting with pharmaceutical companies for health support to char areas.

4. Inequality exists in allocation and distribution of resources from government for island chars especially for safety nets & agricultural services.

-Sensitized the community and make aware on rights and entitlement issue.

-Mobilize the CBOs and SHGs for participating at union level and Upazilla level planning for separate allocation of resources and delivery of agricultural services to char area.

-Mobilize and sensitize the UP for ensuring the separate social safety net services at the char area.

Demonstrating plot of high value and high yielding crops at the field level with the technical support from Block Supervisor of DAE office to inspire others to produce those crops.

-Sensitized the Upazilla level different departments Officials i.e Social welfare, Women affairs, education departments and with the UNO for the separate allocation for safety net in the char area.

-Facilitate LCA members to participate in the Joint planning meeting with Upazilla administration to share the community needs on the safety net and agricultural support.

-Meeting with Upazilla DAE to provide technical support to the respective producer groups ,

-Organize GOB officials’ visits to char areas to make them understood about the needs and gaps on safety nets and agricultural services.

-Sensitize the media personnel’s to report on basic demands and present scenario of safety net services and agriculture services.

Lobbying with Agriculture research based on organizations like BARRI, Wheat Research Institute to get technical support and other agricultural inputs.

-Sharing/Consultation meeting with different ministries (Ministry of Planning, Ministry of Disaster Management & Relief, MoWCA,

MSW), parliamentary standing committees.

-Lobbying with DLS and DAE to be engaged under MOU for ensuring the better support to the char area from respective departments.

-Articles publishing in national dailies.

5. Lives and Assets of Char dwellers

-Make the target community aware about their roles during Pre and post disaster

- Sensitize the Upazilla level Disaster management committee to activate UzDMC

Meeting with MDMR to declare River Erosion as disaster.

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frequently damage to Natural Disasters.

situation.. -Promoting Women SHGs for savings and incorporate IGA for creating resilience at house hold level through promoting economic solvency

-Sensitize the community to work on Community based disaster risk reduction approach by setting up early warning system at the field.

-Facilitate enrollment of the CBO members at Union Disaster Management Committee for incorporate disaster risk reduction in the union level development plan.

-Joint Planning with UDMC to develop the contingency plan for reducing risks & vulnerability during floods.

and incorporate DRR issues for char areas

- Incorporate DRR resilient crops variety in the char areas by taking technical guidance from the Upazilla DAE officials.

- Orienting print and electronic media personnel to cover the news of disasters in chars.

Articles publishing in national dailies.

6. Lack of income & employment opportunities keep char dwellers in extreme poverty

- Sensitize the community for equal right wages and having trainings provided by department of youth at the field level.

-Advocacy with UP to get approval for Assemble market to ensure selling of crops produced by char dwellers

- Ensuring support from DAE and DLS for farm and off firm set up for the char dwellers

- Meeting & sharing with Department of Youth for arranging Vocational Training on farm and off farm set up for char dwellers.

- Establishing linkage with local and outside buyers so that char dwellers can sell their product. Also arranging free training by local business communities.

- Advocacy with the department of youth for providing more IGA trainings and micro loan support for small entrepreneurship. .

- Meeting with PRAN-RFL to create opportunity for char dwellers to be employed in their organization

- Meeting with MoEL for overseas employment

7 Lack of investment from foundation donors and from business communities (as

- -Meeting with different Banks and business institutions to mobilize resources for Char dwellers as a part of their CSR.

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form of CSR )

8 Char People are being deprived of getting service providers to get improved water and sanitation facilities.

-Rising awareness at the community level on safe use of water and sanitation through day observance and group level lessons.

-Meeting with UP and formation of Wash committee

-Strengthening Union Parisad WATSAN standing committee through orientation to mobilize resource and support on WaSH.

-Sensitization of Upazila Education office and DPHE for ensuring support and resources for ensuring safe water and sanitation at the school level.

- Engage DPHE for the technical support to WASH committees through caretaker.

-Still Now. No action is till done yet.

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6.3 Our Approach to Advocacy

Concern practitioners do acknowledge that the root causes of poverty and vulnerability cannot be addressed

by service delivery activities alone. Advocacy can play an important role in tackling some of these root

causes. In addition, Concern has built up a wealth of experience at the ground level over the past four

decades and there is a feeling that we should use our position to speak out to have more of an impact on

the causes of the problems we are attempting to address. Advocacy enables us to have this larger impact—

for example if we manage to contribute to a national policy change, this could affect the lives of many more

people than we could reach with service delivery alone.

The role of NGOs has also been changing as we have learnt lessons from our work over the years. There is

a movement toward INGOs attempting to facilitate more sustainable impact with empowered communities

demanding their rights and duty-bearers fulfilling them. This shift has been formalized in the human rights-

based approach to development which many organizations have adopted, including Concern Worldwide.

Advocacy in Concern should never be separated from programmes. Our approach to advocacy is working at

three levels i.e micro- on the ground, meso-at sub-district and district level and macro- the national

level. With a view to establish rights of the extreme poor people in decision making process and to create an

institutional environment that understands and responds to the rights of extreme poor people, we do

advocacy. The ways we do advocacy are-by ensuring rights holders participation through people’s institution

building ,enhancing capacity of local partners and forging diversified partnership, strengthening different

local structures and committees under local government structure, influencing in government institutions and

influencing in developing pro-poor policies by the government.

Our Approach/Model to Advocacy: What should it be is outlined below:

What Process are we following and with whom are we working?

Focus at Micro level (On ground : Community level and union level)

-Awareness on rights, entitlement, service provisions, roles and responsibilities of different structures and committees, equality, women empowerment, DRR and HIV,AIDS.

- Peoples’ group and institution building (CBO,SHGs and Producer group)

- Facilitating formation and ensuring effectiveness of government structures at community level: SMC, PTA, CCMG, CHWs, CHVs……..

-Peoples’ mobilization to ensure rights and entitlements.

-Strengthening local government structures, committees and institutions : (UHSC,UESC,UDMC,HFPSE,SAAO,UHFWC,VFA,WATSAN SC,……)

-Ensuring accountability and transparency of local government structures

-Linking them (establishing information pathway from community/union level to LCA).

-Creating access to market & employment opportunity.

-Facilitating Enterprise development.

-Facilitating empowerment process through rights awareness & promoting CBOs and SHGs representations in different committees.

-Engaging with religious leaders, local elected bodies, volunteers.

-Working with education, health, agriculture, livestock, safety net service provider at community level.

-Sharing fact findings and evidence and facilitate joint planning with union structures.

-Facilitate community resources mobilization and bringing support and resources from upazilla different departments

-Facilitate establishing relation between different committees like between SMC and UESC.

Focus at Meso Level (Sub district and district Level)

-Facilitate information pathway from community/union level to LCA .

-Civil Society led Alliance building (LCA bringing different actors under single umbrella).

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-Strengthening LCA for demanding and negotiating services and resources.

-Facilitate forming of UCDC (as a part of being integrl part of development planning with government) and ensuring LCA members are in committee.

-Engaging civil society, NGOs, journalists and other actors in the process of raising different advocacy issues at upazilla level.

- Engaging corporate ,private sectors, research & specialized organizations. (BARRI,BIRRI,BADC……)

- Conducting research and sharing findings, documenting best practices and ensure dissimination.

-Sensitization through sharing findings, district and upazilla agriculture and livestock department, district health committee, district NGO coordination committee, upazilla health committee, upazilla education office, upazilla development committee and mobilizing resources, training and services to char areas.

-Facilitate formation of UzRC and UzRT under education departments and mobilize resources.

-Working with potential candidates for the next election.

-Facilitate CSR mobilization to char areas.

Focus at Macro level ( National Level)

- Forming influential people lead NCA and strenthening NCA.

-Establishing information pathway from LCA to NCA , NCA to LCA.

- Involving development organizations and other actors for bringing changes in policy.

-Conducting and sharing reasearch and fact findings with policy makers, different ministries, departments, parliamentary standing committees.

-Engaing corporate, private sectors, different organizations like BGMEA,BKMEA, commercial banks and financial institutions.

-Engaging with specialized partner organization.

-Organizing Char Convention (not as event, as process of raising echo, making the issue matured, bringing all actors under single umbrella)

-Engaging with specialized organization for creating employment opportunity.

-Engaging with political parties to adress advocacy issues in their election manifesto.

-Publishing Char Peoples’ Demand Charters in media.

-Engaging civil society and journalist for continuous raising the issues.

-Influencing in developing pro-poor policies by the government.

-Influencing donor organizations.

-Publishing booklet &news letters, writing articles.

-Realize rights

-Peoples’ institution building

-Peoples’ mobilization and strengthening LGIs

- Civil society led alliance building

-Strengthening LGIs

-Improving governance

-Influencing

policies,resource

mobilization and

investment through

research sharing, lobby

and innovation.

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6.4 Strategic guidance: what should we be doing? Many things we are already doing and need to put more attention in some new areas.

Advocacy issue

Advocacy objectives

Micro Meso Macro

Lack of / poor allocation of national budget that are not proportionate and equitable to extent of poverty in char contributing to poor livelihoods of extreme poor char dwellers.

To increase allocation of national budget (primary education , health , livestock , agriculture , social protection ) proportionate and equitable to extent of extreme poverty in the island char areas

-Empowering char dwellers through Peoples’ Institutions building (CBO)

-Awareness on rights and entitlement; roles and responsibilities of different local level government structures. -Mobilize people to raise their demand to UP , upazila and to upazila char alliance

- Facilitate enrolment of CBOs and SHGs representatives to different standing committees of UP , take part in joint planning with UP and demanding more allocation for char areas .

-Establish the information pathway from CBOs to LCA. 27

-Facilitate LCA to develop and activate UzCDC to be headed by UNO. 28

-Ensure that LCA members are in the UzCDC

-Develop ToR for LCA and UCDC and Sharing the ToR for UzCDC with UNO and other members.

-Provide training / orientation to LCA so that they can better raise all the issues (DRR in UzRRAP, Education, Health, Agricultural support, Safety net …) categorically while meeting with UzCDC.

-Sensitization of upazila and district administration for ensuring the separate allocation of budget for char people and regular sharing of facts and field findings.

- Engage LCA for sensitizing upazila duty bearers through Planning and coordination meeting at the upazilla.

- Work with potential candidate for next election and ensure commitment to ensure agendas to be putted in their election manifesto.

-Engage civil society, NGOs,

-Establish information pathway from LCA to NCA and need to ensure that NCA is dealing with those issues raised by LCA. (for all issues) .

-Strengthen and make more effective NCA engaging more actors

-Meeting between NCA and line ministries in particular MoF, MoP, MoPME, MoDMR …..to sensitize them through providing research documents and fact findings .

-Work with major two political parties to ensure commitment in written in their election manifesto for separate allocation for char dwellers.

-Work with MPs , parliamentary standing committee

-Facilitate to ensure that different comprehensive studies are conducted by different organizations to at a glance look at the sufferings of char dwellers.

-Organize National Char Convention bringing all the actors under single umbrella to create attention of all actors

-Publish Char Peoples’ Demand like Peoples’ Demand Charter in National Daily while political parties will be developing their election manifesto

-Work with MPs after next election.

-Engage print and electronic media to cover char issue.

27 This information pathway is for all advocacy issues . From community and union level , the unresolved issues and support needed will be informed to LCA 28 While UCDC meeting will be held , all issues like education , health , safety net will be discussed and raised problems . So, this is for all issues

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journalists, private sectors and other actors in the process of raising the issue for separate allocation of budget for char dwellers.

-One quarterly formal meeting between CBO representatives, implementing partner and LCA to discuss about pros and cons about problems, services status.

Lack of Education Services in Char areas

-To increase allocation of resources and investment from government and donors for island chars.

- To ensure that existing opportunities and services are reaching to char areas and well-functioning.

- Translate National Education Policy into Actions -To execute contextual / seasonal school calendar

-Make functioning & strengthening the UESC, SMC, PTA to mobilize community resources for School improvement, ensuring volunteer teachers, ensuring teachers’ accountability, right implementation of SLIP, increase retention rate, completion rate, reduce drop out.

-Establish relationship between SMC and UESC to ensure that problems related to School Management are shared with UESC and get fund from union.

- Awareness on rights and entitlement; roles and responsibilities of different local level government structures.

-Ensure Training on roles & responsibilities of SMC, PTA by raising demand to UzRC and ensuring resources from UzRC.

-Raise the issue of following contextual school calendar, for more budget allocation for implementing SLIP.

-Work for extremely poor women’s involvement in representative’s

-Advocacy for well-functioning UzRC

and forming the UzRT (these were important component of PEDP-II , in few areas it is performing well ) to ensure training to SMC , PTA , UzESC , Teachers and for strong monitoring (supervising , inspection ..) from Upazila on teachers’ attendance …..,

-Working with UzEC to ensure that UEO is making recommendations for establishing new schools (as it is his responsibility )

-Ensure that LCA is discussing education issues while meeting with UzCDC and in addition meeting with UzEC to update problems on a regular basis and ensure visits of education officials.

-Facilitate dissemination of any kind of information from UzRC to UzESC.

-Sharing children’s’ success in local media.

-Raise the issue of increasing Education related SSNPs coverage for char areas.

-Meeting with Ministry of Primary and Mass Education , discuss education related problems of char areas , demand more allocation( in terms of human , infrastructure , materials and financial ) and talk about translate the national education policy into actions ie ensure education facility for all is the commitment for government as well as in constitution.

-Advocacy with relevant ministry to increase the coverage of conditional cash transfer ie Food-for Education Programme , Primary Education Stipend Program , Female Secondary School Assistance Program proportionately and equitably for char areas .

-Issue raised through print and electronic media.

-Discussing, mentioning, raising education issues while doing other activities mentioned for advocacy objective -1 like while talking with political parties, talk about education issue as well.

-Conducted study on present situation and shared in Char Convention.

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structure (SHG, SMC, PTA, CCMG,

CBOs, and standing committees).

-Unresolved issue raise to LCA.

-Raise the issues to ensure that education related SSNPs benefits are reaching to extreme poor households (Under SSNPs lot of schemes :incentives provided to parents for their children’s education, Food for Education Program , Primary Education Stipend Program , Female Secondary School Assistant Program)

Char People are being deprived of realizing their basic rights to quality health services.

- To improve maternal and child health status of the participants through strengthening health systems.

-To increase allocation of resources and investment from government and donors for island chars for health services

-Awareness on the importance receiving Tetanus Toxid Injection, birth attended by skilled health personnel , receiving PENTA-3

Vaccination ,ANC , PNC from where and how the can get services … and rights and entitlement by court yard meeting , in CBO meeting.

-Mobilize community to demand more functional government local structures like Community Clinic , Family Welfare Centre , Union sub centre and different committees like CCMGs, UHSC, CHWs , CHVs , village doctors and skilled birth attendant . - Awareness raising activities for community people to arrange necessary support to send pregnant women to UHC based on the referral from FWV.

-Awareness raising activities for FWV to properly do the referral

-Facilitate sharing of problems and best practices among all the stakeholders and influencing decision making based on these practices.

-LCA will be addressing the issues raised by CBO and from community level. -Piloting of Telemedicine approach for better improvement of health support& services in one upazila with Grameen Phone

-meeting with Ministry of Health for allocation more resources( in terms of human , infrastructure , equipments , medicine and financial)

-Sharing of findings, problems, causes …. based on the monitoring report with relevant ministries, INGOs and donors.

-Facilitate study on health situation is conducted by organization working on health focus and sharing in Char Convention. -National level initiatives for ensuring piloting of telemedicine approach with Grameen Phone .

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activities.

-Ensure that MO, MA, FWV, FWA,

HA. are getting training from upper level of government health structure ie from UzHC, UFPO.

-Ensure that under SSNPs health related programs , incentives are reaching to extreme poor households

-Facilitate sharing of best practice.

Inequality exists in allocation and distribution of resources from government for island chars especially for safety nets & agricultural services.

-To reduce inequality in allocation & distribution of government resources for island chars specially for safety net and agricultural services.

-To ensure that government has developed comprehensive social safety net policy( to ensure allocation based on extreme poverty situation instead of administrative area , effective

-Awareness on rights and entitlements to different safety net programs for different groups.

-Mobilize the CBOs and SHGs for participating at union level and Upazilla level planning for separate allocation of resources and delivery of agricultural services to char area. -Mobilize and sensitize the UP for ensuring the separate social safety net services at the char area.

-Demonstrating plot of high value and high yielding crops at the field level with the technical support from SAAO of DAE office to inspire others to produce those crops.

-Sensitized the Upazilla level different departments Officials i.e social welfare, women affairs, education departments and with the UNO for the separate allocation for safety net in the char area.

-Facilitate LCA members to participate in the Joint planning meeting with upazilla administration to share the community needs on the safety net and agricultural support.

-Meeting with upazilla DAE & DLS to provide technical support to the respective producer groups ,

-Organize GOB official’s visits to char areas to make them understood about the needs and gaps on safety nets and agricultural services.

-Sensitize the media personnel’s to report on basic demands and present scenario of safety net services and agriculture services.

Lobbying with Agriculture research based on organizations like BARRI,

BADC, WRI to get technical support and other agricultural inputs.

-Sharing/Consultation meeting with different ministries ( MoP, MoDR, MoWCA, MSW ,MoE,

LGED ) , parliamentary standing committees explaining the need for separate allocation of safety nets for char dwellers.

-Lobbying with DLS and DAE to be engaged under MOU for ensuring the better support to the char area from respective departments.

-Articles publishing in national dailies.

-Advocacy planning ministry for developing an integrated social safety net policy

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implementation , monitoring and evaluation)

Lives and Assets of Char dwellers frequently damage to Natural Disasters.

To reduce risks and vulnerabilities by ensuring effective DRR and emergency response to char areas

-Make the target community aware about their roles during pre and post disaster situation.

-Conduct CRA and incorporate initiatives in union ADP and URRAP to reduce CR.

-Awareness raising on HIV & AIDS issues including dispelling the misconception on the HIV transmission. -Promoting Women SHGs for savings and incorporate IGA for creating resilience at house hold level through promoting economic solvency and as a part of contingency plan to DRR.

-Sensitize the community to work on Community based disaster risk reduction approach by setting up early warning system at the field.

-Facilitate enrollment of the CBO members at UDMC for incorporate disaster risk reduction in the union level development plan.

-Joint Planning with UDMC to develop the URRAP for reducing risks & vulnerability during disaster and activate UDMC. (In URRAP include the storage of collective resources for emergency response).

-Ensure getting safety net related to

- Activate the UzDMC and incorporate addressing DRR issues in Upazila ADP

-Develop UzRRAP engaging LCA

members and facilitate that Char Unions RRAP issues are integrated in UzRRAP.

- Incorporate disaster in particular flood resilient crops variety in the char areas by taking technical guidance from the Upazilla DAE officials and BADC. - Advocacy for getting DRR related safety net coverage more for char dwellers.

-Advocacy with WDB to start and finish their activities on time to protect char dwellers from river bank erosion.

-Conduct the DRR audit to identify the overall situation of DRR preparation and preparation for emergency response.

-Civil society campaign might facilitate by LCA to collect rich peoples’ support , CSR support to tackle emergency situation

-Advocacy (by NCA) with MoDMR for more resources allocation in order to right implementation of RRAP at different levels. -Establish linkages between CDMP , other actors and NCA

25

cope disaster and shocks support as much as possible for those who are under extreme risk.

Lack of income & employment opportunities keep char dwellers in extreme poverty

To ensure that extreme poor households are employed through promoting private enterprises and employment opportunities in and outside Char areas

-SHGs, CBOs to exert influence meeting with community, landlords and UP for negotiating leasing out, rent, share cropping, contract growing and accessing to common property resources.

-Facilitate group savings to take further collective initiative to set up small scale business opportunities.

-Sensitize the community for equal right wages and having trainings provided by department of youth at the field level.

-Advocacy with UP to get approval for Assemble market to ensure selling of crops produced by char dwellers

- Ensuring support from DAE and DLS for on farm and off firm set up for the char dwellers -Provide technical support to demonstrate plot as a part of promoting high-yielding varieties to the char island

- Identify and establish linkage with local wholesale buyers & outside buyers and develop institutional market relationships with producer groups.

-Arrange free training by local & outside business communities.

- Advocacy with the department of youth for providing more IGA trainings and micro loan support for small entrepreneurship.

-Collaborate with DAE, BADC, BARRI

for trial and extension of high –yielding, fast maturing, immersion tolerant, drought and flood tolerant crop varieties.

- Meeting & sharing with Department of Youth for arranging Vocational Training on farm and off farm set up for char dwellers.

-Generate success story, document it and ensure dissemination to all donors, private organizations, corporate and government different departments.

-Conduct comprehensive market analysis and subsector studies to identify overall market situation, scope and create opportunities.

- Meeting with MoEL for overseas employment.

-Sharing research and trial findings at national level.

-Establish linkage with commercial banks and financial institutions to provide credit to CBOs

and SHGs.

-Establish linkage with BGMEA and BKMEA to recruit female form char areas.

-Meeting with private sectors enterprises like PRAN-RFL,… to create opportunity for char dwellers to be employed in their organization

Lack of investment from foundation donors and from business communities

To create attention of donors and mobilize CSR fund for creating opportunities for char

-Conduct research on resourcing requirements to reduce poverty and increase levels of services to national average (form a team including 1 representative from each group -government high official media people Shaikh Seraj, university teacher , donor , business sector –BGMEA, CWW, US, Jobs, NCA, LCA )

-Sharing the study finding in the Char

26

(as form of CSR )

dwellers Convention

-Publish the books and ensure dissemination to all sectors -Engaging foundation donors and corporate sectors in order to mobilize resources

-Media engagement (organizing fellowship for media people ) to highlight poverty scenario in the char areas

-Meeting with different Banks and business institutions to mobilize resources for Char dwellers as a part of their CSR.

Char People are being deprived of getting services by service providers to get improved water and sanitation facilities.

- To increase access to improve water sources, sanitation facilities and knowledge on hygiene practice to the community and schools students in the char area.

-Rights, entitlement and hygiene practices awareness to community, students.

-Strengthen capacities of community-led institutions to mobilize the local resources from union.

-Sensitize SMC and PTA on health and hygiene things related to WATSAN for better arrangement of WATSAN facilities

- Work with LGIs to support people in sustaining behavioral change and hygiene promotion.

-Ensure that community and SMC are taking responsibilities to maintain the installed tube well and latrines.

-Formation of Wash committee to facilitate CLTS.

-Sensitization of UzEO and DPHE for ensuring support and resources for ensuring safe water and sanitation at the school level.

- Engage DPHE for the technical support to WASH committees through caretaker.

- Advocacy with the LGI to ensure water supply at the community level and Water and sanitation infrastructure at the school level.

-Lobby with DPHE, LGI to ensure the maintenance of tube well and latrines beyond the project period.

-Sharing findings for sensitizing education ministry, health ministry and DPHE for ensuring the resources for char areas .

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7. Role of Unnayan Shamannay, JOBS-Bangladesh, implementing Partners and Concern

Worldwide Bangladesh:

As Char program is being implemented through partnership including local organizations to implement,

specialized i.e advocacy partner for capacity building of implementing partner and developing civil society

platform at different levels and to do national level advocacy with the agreement and guidance of Concern

Worldwide Bangladesh and the organization to skill transfer to char dwellers and creating employment

opportunity, so with a view to ensure the right implementation of program in terms of achieving the

advocacy objectives, collective strategic effort is essential which are broadly outlined below :

7.1 Unnayan Shamannay:

7.1.1 Outline of major deliverables from Unnayan Shamannay in 3 years (2013-

2015 year basis detailed activity plan would be developed based on mutual

agreement which a matter of further discussion)

Process (Strengthening)

-Finalize TOR for UzCDC, LCA and NCA and share with Concern Worldwide team. -Strengthen 10 LCA and formed 10 UzCDC in 2 years and make these alliance and structure effective. -Establish information pathway from community to LCA to NCA. -NCA has been developed as broader forum including all actors like civil society, journalist, NGOs….) -Facilitate formation of URC & URT under education department. -CSR mobilization by establishing linkage with commercial banks and financial institutions and arrange credit opportunity for CBOs. -Publish a book highlighting char peoples’ sufferings and remedies to overcome and ensure dissemination to donors, GoB and INGOs. -Facilitate conducting different studies to be conducted by different organizations. -Formation of pro-char journalists group .

Capacity Building -Capacity building and support to implementing partner in doing advocacy. -Organize training to partner staffs to make them understand about roles and responsibilities of local government different structures, committees and service providers. -Provide training/ orientation to LCA so that they can better raise all the issues (DRR in UzRRAP & ADP, Education, Health, Agricultural Support, Safety net)

Analysis, Content Development, Research, Publication and Sharing

-Prepare the content that could be incorporated into the election manifesto and ensure these are well taken by political parties. -Develop content/messages in 2/3 pages for awareness on rights and entitlement. -Publishing newsletter regularly, facilitate/ collecting best practices from field level and ensure dissemination to government departments, donors and INGOs. -Develop a short inventory of safety net types, coverage, eligibility criteria------ in details-2013. -Identify information gaps/gaps in research specifically and conduct specific research which is objectively essential to do advocacy. -Prepare a 3-4 pages document identifying relevant ministries, departments linked to achieving our advocacy objectives and identifying corporate bodies, commercial banks and financial institutions for CSR mobilization. -Publishing Char Peoples’ Demand Charter while political parties will be developing their election manifesto. -Conducted research on resource requirements to reduce poverty and increase level of services to national average.

Raising Echo & bringing all actors

-Organize National Char Convention in 2014

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under single umbrella. Lobby/meeting -MoU signing with DAE, DLS and other departments if possible.

-Facilitate meetings between NCA and different ministries. -Meeting with different Ministries including MoF, MoP,MoHFP ,MoSW,

MoDMR for increasing resource allocation ( in terms of human resources, infrastructure and services) -Lobby for having comprehensive safety net policy

7.1.2 Expected output/ Result from Unnayan Shamannay

By /In years Output/Result 2013-2015

-More active LCA & 10 UCDC formed ( Provided orientation and facilitate formation-2013 & 2014) -Information Path way from Community-LCA-NCA established-2013 -NCA has been a boarder & influential active forum-2013 -10 upazilla URC & URT formed & actively providing support to ensure quality education by 2014 -A comprehensive book on Char people sufferings- published by 2014 Research on resources requirements to reduce poverty and increase level of services to national average conducted and shared.

-Facilitated conducting different studies to be conducted by different organizations- by mid-2014 -Capacity building support to implementing partners ensured. (Organized trainings for them, providing analysis, information & briefing paper by in 2013,2014 -Content developed & incorporated in election manifesto,2013. -Content/ messages on rights and entitlement developed and sent to implementation partner. -Published newsletters regularly and ensured dissemination to GOB and Donors, INGOs. (2013-2015) -Developed inventory on safety net and shared with implementing partners 2013 -Identified research gaps and conducted specific research needed (2013-2014) -Char Peoples’ Demand Charter Developed and Published (2013) -Organized National Char Convention-2014 (process to be started in 2013) -MoU signed with different at least with DAE & DLS by 2014. -Ensured different meeting has been conducted between NCA and different ministries to ensure more allocation of resources to char areas. (by 2015) -Comprehensive safety net policy developed by 2015. -Separate allocation of budget for char dweller by 2015. -Established formal strategic linkage/relations with commercial bank &/or corporate bodies of which ultimate result would be mobilized CSR to Char areas. (In terms of providing scholarship to students or in any other mode)

7.2 JOBS-Bangladesh:

7.2.1 Outline of majors deliverables from/by JOBS-Bangladesh in 3 years (only considering the advocacy aspect) year basis detailed activity plan would be developed based on mutual agreement.

-Demonstrate plot of high value and high yielding crops at field level and ensuring technical support from SAAO of DAE office to inspire others to produce those crops. -Mobilize the resources from DAE to provide technical support to producer groups. -Jointly with US, signing MoU with DAE & DLS to ensure the technical inputs. -Lobbying with agricultural research based organizations like BARRI, BADC, WRI to get technical support and other agriculture inputs. -Ensuring technical support to the process of getting, designing and functioning assemble market. -Ensuring support from DAE and DLS on farm and off farm set up for the char dwellers. -Facilitating overseas employment for char dwellers through advocacy with MoEL. -Establishing linkage with BGMEA and BKMEA to recruit char dwellers.

29

-Establish formal strategic relationships with private sector enterprises for accessing CSR fund and institutional job placement and employment opportunity through technical and vocational skill development. -Conduct research on employment status of char dwellers in comparison to other areas and shared in National Char Convention. -Developed a detailed inventory of local and outside whole sale buyers and producer group and published and disseminated to producer group and buyer. -Established institutional market mechanism/marketing relationship for producer group, identifying local whole sale buyers and outside buyers. -Conduct an assessment of plausibility for establishing of information centre in collaboration with US, IP. -Ensure contribution of Jobs in capacity building of UP-Standing Committees. -Lobby with LGIs to allocate land for assemble market with IP.

7.2.2 Expected output/ Result from JOBS-Bangladesh

By /In years Output/Result

2013-2015

- Institutional market mechanism between producer groups and local and outside whole sale buyers established. by 2014 (Process to be started in 2013) -A detailed inventory of producer groups, whole sale buyers –local & outside, developed, published and disseminated to producer groups and buyers by 2013. -Research on employment status of char dwellers conducted and shared in National Char Convention.(2013-mid 2014) -Established formal strategic partnership with private sectors. -Established linkage with BGMEA and BKMEA. -Identified scope of creating opportunities of overseas employment. - Ensured technical support from DAE and DLS for on farm and off farm set up & mobilized resources to producer group. -Provided technical inputs while developing MOU with DAE, DLS by US. -Ensured technical support for designing and functioning assemble market. -Support to capacity building of SCs of UP is provided. -Lands are allocated for assemble markets.

7.3 Implementing Partners:

7.3.1 Outline of major deliverables from Implementing Partners in 3 years (2013-2015 year

basis detailed activity plan would be developed based on mutual agreement which a matter

of further discussion.

-Awareness on rights, entitlement, service provisions, roles and responsibilities of different

structures and committees, equality, women empowerment, DRR and HIV,AIDS, importance of

vaccination , ANC, PNC.

- Peoples’ groups and institutions building (CBO, SHGs and producer groups) and

- facilitate mobilization to ensure rights and entitlements (viz: our program participants are

getting safety net support ) from UP and upazila

-to demand more functional government structures like Community Clinic , FWC, union sub

centre and different committees CCMGs , CHWs, CHVs,SBA and to get more allocation.

-to ensure that CBOs are taking part in joint planning with UP.

-Facilitate CBOs and SHGs to exert influence, meeting with community , landlords and UP for

negotiating leasing out , rent , share cropping , contract growing and accessing to common property

resources and assemble market .

-Facilitate enrolment of CBOs and SHGs representatives in different committees like SMC , PTA ,

different standing committees of UP.

- Facilitate formation and ensuring effectiveness of government structures at community level: SMC,

PTA, CCMG, CHWs, CHVs..

30

-Strengthening local government structures, committees and institutions:

UHSC,UESC,UDMC,HFPSE, SAAO,UHFWC,WATSAN SC,UDMC… and ensuring accountability

and transparency of local government structures.

-Facilitate information pathway from community/union level to LCA and sharing best practices

among all actors.

-Facilitate LCA-bringing all actors under single umbrella and ensure that LCA is raising issues

raised by CBOs and SHGs , LCA is taking part in joint planning with Upazila , formed UzCDC getting

support from Unnayan Shamannay and activate UzCDC.

-Organize sixth monthly meeting among CBOs representatives ,IP and LCA to discuss problems

and solutions, and visit of government officials to char areas .

-Establish relationship between UESC and SMC .

-Lobby to ensure that Schools are following contextual School calendar (if essential , raise the issue

to Upazila education departments )

-Activating UzRC and UzRT for ensuring support to provide training to SMC , PTA on roles and

responsibilities and to teachers on quality teaching methods.

-Lobby with UzEC in particular with UzEO to ensure recommendation for establishing new school .

-Ensure that union and upazila have the URRAP and UzRRAP and incorporating DRR in union ADP

and UzADP.

-Lobby with department of youth at upazila level for ensuring more IGA trainings and micro loan

support for small enterprises .

- Sharing findings, documenting best practices and ensure dissimination.

-Sensitization through sharing findings, district and upazilla agriculture and livestock department,

district health committee, District NGO coordination committee, Upazilla health committee, upazilla

education office, upazilla development committee and mobilizing resources, training and services to

char areas.

-Working with potential candidates for next election to incorporate char dwellers rights issues in

respective political parties’ election manifesto.

7.3.2 Expected outputs / result from implementing partners:

-Activity (set at micro and meso level ) based output or result (see 7.3.1).

7.4 Concern Worldwide Bangladesh’s role :

Ensure that all implementing partners , US ,and Jobs –Bangladesh’s staffs are well

understood the strategy in terms of understanding the advocacy issues, what process they

need to follow , expected deliverables and results.

Organize sixth-monthly review and coordination meeting among all partners.

Ensure support and engagement in doing National Level Advocacy.

Capacity Building support .

Support to organize National Level Char Convention with a view to raising echo , craeating

deamnds and bringing all actors under single umbrella .

Ensure representation of Concern’s staffs in partners’ event on the ground .

Overall Coordination of implementing the strategy .

Piloting of Telemedicine approach for better improvement of health support & services in

one upazila with Grameen Phone. (Initiatives is to be taken at National Level). Based on

the experience, further to take decision to expand or not.

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8. Roll out of this strategy:

Concern Worldwide Bangladesh will organize a sharing workshop to ensure that all implementing

partners , US and JOBS Bangladesh are well understood the strategy in terms of understanding the

advocacy issues, what process they need to follow , expected deliverables and results from each

organization . In addition to this workshop, Concern will organize six-monthly review and coordination

meeting with all partners under char context to review the progress against deliverables and results and

to identify gaps and difficulties to follow & implement the strategy. Concern Worldwide Bangladesh will

also ensure the support to implement the strategy. In addition to achieving the results set for US and

JOBS Bangladesh, they are also responsible to ensure technical support to Implementing Partners

where it is crucial and mentioned in the strategy.

Photos : Draft advocacy strategy sharing workshop at ARTI, Poba, Rajshahi.

32

9. Monitoring of Advocacy Process Monitoring Result Monitoring Process Monitoring: Sixth monthly reporting Meeting with line ministry

Agenda discussed

Is there any decision/ update /progress from last meeting

What would be follow up actions

Result of 6 months

1 2 3 Result Monitoring: According to the result set against US and JOBS Bangladesh, IP (against activities set

for micro and meso level ) and for Concern Worldwide Bangladesh : monitoring against the set role .

33

10. Bibliography:

1. Sixth Five Years Plan (SFYP)-FY2011-FY2015, MoP, Government of the People’s Republic of

Bangladesh.

2. National Education Policy-2009, MoE, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh.

3. National Health Policy- 2009 &2011, MoH, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh.

4. Country Strategic Paper (CSP) 2011-2015, Concern Worldwide Bangladesh.

5. Irish Aid Programme (IAFP) Proposal, Char Integrated Programme,(CIP) January 2012 - December

2015

6. Char Contextual Analysis (CCA), Char Programme Concern Worldwide Bangladesh.

7. Programme Result Frame Work: Bangladesh Char Integrated Programme, Concern Worldwide

Bangladesh.

8. Concern Worldwide Bangladesh Nodi O Jibon Project End Base Line Survey 2011.

9. Concern Worldwide, Bangladesh May 2011-How concern understands Extreme Poverty

10. Concern Worldwide, Bangladesh Nodi O Jibon Phase II-Moving out of extreme poverty in remote

Island Char areas July 2011 – June 2016

11. Concept note on Char Education and Health Project, Revised on 2nd July, 2012, Concern

Worldwide, Bangladesh

12. Project Proposal WASH for the extreme poor of remote rural areas (Char and Haor) in Bangladesh

January 2012 – December 2014, Concern Worldwide, Bangladesh

13. Final Evaluation of the Nodi O Jibon Project, May 2011 Concern Worldwide, Bangladesh.

14. National policy for Safe Water Supply & Sanitation 1998, Ministry of Local Government, Rural

Development and Cooperatives

15. National Strategy for Water and Sanitation Hard to Reach Areas of Bangladesh, December 2011,

Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives.

16. Logical Frame Work, Char Education Health Project, Concern Worldwide, Bangladesh

17. Implementation Guide line for Third Primary Education Development Programme (PEDP3), Ministry

of Primary and Mass Education.

18. Social Safety Nets in Bangladesh, October 2007, Shaikh S. Ahmed

19. Social Safety Net Programmes in Bangladesh: A Review,BARKAT-E-KHUDA, Bangladesh

Development Studies ,Vol. XXXIV, June 2011, No. 2

20. Report WASH for School Program 2010, Concern Worldwide Bangladesh.

21. Draft Report on Baseline Survey of Char Integrated Programme March2013, The Nielsen Company

Bangladesh Limited

22. Field Findings Report on Health and Education in HAOR, M. Anowar Hossain 2010 , Concern

Worldwide Bangladesh.

23. Progress Review Report of the Advocacy Partner of Amader School Project-2009, Concern

Worldwide Bangladesh by M. Anowar Hossain, Golam Sarowar Talukdar, Shahidul Islam.

24. PRO POOR STRATEGY for Water and Sanitation Sector in Bangladesh, February 2005, Local

Government Division, Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development & Cooperatives.

25. A Strategy for Advocacy in Nodi o Jibon Project-November 2008, Unnayan Smannay .

vi

11. Annexure:

Annexure -1: SWOT of Concern Worldwide Bangladesh in doing Advocacy.

Strengths Weaknesses

Organizational commitment on rights based advocacy programmes; that has been reflected in the Country Strategy Paper (CSP)

Organizational move from Project approach to Programme approach (long term commitment to advocacy issue based achievement )

CWW is moving from independent to interdependent approach

CWW has quality programme on the ground (micro-level) CWW Bangladesh and its constituencies have grassroots

engagement with people, people’s organization and their agencies - People-centered programs are there.

Rigorous contextual analysis for Char Context is done Programme/Projects are Rights Based and following

rights based approach (RBA) to Development Reputation and acceptance at micro and meso level with

some extent at macro level - considered by others as a reasonably pro-poor organization and can bring lasting change at project level, emerged as a learning organization

Advocacy initiatives are already ingrained within the projects and programmes frameworks

Engagement with national level forums – CWW is active in different networks and forums like NAARI, ECB, SUN, INGO forum.

Facilitating Char Alliance , having access to Bangladesh Parliament as we do have a partnership .

Global initiatives/ engagement of CWW may provide leverage and linkages

CWW has high reputation in emergency programs which may help to unfold certain advocacy issues like on DRR and others

Relevant staff have received training and have modest skills, attitudes in commanding advocacy initiatives

Strong country leadership exists within CWW Bangladesh office/programme in favour of public policy advocacy

Resources are available and even existing resource allocation matrix can be reorganized to do more advocacy along with rights based service delivery

CWW has professional connections with relevant policy makers, policy entrepreneurs and renowned policy advocates at highest level

CWW has limited experience in macro level advocacy; not really reputed as an advocacy institution/organisation yet

Lack of defined guideline, strategy and framework for advocacy at micro, meso and macro levels; need clearly defined and agreed advocacy issues at central level of organisation so that one advocacy activity can be contributing across different ‘contexts’

Lack of long term programme hampers devising advocacy plan of action on certain agenda for longer years

Not context driven, rather project driven programmatic management of organisation does not promote follow-up of project learning in ‘advocacy for a marginalised group’ even after the project being phased out/ended

Tendency to start discrete style advocacy at national level or meso level without solid preparation and analysis and which end without follow-up actions; advocacy initiatives (in recent past) at national level targeting policy influence lack follow-up processes and mechanisms

Lack of proper organizational support structure, mechanism and required Human resources in doing advocacy; Lack of core capacity within organization at central level

Inadequate understanding among staffs of CWW and its PNGOs on power relation to do advocacy on certain agenda for social transformation; lack of capacities among PNGOs to better understand and handle advocacy approaches; Partner’s commitment, mission and vision is not up to expected levels for steering strong policy advocacy

Lack of coordination among departments and programme at organizational level hampers to take-off nationwide and organisation wide people centered policy advocacy

Lack of process documentation ability, intention and skills

Opportunities Threats

There are some scopes of work to be involved in some GOB (government of Bangladesh) initiatives for formulation of policies and plans (Agriculture, Health, Education, DRR, Safety nets etc.) Creating spaces and providing input in government initiated policy formulation process can be an important approach for CWW’s advocacy initiatives, scopes are there

Presence of partner NGOs at micro, meso and macro level with skills and capacity; strong micro-macro linkage; partners are willing to be active- some have recommendable experience and expertise in people-

Attitude of government towards NGOs if will be hostile; imposition of strict regulation form the government on non-government sectors, NGOs, civil society entities

Political environment, unrest and might be in risk of shifting from ‘democracy’ to ‘emergencies’

Frequent changes of government officials from key positions, Bangladesh model of non-cadering of different sectors/ ministries/ directorates by ‘admin’ cadres makes it worst,

vii

centred advocacy Capitalize/build on past experience Opportunity to access to networks, alliance, coalition

using current organizational profile, trust etc. CWW has strong presence in INGO forum Presence of strong civil society, other stakeholders and

‘free’ media in Bangladesh

changes of officials may need again the redo of lobby and sensitisation works

High expectation/multi objectives of the peer groups on CWW when any advocacy effort has been initiated

National level alliances/coalitions in Bangladesh often serve political partisan interests or become captured by a certain political groups, this is a threat to collaborate with alliance & coalition

Sometimes actors within CWW & PNGOs lose patience to see real impact and forget that there is no short cut way to achieve social changes

This SWOT analysis has been prepared based on the information collected from group exercise in Advocacy Training for EMT conducted in 2012.

Annexure-2: Different actors in the char

The following national, international and government agencies are working in the char areas:

Actors Major Interventions Working districts

DFID - Char Livelihood Programme (CLP)

Food security, health, education, water and sanitation, DRR, infrastructure development

5 Northern districts: Kurigram, Gaibandha, Bogra, Jamalpur and Sirajganj

CARE- SHOUHARDO Food security, health and nutrition, infrastructure development, empowerment, governance

Nilphamari, Lalmonirhat, Rangpur, Kurigram, Gaibandha Bogra, Jamalpur, Tangail, Sirajganj, Sherpur and Pabna

BRAC Food security, community empowerment, micro-finance, education, health,

Rangpur, Lalmonirhat, Kurigram, Gaibandha, Nilphamari, Pabna, Sirajganj, Bogra

PKSF Food security, micr-finance, empowerment, capacity building

Pabna, Sirajganj, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, Rangpur, Gaibandha, Nilphamari

OXFAM-GB Land rights, Food security, empowerment, DRR

Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, Rangpur, Gaibandha, Nilphamari

Practical Action Food security, DRR, capacity building,

Gaibandha

WorldFish Centre Food security, community empowerment,

Faridpur

Water Aid Water and Sanitation Shariatpur, Rajshahi, Dinajpur, Rangpur

Action Aid Community empowerment, DRR, Human rights

Rangpur, Sirajganj,

Concern Worldwide Food security, health, education, water and sanitation, DRR

Pabna, Lalmonirhat, Rajshahi and Chapai Nawabganj

GoB-Char Development and Settlement Project

Housing and settlement, tree plantation, protection embankment

Noakhali and Chittagong

viii

Annexure-3 : Advocacy workshop to identify advocacy issue

3.1. Table 1: Stocktaking for current Status

Advocacy Issues (Context / Program level : keeping in mind that project advocacy issues are inbuilt within these)

What we are doing at present? Tools Strategy/ Approach

Any new strategy or approach or initiative / additional anything is needed with current capacity / initiative/strategy (example : APPG)

Micro level Meso level Macro

Example

Lack of government Resources /services reaching to remote char areas

Raising rights awareness among community people , Facilitating empowerment process (If possible , need to be more specific on activities )

Developed & activated Upazila level Char Development Committee to do advocacy with different departments of Upazila/ Upazila Administration

Conducting Policy / Budget Analaysis

-Small meeting with Upazila / workshop . -Seminar / Workshop / Conference / Convention Mass gathering

-Developed Char alliance at three level like Upazila level char alliance committee . -Forming and empowering CBOs -

Need to form APPG / Need to form & facilitate a national level char alliance/ forum / networks in different mode

3.2 .Table 2: Advocacy issue identification and addressing the issue

Advocacy Issues

Advocacy objectives

Present Policy support

Gaps in policy / practice or what is the reason of not being possible to address the advocacy issue

How can we address the issue? Strategy / approach and with whom?

01

02

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3.3 Table 3: Responsibility Matrix of Partners: Exploring strength, weakness in the current

practice & process and thoughts for future.

Micro Level ( Which organizations ie partners are doing micro level activities ) : Name of Partner organization

What they are Doing?

How They are Linked with each other? In particular How micro & meso level efforts are linked with US’s efforts or How US’s activities are linked with Implementing partners’ efforts? Or Whether is there any mechanism of deciding US’s activity plan based on the requirement from ground ie implementing partners. (provide example of linking activities/pathway) or US provides direction to mobilize char dwellers for claiming their rights .

Areas further need to improve

1.

2.

3.

4. Unnayan Shamannay

Meso Level ( Which organizations ie partners are doing micro level activities ) : Name of Partner organization

1.

2.

3.

4.

Macro Level ( Which organizations ie partners are doing micro level activities ) : Name of Partner organization

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

3.4 Few questions: (Although we have collected information based on secondary literature) :

Which are departments & ministries are relevant / linked with achieving our advocacy

objectives?

Which are the policies are linked in or are supported in achieving our advocacy objectives?

Which are the organizations / actors are working for char dwellers in particular in our contextual

programmatic areas, and type of their interventions & their working areas ?

Which are the networks / forums already exist to work for rights of char dwellers?

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Annexure-4: Draft Advocacy strategy sharing workshop

Advocacy Strategy sharing and finalization Workshop Venue: Ashrai Training Centre , Rajshahi . Date : 20th June 2013

Participants: All partners of Char program and program team, Technical Team

Program schedule

Time 9.00-9.10am

Objectives of the workshop by Imran Ansari

9.10-9.30am

Explanation about whole workshop outline by M. Anowar Hossain

Session Method 9.30-10.30am

Sharing Our Approach to Advocacy

7 groups will be formed; document to be provided to go through, sharing by 1 or 2 groups in plenary and then other groups will add on if anything is missed to explain. Finally I will fill up the gaps in understanding

10.30-10.45 am

Tea break

10.45-12am

Sharing Advocacy issues , objectives and expected interventions at micro-meso and macro levels

7 groups will be given 8 issues (1 group will get two issues) including objectives and expected micro-meso and macro level interventions. Will go through in group , have discussion and share it in plenary about what they have understood or any major concern they do have .

12.00-1.15pm

Sharing of Role of Unnayan Shamannay

Every participant is to be given the document, will get 15 minutes time to go through. Unnayan Shamannay will get specific 15 minutes to talk on this. Then we will have plenary discussion for 45 minutes to come in consensus.

1.15-2pm Lunch break 2-2.30pm Sharing Role of Jobs Same process as above is to be followed. 10 minutes to go

through by everybody, Jobs will get 10 minutes to talk and plenary for 10 minutes to come in consensus

2.30-3.00pm

Sharing Role of IP Same process as above to be followed

3-3.30 Role of Concern We will listen, partners will talk in plenary. One representative from any partner will facilitate the session.

3.30-3.45 Tea break 3.45-4.10pm

Expected Result from US

We will discuss in plenary. Documents to be given to all

4.10-4.25 Expected Result from Jobs

We will discuss in plenary. Documents to be given to all

4.25-4.40 Expected Result from IP

We will discuss in plenary. Documents to be given to all

4.40-5.15pm

Monitoring process Will discuss in plenary

5.15-5.30 Closing by Imran Ansari Sessions will be facilitated by M. Anowar Hossain & Khalid Hussain Concern Worldwide Bangladesh