Background:

To control tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship (TAPS) through implementation of effective measures Grambangla Unnayan Committee has been implementing a projectin 6 district towns and 6 sub-district towns of Barisal division. The Union/ The Bloomberg Initiative To Reduce Tobacco Use are supporting the project.

Objectives:

: • To reduce incidences of tobacco advertisements through enforcing TAPS bans in 6 districts and 6 sub-district towns of Barisal division. • To reduce incidences of tobacco promotion through enforcing TAPS bans in 6 districts and 6 sub-district towns of Barisal division. • To reduce incidences of tobacco sponsorship through enforcing TAPS bans in 6 districts and 6 sub-district towns of Barisal division.

Strategies:

: • Strategy-1: Capacity building for implementation and enforcement of TAPS Bans. • Strategy-2: Facilitating enforcement of bans on TAPS in 6 district and 6 sub-district towns under Barisal Division. • Strategy-3: Strengthening TAPS violation reporting system through effective monitoring and research in collaboration with Task Force Committees in consideration of FCTC and Tobacco Control Laws of Bangladesh.

Project Locations:

: Barguna, Amtali, Barisal, Babuganj, Bhola, Borhanuddin, Jhalokati, Nalchity, Patuakhali, Kuakata, Pirojpur, Kawkhali.

Project Duration::

October 2018 – September 2020

Background:

In 2010, the rate of unemployed youth was 61.5 percent. Bangladesh enjoys the demographic dividend with a large population of 160 million. For moving the economic growth to a higher trajectory Bangladesh needs to convert its large working age population into productive human resources through enhancing their skills level. Skill sets are critical for productivity, industrial growth, export diversification and producing high value products. However, the country gains an average of approximately 2 million new entrants in work force annually. Out of two million of the new entrants, only 5% receive formal training before entering in to the labour market. Moreover, the quality of labor force has remained poor around 40% of the workforce had no education and 23% had only primary level education in 2010. So it is an important the need for skilling of young population and up-skilling of the existing workforce through a number of skills development initiatives. So an initiative for skill development of the waste pickers of Dhaka City, implemented by GrambanglaUnnayan Committee and supported by Dutch-Bangla Pack Limited will remarkably contribute to the skill development, creation of opportunity of decent jobs and poverty alleviation. Thus this type of project is highly important for human development of the waste picker community of Dhaka City.:

Objective of the Project: :

The overall objective of the project is to organize a skill development training program for the waste pickers of Matuail waste dump site areas so that they can employ themselves in decent work sectors. :

Expected Output :

• In 6 months period a total of 20 trainees will be imparted training on sewing at Grambangla Technical Training Centre

• Each of the trainees received 360 hours training according to standards of Bangladesh Technical Education Board (BTEB)/Bangladesh Skills Standards[360 hours training (4 days a week x 20 weeks x 4.5 hours a day = 360 hours) will be at Grambangla Technical Training Centre]

• During project period i.e. in 12 months period a total of 40 trainees will be imparted training on sewing at Grambangla Technical Training Centre

• A total of 40 eligible trainees will be qualified to join the factory of Dutch-Bangla Pack Limited or any other relevant factories after 6 months of training

• During project period a total of 40 trainees will be appointed at the LC Packaging partner factory i.e. at the factory of Dutch-Bangla Pack Limited or any other relevant factories.

Project Location::

Matuail Sanitary Landfill Area.

Project Duration::

1st Phase: January- December 2018.

2nd Phase: January- December 2019.

Abdul Mannan School is an own funded project of Grambangla which is situated at Nalchity upazila under Jhalokathi district in Barisal division. The school was established in 2005. Since the inception, this school is delivering pre-school services to the poor children of farmers, boatmen, craftsmen and lower caste Hindus of the locality.

Bede is a nomadic river gypsy group of Bangladesh. They usually move from one place to another by boats and they move through the rivers with their families round the year. At present Bede population are around 800,000. There are few sub groups in the Bede community based on their different types of professions. Some are traditional healers (body pain, teeth pain etc.), some are snake charmers, some are magician, others sells talisman etc. Bede community people have no formal education and modern health care practice is very rare. Early marriage is very common among the Bede community. Bede people are recognized as outcaste community therefore, they are the most vulnerable group outside of mainstream population.

As a part of its development programmes, Grambangla started an education programme for the Bede children in 1999. It was the first such education initiative for the Bede children in the country. GUC started a mobile boat school and operated its non-formal primary education programme. In the later years, GUC operated 21 floating schools, supported by Research Initiatives, Bangladesh (RIB) and ActionAid Bangladesh, Bangladesh Freedom Foundation, Innovation Grants of the Directorate of Primary Education, Ministry of Primary and Mass Education. All of the schools were for the nomadic Bede children who used to gather once in a year at Louhajong, Jhalokati, Gournadi and Bhola upazilas for 1-2 months a year. At present one school is running at Keraniganj upazila.

Grambangla is the pioneer in Bede community’s livelihood initiative. GUC implemented several programmes on tailoring, health education, social awareness, capacity building, alternative livelihood support, etc. As a part of its policy advocacy programme, GUC published `Customary Law of the Bede Headmen’, social awareness posters and facilitated to provide national identity card for more than 400,000 Bede population in the country.

The Executive Director of Grambangla Unnayan Committee, Mr. A K M Maksud is a renowned Participatory Action Researcher on Bede Issue in Bangladesh. He was awarded a Fellowship from Ashoka-Innovators for the Public-USA, an internationally renowned award in 2006.

As a human rights based organization in Bangladesh Grambangla Unnayan Committee, is always for humanity. We always try to engage local youth groups in all humanitarian and development activities. In this regard, every year Grambangla observes different days with performing various events such as, rally, human chain, discussion meetings on human rights issues, human rights education training program for the youth community volunteers and a special event on `Human Rights Dignity Torch’.

In order to engage young people especially the young mothers for economic and social change through sustainable agriculture, Grambangla Unnayan Committee started “Youth Cooperative Initiative for Sustainable Agriculture” in 2015 at Meroher, a remote coastal village of Nalchity upazila under Jhalokathi district. The broad objective of this initiative is to engage young people especially the young mothers for economic and social change through sustainable agriculture.