Thousands of char people, who lived in abject poverty in the pasts, have achieved laudable success in sanitation, health, hygiene and safe drinking water to improve life standard on the Brahmaputra basin, reports BSS.
They have achieved the success with assistance of the comprehensive Chars Livelihoods Programme (CLP) after bidding a permanent good-bye to seasonal extreme poverty situation of ‘monga’ and improving livelihoods to lead better life now.
Under the programme, 5.20 lakh people of 1.33 lakh have-nots group char families have achieved sanitation and pure drinking water facilities after winning over extreme poverty through income generation activities since 2004. According to official sources, the UKaid through the Department for International Development, Australian Government through Australian Agency for International Development and Government of Bangladesh are funding CLP implementation. The CLP activities are aimed at eradicating extreme poverty of the have-nots group char families through income generation activities to improve their livelihoods, life standards and change socioeconomic conditions by 2016.
The multi-dimensional CLP activities are being implemented successfully by a number of local NGOs through GO-NGO collaboration in the char islands of ten northwestern riverine districts to achieve the goals.
Agriculture and Environment Coordinator Mamunur Rashid of RDRS Bangladesh, one of the implementing organisations of CLP, 1.33 lakh extremely poor char households have improved livelihoods as well as life standards under adverse situation.
“The achievements were possible following the effective assistance, inspiration and motivational work conducted by field level officials and employees of different NGOs under the comprehensive CLP activities in char villages,” he said.
Like in the other char villages, the CLP beneficiary families have set up sanitary latrines and tube wells at their homesteads in Kawniar Char village under Roumari upazila in Kurigram with saved money from their income generation activities.
Inhabited by some 650 families, the CLP initially selected 120 have-nots group hardcore poor families there as its beneficiaries in 2008 to assist them in attaining economic self-reliance and improving life standard in the remote char villages.
The beneficiary families have now achieved sanitation and pure drinking water facilities after attaining self- reliance through animal husbandry, poultry, homestead gardening, handicrafts and other income generation activities with CLP assistance.