Uttaran, which means ‘transition’, in Bangla language, is a people centred organisation using a rights based approach to alleviate poverty, diversify livelihood opportunities and empower poor communities throughout the southwest region and gradually expanding to other parts of Bangladesh. The core focus of Uttaran programs are human rights, land rights and agrarian reform, community based river basin management, sustainable water management, adaptation to climate change, ecological agriculture and food security.
Vision
A society with gender, class and caste equality
Mission
Equip the disadvantaged people with the tools needed to deal with their social, environmental, health, economic and cultural issues and concerns.
Goals
- Eradicate poverty by creating enabling environment for income, asset base for the poor
- Promote environment friendly sustainable agricultural practices
- Ensure education, health services to the underprivileged and extreme poor
- Ensure people’s participation and good governance
- Ensure quality of life in time of natural and artificially created disaster
- Promote equality, human rights and social justice
Strategies
- Organization and capacity building for the poor
- Ensure sustainable livelihood practices for women and poor
- Ensure women and poor’s entitlement to social services (education, health, safety net)
- Raising voice, influence and agency of poor through advocacy, campaigns, lobbying and networking
- Mainstreaming of rights, gender and inclusion issues
- Building pro poor partnership
- Result Based Management (RBM) practices
Values
- Accountability and transparency
- Non-discrimination and mutual respect
- Gender equality
- Commitment
- Team spirit
- Creativity
- Conservation of resource
Fact-sheet
Founding
Started it’s development intervention to uphold the rights of the poor and underprivileged in 1985 from Jatpur village of Tala upazila under Satkhira district.
Geography
The organization is now directly implementing multiple programmes to improve socio-economic condition of poor and extreme poor at Satkhira, Khulna, Jessore and Bagerhat districts of Khulna division, Patuakhali and Barguna districts of Barisal division, Pabna and Rajshahi districts Rajshahi division and Jamalpur district of Dhaka division.
Beneficiaries
The organization works with landless especially women, outcastes, untouchables and religion-ethnic minorities and extreme poor communities of the region. Currently the organization is covering 75,000 direct partner-beneficiaries.
Programme Focus
At Uttaran we believe, that long-term sustainable change, can only be achieved by first giving voice to the most vulnerable in society and listening to their concerns. We work in partnership with communities across southwest Bangladesh to develop participatory programmes that respond to their needs. Below is a summary of our programs and activities.
Food Security & Sustainable Livelihood
Since its inception Uttaran has been working to boost the local and regional economy of southwest Bangladesh through sustainable and innovative agricultural practices, ensuring agriculture inputs and extension services to local farmers, enhancing their capacity. Uttaran provides economic support to ultra-poor families and emphasizes it’s role in helping to lift the poor out of poverty. The vulnerable groups and communities Uttaran works with have received the following support:
- Access to and control over public resources:
Uttaran is working for the transfer of khasland to the landless of Satkhira and Khulna districts as well as other capital based resources. These initiatives also include facilitating process with the government administration to give them ownership (legal entitlement) of lands, housing, cattle and poultry and moveable and non-moveable assets transfer (e.g. fishing nets)
- Agriculture:
Training and demonstration on homestead vegetation, vegetable marketing, fruit bearing and timber sampling, vaccinator development, SRI method to produce more rice, plantation support, conservation of seeds, cultivation of indigenous crops, fruits and vegetable varieties and training on modern technology of agriculture
- Livestock:
Training on livestock, vaccination and upgrading of local breeds through artificial insemination
- Fish culture/aquaculture:
Hatchery, nursery ponds, carp, crab, golda (Lobster) polyculture, rice-fish, pond fisheries, leasing and restocking open water resources such as Beels and giving training and credit to group members
- Poultry:
Training, vaccination, establishment of day-old chicks rearing units, establishment of feed sales centres and egg collectors
- Trade/business:
Rural trading covers a variety of activities which are mainly seasonal but have potential for income and employment generation for rural poor.
- Handicrafts:
These include bamboo and cane crafts, reed mat, pottery etc., which encompass both traditional and modern skills
- Cash for work programme:
Uttaran includes cash for work programme in its disaster and food security programme.
Health & Nutrition
The programme has undertaken innovative strategies to carry forward an effective health and sanitation interventions with the partner-communities such as building and strengthening partnership with Local Government/UPs and Local Administration, grassroots mobilization, massive education and media Campaign and network building with CBOs, Civil Society and Local NGOs. The programme involves a number of enabling activities, which are described in more detail below:
- Health Education and Capacity Building:
Selects an individual from among the primary organization members as health cadre and also provides training for promoting their capacity on primary health care. Health cadres, in their turn, discuss the acquired skills and share the ideas with other members during the weekly meetings of the primary organizations.
- Water and Environmental Sanitation:
Provides sanitation facilities and awareness building through formation of Action Committee, Village Action Plan, meeting, workshop and seminar, training, focus group discussion, wall painting and writing, poster dissemination, billboard installation and folk song and drama presentation etc. create access to the poor to safe drinking water supports in collaboration with the Paani/Water Committee (a civil society committee), Union Parishds (UPs), set up pond sand filter, community based rain water harvesting system, household rain water harvesting support and re-excavate reserve pond in the saline water areas
- Primary Health Care and Nutrition:
Under the project a central nursery was established to propagate different varieties of seeds, saplings of vegetables and sapling of fruits and trees as well as village nursery, households garden to encourage consumptions to meet household nutritional level and generate income. Uttaran worked with HKI to improve nutritional level in the region. Through DFID’s shiree project, Uttaran is providing child and maternal nutrition package support among 27000 extreme poor beneficiaries households of Satkhira, Khulna and Jessore district.
Natural Resources Management (NRM) and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR)
Uttaran has been working on disaster response, preparedness and risk reduction in the southwest region of Bangladesh for the past 23 years. The organization has been implementing three major interventions in this field specifically on Disaster Awareness Raising and Capacity Building, Relief, and Rehabilitation Works. Uttaran has been implementing some enabling strategies like Community-based organization (CBO) building, social mobilization and sensitization process at the community level, provision of income generating activities to most vulnerable families, advocacy and campaign for sustainable disaster management (engaging civil society, LEBs, CBOs and NGOs and persuasion with key actors) and contingency provision for prompt disaster response. Uttaran, with generous support from various donors, is working on emergency rehabilitation activities including water logging problems, flood, and cyclone SIDR and AILA. Uttaran’s interventions in this area include:
- Environment:
To improve and strengthen community-based coastal resource management Uttaran is raising awareness, for example it initiated ‘Campaign for Sustainable Management of Coastal Wetlands, Genetic Resource Conservation, Advocacy on Climate Change & Water Crisis. Under this programme, we are actively working with a number of civil society organizations.
- Disaster Awareness Raising:
Uttaran’s primary organizations’ leaders and members, selected members of fraternal NGOs and CBOs, UP/LEBs members and likeminded individuals received training on disaster preparedness, mitigation and management to increase awareness and capacity at reducing the impact of calamity and preparing community in terms of instituting effective coping mechanisms in times of any emergency situation.
- Capacity Building:
The organization has been working closely with the District and Upazila Administration, LEBs, Civil Society and CBOs in the area and building their capacity.
- Emergency Response and Recovery:
Uttaran post disaster support to the communities we work with includes emergency shelter materials, food packages, non-food items (NFI): hygiene materials, cash for work, housing support, sanitary latrines, tube-well and livelihood support. Uttaran implemented emergency response and recovery projects about in 18 disaster from 1986 to till to date especially on flood 1986, flood 1988, cyclone 1988, cyclone 1991, flood 2000, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009, cyclone SIDR and cyclone AILA.
- Sustainable Water Resource Management:
The brackish water ecosystem and estuarine river networks in the region shapes the livelihood challenges of the region. There is acute crisis of safe drinking water because of high level of salinity and lack of groundwater aquifer. Decades of mismanagement of the river system has also created chronic environmental crisis of waterlogging of vast areas of the region. Uttaran has been working with local communities to learn from indigenous knowledge and practice in water management to find sustainable solution to the acute drinking water scarcity and waterlogging crisis. Uttaran facilitates local communities to manage the water in a sustainable way and effective community participation in decision-making process.
- Climate Change Adaptation:
Southwest coastal region is ecologically unique and on the frontline of climate change induced change and vulnerability. IPCC reports marks the region as one of the most vulnerable to climate change induced sea level rise because of low elevation of land in the region and high population density. We have been are working closely with local communities to identify new and resilient crops, efficient methods and sustainable technologies that will help the most vulnerable adapt, preserving livelihoods and helping communities to better prepare and respond to disasters. Over the years we learned from communities that indigenous knowledge and practices provide most resilient path to face the challenges unleashed by climate change. In southwest coastal region, the key to climate change adaptation is sustainable water resource management and through our work on community based river basin management we have been successfully facing the perils of the sea level rise. Most important strategy is the indigenous water and river sediment management practice in the region, which is named by water “experts” as Tidal River Management (TRM).
Education
As a leading regional NGO Uttaran has addressed the need of education at all levels including: non-formal education through our Innovative Primary Education scheme, and our Adult Education-REFLECT Circles; technical education through our trade school; and formal education through our secondary school & college. We also have projects and activities around school feeding, advocacy and dialogues on quality education.
Rights, Justice and Good Governance Programme
To empower the marginalized and ultra-poor people to claim and enjoy social justice, Uttaran facilitated establishing organizations to the poor, women and excluded groups. These organizations strive to promote rights, justice and good governance at local and regional level through primary organizations, programme Gono Unnayan Federation (under which are Union Gono Unnayan Federation & Centre Gono Unnayan Federation) and Alliance, Coalition Building and Networking with civil society organizations, NGOs, CBOs. Key programme includes:
- Good Governance and Institutional Democratization:
Uttaran has been working to strengthen Local Elected Bodies (LEBs) for responsive governance through Capacity Building of the UPs (lowest administrative tier of the government) and NGOs, Media and Policy Advocacy, grassroots mobilization, Institutionalization of the UPs, as well as sensitization of law enforcement agencies about constitutionally guaranteed fundamental rights. To establish long-term good governance of this region and ensure environmental sustainability, Uttaran has set up Water Committee, Landless Peoples Committee.
- Legal Aid and Literacy Initiatives:
In order to protect and enhance the right of all people to human dignity; remove social, cultural, economic and political inequalities Uttaran is implementing the following: Legal Aid and Cadre Development, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Capacity Building of the Civil Society, Public Litigation Support and Media Campaign, community orientation, training, seminar with all primary organization members, selected civil society members including the selected LEBs and community leaders. Uttaran supports poor people to create access in the judicial system which in most cases beyond their reach.
Major Activities
Organization Building
To empower the marginalized and ultra-poor people to claim and enjoy social justice, Uttaran facilitated establishing organizations to the poor, women and excluded groups. Since inception Uttaran formed around 2800 primary organisation groups, out of which 70 % are female groups.
Training, Workshop, Dialogue, and Conference
Uttaran has extensive capacity building programmes for staff, organized members, communities and civil society organizations and the local government bodies. Uttaran has trained thousands of its members on different issues since inception. Training is provided on social development issues including organisationtional development and leadership, health and hygiene education, nutrition, legal literacy, land law and management. We also provide technical skill training, which includes training and workshops on livestock, fisheries, agriculture, horticulture, nursery development, enterprise development, handicrafts and aquaculture.
Advocacy, Campaign and Networking
On development issues of Southwest of Bangladesh Uttaran is carrying out several advocacy and campaigns with civil society, government and private sectors. The following networks were established to organize advocacy and campaign in their respective areas:
Shanjog Network: Uttaran is currently leading the Shanjog Network in the Southwest region of Bangladesh. The network comprises of 41 member-local NGOs actively working in the region. It becomes an effective venue towards addressing the current regional problems and challenges such as water logging, river siltation and arsenic issues, protecting women and child rights, caste and religio-ethnic minority discrimination, climate change and water issue, khasland issues, shrimp farming, and governance.
Land Committee: Land Committee, a citizen’s group, support Uttaran to for the transfer of khasland, state property, to landless of Satkhira and Khulna districts. Government, because of Uttaran’s advocacy initiatives, has recovered large amount of land from illegal occupants and has handover to implement two land rights projects with Manusher Jonno Foundation and Shiree/DFID.
Water Committee: Uttaran mobilized the Paani (water) committee, a platform of local citizens, initially mobilized by Uttaran. The committee was established to solve problems associated with water such as acute shortage of safe drinking water, water-logging, pursue for sustainable river basin management for eleven estuarine rivers of this part of Bangladesh in the villages of Southwest Paani Committee arranged several rallies, media roundtables, meetings and workshops to influence the government. As a result of this advocacy, the Bhadra river basin area is now waterlogged free. The dead rivers recovered its life.
Key Facilities of the Organization
At present Uttaran head office is in Dhaka, 3 Regional Office in Satkhira and Khulna Districts and 20 branch offices across Khulna Division. In addition Uttaran has facilities to cater both institutional needs and development partners and beneficiaries. These are Grassroots resource Information and Knowledge Development Centres a grassroots resource Information and Knowledge Development Centres located in Tala, Satkhira and Chuknagar, Khulna district, which are equipped with relevant books and references, Institute for Development Research and Training (IDRT) located in Tala, Satkhira district to cater needs of Uttaran and other NGOs and civil society organizations in the region.
Governance
The Organization is governed by the 21 members General Board, which comprises of educationists, development professionals, human rights activists, media professionals and NGO managers. The total number of members is with 11 female and 10 male members. A 7-member Executive Committee (EC), under a General Committee oversees the overall programs and activities of Uttaran. The Director manages the administration, operations and implementation of the programme activities following a yearly action plan based from organization’s Strategic Plan. Uttaran had separate monitoring cell to track the status and progress of planned activities, outputs and budgets. Under Monitoring, Evaluation & Training position (below Director of Programmes) there are five persons responsible for monitoring and evaluation. The monitoring and evaluation framework existed, predominantly, to address land issues.
Staff
The organization has an existing strength of 809 personnel The staffs of Uttaran are classified as full time and other staff. Moreover we have a large number of listed volunteers who provide support across a number of our programmes. Currently 213 volunteers are working in Uttaran.
Financial Management Capability
Uttaran has strong financial basis. Uttaran has a Financial Management Policy and Uttaran’s Account Department follows this policy for all financial transactions/expenses-income. Uttaran has computerized accounts system (Quick Book Pro-2001 & 2008 and Tally 6.3). From 2001 we installed the said Quick Book pro 2001 version and further we installed the Quick Book pro-2008 version in 2009. At the light of the provision of the organization, a financial policy manual has been developed, based on which the finance of the organization is maintained. The accounting system is based on accrual basis and on the system of double entry book keeping. It is mentioning that if needed of fulfilling the donors requirements that account can be maintained cash basis. It may be mentioned here that sue of journal Voucher should be introduced to make the accounting system as ‘accrual’.
The method for any expenditure or income which has not been met up by cash money for certain period but recorded in the books of account through Journal Voucher (J/V) is called “accrual basis” e.g. an amount for ‘salary’ and ‘Cr” under ‘Provision for Salary head.
According to the rules of double entry system, each entry is always entered in two different account i.e., every debit must have it s corresponding credit. The primary books of account like cash book, general ledgers etc. have to be maintained at all accounting affairs following the principles of double entry system.
Internal Controls
“Internal Controls” refers to all the policies and procedures adopted by the management of Uttaran to help and ensure the orderly and efficient conduct of its business.
Books of Accounts and Financial Statements
Financial Information System (FIS) is able to produce the following primary documents:
a) Money Receipts
b) Debit/Credit Vouchers
c) Journal Vouchers and
d) Cash/Bank book, Ledger Book and different subsidiary registers
The information on the above mentioned documents are recorded
Receipts/Payments Statements, (ii) Cash/Bank Books are regularly prepared by each and every unit of Uttaran, where financial activities take place.
Financial reports include
- Receipts and Payment Statement
- Income and Expenditure Statement
- The Balance Sheet
- Revenues and Expenses
- The Cash Flow Statement, also called the Statement of Sources and use of Funds is prepared for the audited report annually.
- The Portfolio Report, which details the status of the loan portfolio.
Banking System of Uttaran
As per relevant article of Uttaran’s constitution all fund/money of the organization are deposited in the banks that are recognized by the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. The Director, Treasurer and the Chairman jointly operate central/mother bank accounts of Uttaran.
Current Donors and Partners | Previous Donors and Partners |
Manusher Jonno Foundation/UKAid | UNDP Bangladesh |
Current Donors and Partners
-
- Manusher Jonno Foundation/UKAid
-
- Shiree/UKAid
- World Food Programme
- Oxfam GB
- CARE Bangladesh
- Arannyak Foundation
- Helen Keller International
- European Commission
- Misereor-Germany
- SIMAVI Netherlands
- European Commission through Primary Education Directorate
- Save the Children International
- Solidarities International
- Islamic Relief Worldwide
- IRRI/ CSISA
- The World Fish Centre / CSISA
- European Commission through Relief International
- UNDP Bangladesh’s enlisted disaster partner
- Unicef’s enlisted disaster partner
Previous Donors and Partners
-
- UNDP Bangladesh
- Unicef through ActionAid Bangladesh
- ILO
-
- CARE Bangladesh
- Trocaire Ireland
- Both Ends, The Netherlands
- The OPEC Fund for International Development
- ICCO Netherlands
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- CAFOD
-
- Help Age International
-
- Oxfam America
-
- ARD Bangladesh (an USAID project)
-
- ANDHERI HELHI
-
- APHD
-
- Canadian High Commission
-
- MCC Bangladesh
-
- Manitese Italy
-
- DFID
-
- Sight Savers International
- Embassy of Japan
-
- Food for Hungry
-
- PRIP Trust
-
- SAP Bangladesh
- The Asia Foundation
-
- JOCS Japan
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- Tomo no kai Japan
- Drishtipat USA
Annual Turnover of Uttaran
Year | Turnover (BDT.) |
2011-2012 | 393,098,107 |
2010-2011 | 469,057,297 |
2009-2010 | 268,685,403 |
Achievements and Future Challenges
In the decades since it’s founding Uttaran has achieved a number of successes in partnership with the communities. Together we have improved sanitation facilities and hygiene practices and created better access to safe drinking water, reducing incidences of water borne diseases. The opportunities offered by our educational institutions have given the gift of education to thousands. Our health centers have helped to improve the quality of life and our work in disaster response has saved lives.
- Land rights and fair distribution of khasland remains key to breaking the chain of poverty in Bangladesh and accelerate growth. We work to hold the government and it’s agencies to accountable to ensure transparency in the policy decisions that impact the southwest. Uttaran facilitation through a unique multi-stakeholder process, in close cooperation with the state administration, often referred as the Tala Model, has resulted in transfer of khasland, state property, to landless of Satkhira and Khulna districts. Uttaran’s advocacy initiatives, has recovered land from illegal occupants and transfer to landless families. We implement two land rights project with support from Manusher Jonno Foundation/DFID and Shiree/DFID. Through the two projects of Uttaran, (APAR and SEMPTI project) funded by Manusher Jonno Foundation/ DFID and Shiree/DFID, 21701 landless people received and accessed 12518.74 acre of khasland as temporary and permanent basis and additionally around 13200 landless people are in position of khasland. Uttaran is facilitating this land distribution process with the Government of Bangladesh.
- Community based river basin management has been another long term work of Uttaran which has resulted in ecological restoration of rivers in southwest coastal region and scaling up of indigenous water management knowledge and practices. Southwest coastal region, over the last several decades, witnessed imposition of structural solution of river management at the cost of traditional practices. Uttaran worked closely with local communities to learn and successfully persuade the national and international policy makers to adopt indigenous water management practices, such as Tidal River Management (TRM) to solve the waterlogging crisis in the region. TRM has been accepted by the first PRSP as priority method for river management in the region. Uttaran advocacy, together with the community platform, the Paani Committee, has ensured community participation in the decision-making process. Uttaran successfully advocated persuading the national and international policy makers to accept the need of formation of Multi-stakeholder Forum (MSF) for river management in the region. At this moment, Uttaran, together with Paani Committee, and a number of scientific and knowledge institutions, is working to develop a Peoples Plan of Action for River Management in Southwest Region, a remarkable example of bottom-up planning incorporating indigenous knowledge and ensuring community participation.
- Climate change is a real and growing threat to the existences of the communities in southwest Bangladesh and southwest coastal region, according to IPCC reports, is one of the most vulnerable to climate change induced sea level rise because of low elevation of land in the region and high population density. We have been are working closely with local communities to identify new and resilient crops, efficient methods and sustainable technologies that will help the most vulnerable adapt, preserving livelihoods and helping communities to better prepare and respond to disasters. Over the years we learned from communities that indigenous knowledge and practices provide most resilient path to face the challenges unleashed by climate change. In southwest coastal region, the key to climate change adaptation is sustainable water resource management and through our work on community based river basin management we have been successfully facing the perils of the sea level rise. Most important strategy is the indigenous water and river sediment management practice in the region, which is named by water “experts” as Tidal River Management (TRM). To put is simply, TRM is effective management of river flow and sediment management to raise land level on low basins in the catchment areas of the rivers. TRM has been successfully implemented in a number of beels (low floodplains). Our persistent advocacy over the years has persuaded national and international policy makers to adopt TRM are the major strategy for river management. TRM has the potential to be replicated in hundreds of beels (low floodplains) in the region, and perhaps, in tropical deltaic regions in other countries as well.
Social injustices remain in many areas of life and we will continue to fight to give a voice to those who have none. We remain firm in our conviction that with our support and the help of our friends in Bangladesh and the international community the vulnerable and poor communities of southwest Bangladesh can be empowered to lift themselves out of poverty.