The Role of NGOs in Sustainable Socio-economic Development of Rural Poor: Evidence from Bangladesh

Abstract

<jats:p>The present study aims to investigate the current initiative and practices of Non Government Organizations (NGOs) in sustainable socio-economic development of the rural poor people of Bangladesh. NGOs in Bangladesh have virtually grown in vast numbers since the independence. It has been observed that from the late seventies, NGOs have been playing an increasingly important role in the nation’s development process. The study used both primary data and secondary information. Primary data have been collected for this study using random sampling from 10 villages of 2 districts of Bangladesh. A number of techniques have been utilized to collected data from the respondents such as household survey, focus group discussions, in depth interviews and observations. The final valid sample (Sample 1 and Sample 2) size of respondents stood to 819 (750+69) who are the beneficiaries and officials of different NGOs located on those 10 villages of 2 districts. Mostly descriptive statistics have been used to conduct data analysis in this study. The results reveal that the members of studied NGOs have been benefited from various programs undertaken. It has been observed that the food intake of the NGO beneficiaries has increased considerably in terms of income generation, nutrition value and health consciousness. The paper is expected to be one of the basic foundations for those who want to investigate further regarding NGO operation and policy making.</jats:p>

Abusive behaviors: long-term forced quarantine and intimate partner violence during Covid-19 outbreak

“…In this paper, mainly, we have focused on IPV where the women were the primary victims of such violence from their counterparts: their husbands or their boyfriends. However, in developing countries, particularly in Muslim developing countries, it is scarce for a girl or woman to have a boyfriend (Mahtab and Fariha, 2022; Jakia et al , 2020) due to social and religious restrictions. Further, even if some women have boyfriends, they cannot stay together for extended periods due to the different restrictions imposed during the pandemic.…”

“…However, the percentage is feared to be much higher in the least developed countries and developing ones where poverty is common (Fraser, 2020; World Health Organization, 2020). Although such abuse is primarily widespread, it is the least reported human rights abuse, particularly in developing and least-developed countries (Ghosh and Ghosh, 2022; Tripathi et al , 2022; Jakia et al , 2020). While men also experience domestic violence from their counterparts, women make up the majority of victims in an accelerated ratio (Jakia et al , 2020).…”

“…Although such abuse is primarily widespread, it is the least reported human rights abuse, particularly in developing and least-developed countries (Ghosh and Ghosh, 2022; Tripathi et al , 2022; Jakia et al , 2020). While men also experience domestic violence from their counterparts, women make up the majority of victims in an accelerated ratio (Jakia et al , 2020). Nevertheless, during crises such as natural disasters, wars and epidemics, gender-based-violence risks escalate (Oswald et al , 2022).…”

“…However, although being a grave social and psychological concern, strategies and procedural courses of action developed by big global organizations have only modestly incorporated short and medium impacts of pandemic outbreaks and their impacts on women and men in a different way (Alkhattabi et al , 2023; Miller et al , 2021; Harman, 2016). On the other hand, the policymakers and legal enforcement agencies are not exhibiting adequate efforts to curve such violence and punish the responsible ones, mainly due to the nature of incidents where the victims do not complain about the issue to the local police stations due to the fear of loss of family honor (Jakia et al , 2020). Such fear of loss of family honor can be particularly evident in developing or least-developed countries (Jakia et al , 2020).…”

“…On the other hand, the policymakers and legal enforcement agencies are not exhibiting adequate efforts to curve such violence and punish the responsible ones, mainly due to the nature of incidents where the victims do not complain about the issue to the local police stations due to the fear of loss of family honor (Jakia et al , 2020). Such fear of loss of family honor can be particularly evident in developing or least-developed countries (Jakia et al , 2020). There is a noticeable gap concerning this issue inside academia and between academia and practice.…”