Char women achieve success in hygiene, sanitation

RANGPUR, July 7 (BSS): Thousands of the distressed women living in remote char areas on the Brahmaputra basin have achieved laudable success in the health, hygiene, sanitation and safe drinking water sectors in recent years.

The unique success achieved by char women with assistance of Chars Livelihoods Programme (CLP) has reduced extent of water-borne diseases and related deaths almost to the zero level in the riverine char islands of ten northwestern districts.

Under the comprehensive livelihoods development programme, 0.51 million (5.17 lakh) people of 0.13 million women- led have-nots group landless char families have achieved the success to march forward on their way to win over extreme poverty since 2004.

The success has inspired the neighbouring char dwellers to achieve similar progress in these sectors for raising quality of their own living as the nation set to become a middle income nation by 2021.

Livelihoods Coordinator of CLP Dr. Mahbub Alam said the success has been achieved through effective implementation of the multi-dimensional CLP activities through the partner local NGOs in the riverine char islands.

The UKaid through the Department for International Development, Australian Government through Australian Agency for International Development and Government of Bangladesh have been funding the CLP implementation.

The comprehensive CLP activities are aimed at eradicating extreme poverty to improve livelihoods, life standard and change socioeconomic conditions of the 1.33 lakh have-nots group char households in two phases by 2016.

The programme is being implemented successfully in collaboration with GO-NGOs on the chars in Kurigram, Bogra, Gaibandha, Sirajganj, Jamalpur, Lalmonirhat, Nilphamari, Rangpur, Pabna and Tangail districts, he said.