RIGHTS BASED APPROACH TO DEVELOPMENT AND ITS EFFECTS SOME EVIDENCE FROM BANGLADESH Muhammad Taher and Neelam Singh (lead researchers for the learning process in Bangladesh) Research team Gram Bikash Kendra case study Bhupesh Roy, Gram Bikash Kendra Mahtabul Hakim, Voluntary Services Overseas Bishwajit Kumar Saha, Gram Bikash Kendra Noresh Hasda, Gram Bikash Kendra Mukta Mardi, Gram Bikash Kendra Save the Children UK case study Reefat Bin Sattar, Save the Children UK Mahfuza (Lulu) Haque, Save the Children UK Md. Mizanur Rahman, Prodipan, Dewanganj Asheka Akhtar, Prodipon, Dewanganj Taslima, Prodipan, Khulna Sylvie, Prodipon Azmal, Prodipon S M Chishty, Jagrata Jubo Sangha Shahriar Arefin, Jagrata Jubo Sangha Resource Integration Centre case study Khandaker Reaz Hossain, Resource Integration Centre Lipi Rahman, Resource Integration Centre Mukhles, Resource Integration Centre Interagency Group/CARE (UK) February 2006  Acknowledgement We would like to thank Abul Haseeb Khan, Executive Director of the Resource Integration Centre (RIC), Moazzam Hossain, Director of Gram Bikash Kendra (GBK) and David Humphrey, Programme Director of Save the Children UK Bangladesh, who took keen interest in the learning process and provided encouragement and support. We are also thankful to the field staff of RIC, GBK and Save the Children UK and partner organizations, Prodipan and Jagrata Jubo Shangha, who helped with the field investigation in their project areas. Without their support, this study would not have been possible. For Shahana Hayat, the Country Director of VSO Bangladesh, a special thanks for logistics and administration support. Neelam Singh Muhammad Taher February 2005  Abbreviations BRAC Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee BRDB Bangladesh Rural Development Board CRC Convention on the Rights of the Child CHT Chittagong Hill Tracts CIDA Canadian International Development Agency DAE Department for Agricultural Extension DC Deputy Commissioner DFID Department for International Development GBK Gram Bikash Kendra GoB Government of Bangladesh ILO International Labour Organization IPDP Indigeneous People’s Development Project IPEC International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour JJS Jagrata Jubo Sangha MDG Millennium Development Goals NGO Non Government Organisation NORAD Royal Norwegian Ministry of Development Cooperation OCMP Older Citizens Monitoring Project OPI Older People’s Inclusion PIGD Participatory Interest Group Discussion PRSP Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper PWC Poverty and Working Children RBA Rights Based Approach RIC Resource Integration Centre RMG Readymade garments SABEC Support and Awareness for Behavioural Change UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNO Upazila Nirbahi Officer UP Union Parishad UZ Upazila (sub-district) VGD Vulnerable Group Development VGF Vulnerable Group Feeding VSO Voluntary Services Overseas  Contents 1. Introduction 2. Bangladesh: Country Overview 2.1 Country context 2.1.1 Political environment and the administrative structure 2.1.2 Economic environment and poverty 2.1.3 Social environment 2.1.4 Progress towards the MDGs 2.2 Some of the most disadvantaged and vulnerable social groups 2.2.1 Children 2.2.2 Older People 2.2.3 Adibashis (Indigenous People) 2.3 Analysis of the findings from case studies and lessons 2.3.1 Voice and participation 2.3.2 Changing relationships 2.3.3 Institutional response 2.3.4 Tangible evidence (e.g. benefits and gains towards Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Poverty Reduction Strategy) 2.3.5 Sustained change 3. Conclusion List of documents consulted Case studies • Save the Children UK • Resource Integration Centre • Gram Bikash Kendra 4  1. Introduction The learning process of the UK Inter Agency Group on Rights Based Approaches (RBAs) comprised of the following three case studies from Bangladesh of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) implementing projects using both the RBA as well as non-RBAs: • Gram Bikash Kendra (GBK) which works with the ‘indigenous’ people • Resource Integration Centre (RIC) which works with the older people • Save the Children UK which along with its partner organizations works with children This report synthesizes the lessons derived from these case studies, which deal with the issues of poverty and development from the perspective of three social groups (viz. indigenous people, older people and children) who suffer from vulnerability and are marginalized for a variety of reasons. It begins with a broad overview of the social, economic and political environment within which their experiences, project interventions and their outcomes are located. Following a brief description of the core developmental issues being addressed by the three cases, it analyses the experiences especially with reference to five key themes, viz. (i) Voice and accountability (ii) Changing relationships (iii) Institutional response (iv) Tangible evidence (e.g. benefits and gains towards Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Poverty Reduction Strategy) (v) Sustained change 5  2. Bangladesh - Country Overview 2.1 Country context A deltaic flood plain at the foothills of the Himalayas, Bangladesh is situated in the eastern part of the Indian Sub-continent. On its west is located the Indian state of West Bengal, with which it shares historical and cultural heritage and a common language. On its eastern border are the Indian states of Assam, Tripura and Meghalaya and on its south eastern border is Myanmar. One of the most densely populated countries in the world, Bangladesh now has a population of nearly 140 million living in an area of 148 thousand square kilometres. 6  Figure 1: The map of Bangladesh with administrative districts. The following sub-sections provide an analysis of Bangladesh’s economic and socio-political environment and the administrative structure, which contribute significantly to the realisation of basic rights by people, especially the poor, marginalised and vulnerable, and conversely, are influenced by them. 2.1.1 Political environment and the administrative structure Bangladesh has a long history of struggle for socio-political and economic emancipation. The British rule of India was for long and to a great extent anchored politically and economically in Bengal for various reasons. The decision to partition it professedly for administrative reasons in 1905 was received with protests, eventually resulting in the annulment of the division in 1911. The partition and independence of India in 1947 led to the western part of Bengal becoming an Indian state and the eastern part, because of its Muslim majority, becoming East Pakistan. The Bengali speaking population of the eastern part of the country soon became disillusioned with the manner of governance of the new state in which the majority Bengali population were subjected to an unacceptable domination by the ruling elites of the western wing. Discrimination in economic and political spheres became so stark that the Bengali-speaking population raised demands for autonomy. In the face of denial of the rights of the Bengalis by the ruling Pakistani regime, a mass uprising ensued. Despite an election victory by the Bengalis the Pakistani military regime held on to the power and tried to suppress an unarmed mass movement by a military crack-down and massacre. This started an armed struggle for independence of Bangladesh. Finally, in 1971 following a year long liberation movement (guerrilla warfare) and an India-Pakistan war at the year end, the present day Bangladesh came into existence as a free and sovereign state. Since then Bangladesh has been through many phases of social and political adversity including military coups, natural calamities like floods and cyclones and internal political upheavals. But now it is a parliamentary democracy and a unitary state with a central government formed by the members of the parliament. The President is the constitutional head of the country, whilest the Prime Minister acts as the chief executive of the government with the help of a cabinet of ministers. Although there has not been any direct intervention in the affairs of the state by the military in the recent years, lack of transparency and accountability in the governance, lack of trust between the ruling and opposition political parties, and chaos and disruptions caused by political 7 rivalries and growing disparity between the rich and the poor have been some of the key stumbling blocks towards progress and development of the country. Administrative Structure The country is divided into six Divisions, and each division has several Districts. There are a total of 65 Districts headed by Deputy Commissioners (DCs). Each District has many sub-districts known as Upazilas headed by UNOs (Upazila Nirbahi Officers). Under an Upazila, there are Union Parishads (Councils) with elected members and a Chair. In each UP, there are nine general members and three women members elected in three reserved seats. At village level, there are also Gram Parishads (Village Councils), but they are not really functional now due to legal and political snags around this structure. The UPs are at the moment the only elected local government bodies, although there is a constitutional obligation to have elected representatives at every tier of the administrative structure. Successive governments have evaded elections for the Upazila and District councils. A widely held view is that this is because of narrow self interest of a section of parliament members who do not want their own authority undermined. Through its national constitution and different policy decisions, Bangladesh recognises the key human rights issues and has ratified a number of international legal instruments. Fundamental Rights in Bangladesh • Equality of all citizens before law • No discrimination against any citizen on grounds of religion, race, sex or place of birth • Right to protection of law • Protection of right to life and personal liberty • Safeguard as to arrest and detention • Protection in respect of trial and punishment • Freedom of movement, assembly, association, thought and conscience and of speech, profession or occupation and religion. • Rights to property • Protection of the privacy of home and correspondence • Enforcement of fundamental rights through courts of law • Laws and enactments inconsistent with fundamental right are void. - From the Constitution of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, as up to 1996. The Bangladesh PRSP adopted in 2005 includes in its “Supporting Strategy” a chapter on participation, social inclusion, and empowerment of women, children, tribal people and other disadvantaged groups including the elderly. NGOs and different civil society groups actively 8 participated in the PRS process, which enabled the document to reflect the appropriate rights issues quite categorically. Nonetheless, Bangladesh like many other developing countries has not been able to translate all its commitments into action. 2.1.2 Economic environment and poverty The current growth rate of GDP of over 5.5 per cent per annum provides a positive macro-economic environment which can be successfully harnessed for overall socio-economic development of the country. Unfortunately though, this is what is not happening. Inequality between rich and poor and urban and rural areas are on the rise. Profile of the Poor in Bangladesh Indicators Poor Very Poor Housing Bamboo Made Houses No house (stay in other people’s places, public/ makeshifts) Food Intake Somehow manage two meals One meal in a day a day No additional food stocks Land Only homestead land Functional landless A little; only homestead land Occupation Day labourer/ agricultural Physically disabled labourer Beggars/ depend on others Tenant/ mostly work on farm Hardly any opportunity to work Fishermen, low level transport worker Small traders Coping Some savings Can not cope with disaster/ Mechanism Can take loans and advances flood Some may have poultry, livestock Seasonal Seasonal unemployment for Unemployed for about 8 Employment about 4/ 5 months a year months a year Expenditures on Can not afford children’s Lack of education, health education and education Can not afford children’s health education Entrepreneurshi Lack of capital for business p Livelihood Daily earning of Tk 100 – 120 From hand-to-mouth/ day Live on every day’s earning/ labourer if no work can borrow money No work, no meal Source: People’s Progress Report on Bangladesh MDG 2005: An overview Bangladesh and its economy still remain largely rural with over 80 per cent of the people depending on agriculture for income and employment. However, rapid changes in the recent years are beginning to transform the agricultural sector. It has experienced growth (mainly through 9 increased rice production) at roughly 3.5 per cent per annum albeit low in comparison to industrial and service sectors1, its contribution to GDP is declining fast to about 25 per cent now compared to over 50 per cent three decades ago. In comparison, the industrial sector largely based on readymade garments (RMG) manufacturing and exports is now expanding rapidly. Indeed, it has raised its contribution to GDP, estimated at about 26 per cent now2. Once the key foreign exchange earner, agriculture now accounts for less than 15 per cent of the total export. At about the same time (2000-2001), the Ready Made Garments (RMG) sector accounted for over 65 per cent of the total export3. With the change of demographic pattern, economic growth and consequent change in employment patterns, the relative importance of agriculture in terms of its contribution to GDP is on the decline while the urban industrial and service sector is growing fast. This has serious implications for the population dependent on agriculture and more particularly for around 60 per cent of the rural population that is landless and relies mainly on seasonal employment in agriculture. In order to cope effectively with the unemployment situation, the government is being advised to look at the non-farm employment sector because crop agriculture cannot accommodate additional labour. Even the fast growing livestock and fisheries sub-sectors are unable to absorb much surplus labour because, among other reasons, they are quite capital intensive. But options in the non-farm sector are severely constrained by the low growth rate of the rural economy, the low level of social capital for the vast majority of people and a poor infrastructure. The income distribution pattern in the country is now highly skewed with the richest five per cent controlling 30.66 per cent of the national income4. According to the Household Expenditure Survey carried out by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (1995-96), about half of the population could be classified as poor, while about a quarter was classified as extremely poor. According to researchers in a recent workshop on food security issues in Dhaka, there were about 28 million ultra poor in the country who suffer from chronic food insecurity5. Natural calamities such as floods and riverbank erosion are a regular phenomenon which damage crops and property extensively, affecting about a million poor people annually. Furthermore, a near-famine situation (locally known as Monga) is created 1 Toufique, KA and Turton, Cate, 2002. Hands Not Land: How Livelihoods are changing in Rural Bangladesh. BIDS/DFID 2 Ibid. p. 21 3 RMG export by the end of 2004-05 stood at 77.5 per cent of the total export valued at $ 6.07 billion. The Business Bangladesh, July 2005 4 Unnayn Onneshan, a research organisation, as reported in the Daily Star, p. 8, 14 September 2005. 5 The Daily Star, March 14, 2005, p. 1. Report on a workshop on food security jointly organised by IFPRI, BRF and BIDS in Dhaka. 10 once every year in the northern parts of the country during the September-October period when extreme aridity of land and lack of water makes cultivation impossible. As a result the poor farm households suffer from a lack of employment and income which in turn creates a host of other problems. According to the Ministry of Food (MOF), 43 per cent of the population of the country live below the food-based poverty line, and about six million ultra poor remain outside any “food safety net” programme like the vulnerable group feeding (VGF) or vulnerable group development (VGD) programmes.6 Although Bangladesh is geographically a small country, there are wide variations in poverty incidence in different areas within it. At least two of the case study areas, Jamalpur (SC River Project) and Dinajpur (GBK- IPDP/SABEC) are among the poorest regions of the country. For sustaining the current (relatively higher) level of growth in the economy and for ensuring an improved state of equity, the present educational system is far from prepared. The education system is neither well planned nor integrated (between different levels, systems and methods) and as such is unable to impact positively on the poverty situation or on the labour market. The quality of education in the rural areas particular suffers from lack of trained teachers, poor administration and inadequate physical facilities - among a host of other related problems. 2.1.3 Social environment For a densely populated country like Bangladesh, its people could have been a valuable resource. They are if the remittances from the Bangladeshis abroad are any indication but for the multitude of people living within the country, poverty and insecurity blight their existence. Floods are a perennial problem for the poor whose lives and livelihoods get devastated year after year. Asset accumulation that could provide households an option in times of adversity gets severely affected in this situation. Furthermore, the social networks of the poor are often too weak to be effective in supporting and sustaining them. Within the impoverished households, every body suffers but women, children and the elderly face the brunt. Children must contribute through their labour to the survival imperatives and the household economy and are thereby deprived of schooling and reduced options in the future. The elderly rely increasingly on family and kinship support as their physical abilities decline. Dearth of resources and time prevents poor households from meeting their basic needs and the societal norms foster withdrawal. Both 6 Source: Remarks by the officials of the Directorate of Food in a meeting in Dhaka, 9 April, 2005. 11 these factors adversely affect their well-being and contribute to their social isolation. Bangladesh has a homogenous population – the majority speaks Bangla and adheres to Islam. There are, however, significant numbers of minority communities. Among the religious minorities are the Hindus, Christians and Buddhists. Many ethnic (indigenous) communities and Biharis speak languages other than Bangla. Religion and language have become contentious issues in the debates on national identity. Bangladesh was created following a liberation war based on the assertion of linguistic identity – Bangla speaking majority population felt discriminated against in the unified Pakistan and revolted. Subsequently, however, the issue of religious identity gained currency and continues to divide the political space and by implication the society. A largely rural agrarian society, Bangladesh is undergoing a process of social change as a result of industrialisation and urbanisation. Simultaneously, the issues concerning Bangladeshi identity in the political arena seem to be affecting the social fabric. Throughout its independent history, the country has faced political crisis which is created in some ways on the basis of ideological conflicts (e.g. Islamic versus secular, Bangla versus Bangladeshi). It is generally believed that socio-economic development has by and large improved the lives of Bangladeshis. The social and physical infrastructure has improved and development interventions of the government and other development organisations have helped mitigate poverty. But a large number of Bangladeshis live a life of poverty and uncertainty. As the decline in agricultural sector and expansion in the industrial base contributes to urbanisation with about 27 per cent of people estimated to be living in congested urban centres7 the uncertainties of life seem to affect them the most. With a low rate of literacy and basic education, among other entitlements, for the majority poor, the population of Bangladesh is yet to be transformed into a valuable resource base for the county’s development. According to BBS 1999 statistics, 82 per cent of the total labour force in the country is employed in rural areas, majority of who are illiterate, low paid and seasonally unemployed. 7 The Business Bangladesh, November 2005, p. 20 12  Literacy and schooling About 65 per cent of Bangladesh’s population is estimated to be literate (this figure is disputed by independent professional groups though). In terms of primary school enrolment, although the gross enrolment rate was a very impressive 96 per cent in 2000, the estimated net enrolment was only 65.4 per cent. The high gross enrolment rate is apparently achieved by the late entry of children (i.e. beyond the age of 6) 8. However, the quality of overall educational attainments is generally accepted as very low. “Quality concerns are increasingly overtaking these success parameters indicating a major area for programming initiatives. A general concern from the standpoint of the education-poverty interface is the eventual poverty impact of current achievements in primary schooling.” 9 There appears to be a very weak link between primary and secondary levels which results into a dramatic decline in the enrolment rate in the secondary schools. Recurring natural disasters in Bangladesh exacerbates the poverty situation by particularly affecting the groups of people who are without land and assets. They include families who have been displaced by river erosion. Female-headed households are usually in the extremely poor category. Owing to divorce, abandonment or death of husband and/or father -women have become extremely distressed but have the responsibility for raising the children and looking after any unemployed (often sick) elderly family members. In an uncertain rural labour market that tends to discriminate against women and disabled people, livelihood options are few. The sources of insecurity and marginalisation in Bangladesh are both socio-political and economic. Poverty is reflected in the continued process of marginalisation of a group of ‘powerless’ and vulnerable people in the country whose livelihoods and food are insecure. Among the different groups of people in Bangladesh, women, children, the disabled, ethnic minority groups and landless labourers comprise the majority of the poor. 2.1.4 Progress towards the MDGs Some of the key targets set for Bangladesh under the MDGs to be reached by 2015 are as follows10: I. Eradication of extreme poverty from 28 per cent to 14 percent II. Increase enrolment rate of children in the primary schools from 73.3 to 100 per cent 8 World Bank, 2005, Attaining the Millennium Development Goals in Bangladesh, Human Development Unit, South Asia Region. 9 Rahman, HZ, 2002. Poverty: The Challenges of Graduation. The Bangladesh Development Studies, Volume XXVIII, December 2002. BIDS, Dhaka. 10 Haque, ANM Nurul, 2005, Bangladesh and the MDGs. The Daily Star, 23 Sept. 2005, p. 11. 13 III. Elimination of gender disparity in primary and secondary education and acquire equal female to male ratio in primary schools by 2005 and all levels of education by 2015 IV. Reduction of under 5 infant mortality rate from 151 deaths per thousand to 94 per thousand and enhance immunisation of 1 year old children for measles from 53 per cent to 100 per cent V. Reduction of maternal mortality from 574 deaths per 100,000 to 143 and reduction of total fertility rate to 2.2 per cent by 2010 VI. Combat infectious diseases like malaria and check the spread of HIV/AIDS VII. Increase proportion of land areas covered by forest to 20 per cent from 10.2 VIII. Development of global partnership to development However, there is a general sense of ambivalence among the development specialists regarding Bangladesh’s prospects of attaining the MDGs. Some of the targets could be achieved statistically, but questions regarding the quality of attainments are likely to persist. Many exasperated experts acknowledge their inability to figure out what it will take to attain the different MDGs in terms of economic growth, infrastructural investments and sectoral interventions etc11. The government claims that it has already attained two of the eight goals by reducing gender gap in education and enhancing access to safe drinking water. Achievement of some of these targets, however, would still leave the country with unaccomplished ‘goals’ of equity and effective service delivery structures for sometime to come. For instance, given the very slow pace of poverty eradication process many people in the country are concerned that the MDGs will not be achieved by 2015 12. According to the World Bank assessment, Bangladesh has made impressive progress in at least two of the goals: enrolment of primary schooling and reduction of gender disparity in schooling. Although, there has been a problem in achieving higher ‘net’ primary enrolment results, the achievement of male and female parity in both primary and secondary levels is said to be the best in South Asia, after Sri Lanka13. It has also been quite successful in reducing ‘consumption-poverty’ and under 5 mortality. According to the Bank report, Bangladesh is likely to achieve its targets on time in these areas with a combination of interventions such as expansion of immunisation coverage, reducing pupil-teacher ratios, improved coverage of infrastructure, continuation of social safety net programme like education stipends and VGD programmes and maintaining the rate of economic growth. The areas in which it is going to face hurdles are in attaining MDGs related to child-malnutrition and universal net primary enrolment and completion of primary schooling. 11 World Bank, 2005. 12 “Bangladesh unlikely to achieve MDGs, says NGO”, The Daily Star, 14 Sept. 2005 p-8 13 World Bank, 2005 Op cit. p-xii. 14 The Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), a well-respected policy analysis group, is of the view that the progress towards the MDGs is less than satisfactory in income poverty, adult literacy, rate of immunisation and maternal mortality. According to a study by an independent research group, Unnayan Onneshan, the poverty reduction rate have declined from one percentage points per year (during the decade of 1990s) to 0.52 per cent; in the rural areas the rate is even lower (0.32 per cent). At this rate, poverty eradication will take 81 years and 24 years respectively to achieve the MDG targets. Some Key Statistics of Bangladesh Geographical Size of Bangladesh 148 square km Population 140 million (estimated in 2005) Average population growth rate 1.74 per cent per annum Total fertility rate (births per 2.95 woman) Average Labour force growth rate 2.2 per cent per annum Male/ Female ratio 104 Population density 904/ sq. km Literacy rate 65 per cent (estimated) Illiteracy (percentage of 59 per cent population age 15+) Crude birth rate 19 per 1000 Crude death rate 4.90 per 1000 Infant Mortality rate 46 per 1,000 live births Child malnutrition 52 per cent of under 5 year old Life expectancy at birth 62 years Labor force 60 million GNI per capita (Atlas Method) US$ 430 Population under $1 a day income 68 million GDP per capita US $ 389 GNP per capita US $ 393 15 2.2 Some of the most disadvantaged and vulnerable social groups As part of the learning process on the impact of rights based approaches (RBAs) on development, three case studies were undertaken in Bangladesh. The organizations chosen for the study of their developmental interventions using both non-RBAs and RBAs seek to address issues concerning three distinct social groups, vulnerable and marginalised in varying degrees and for different reasons, viz. children, older people and indigenous people. Certain characteristics render them vulnerable although it needs to be acknowledged that they are not homogeneous. 2.2.1 Children As children are universally considered objects of affection and the future of a society and nation, their identity as rights holders is viewed with scepticism. Their needs rather than rights are acknowledged in a charity based response. They are viewed as people without an independent entity, their roles and responsibilities determined by the situation of their family, community and country and on whose behalf decisions should be made by the concerned adults. Furthermore, various factors in different combinations shape the experiences of childhood in Bangladesh considerably. These include: gender and patriarchy within society and the perceptions of differing abilities (intellectual, physical, mental/emotional, the ability to cope/to earn/to take on responsibilities/to inherit) and physical appearance that have been socially and culturally imbibed, the family’s economic status, social origin (determined in terms of ethnicity, language and religion), social class (influenced by education and the ability to forge and secure social and political relationships), geographical location (e.g. rural – urban) and the nature of abode, birth order, stage in life and age-wise hierarchies among children as well as the real and perceived future opportunities. This implies that the opportunities made available to them are conditional, and depend upon the socio-economic, cultural and political imperatives. According to a recent survey14, the total child population of in the 5-17 year age group is 42.4 million – about 32 percent of the total population (54 per cent boys and 46 per cent girls). About three quarters of the children of the country now attend school full time. Realising the rights of children growing up amidst poverty is a major challenge for Bangladesh. Although the country recognises that all children have the right to lead a protected life and child labour is illegal and inhuman, an estimated 7.4 million children are still economically active - most of them (about 69 per 14 National Child Labour Survey (NCLS) 2003, by BBS, as reported in the Daily Star, 17 September 2005, p.19. 16 cent) work to support and sustain their families. Only about 33 per cent of the working children attend school15. Bangladesh has a range of national laws and policies protecting children’s rights and is a signatory to a number of international legal instruments. The National Children Policy (1994) articulates Bangladesh’s international commitments as well as national priorities. A separate national policy on Child Labour is being formulated. The Children Act (1974) and the Children Rules (1976) are the main legal instruments governing protection of children and administration of juvenile justice. The Compulsory Primary Education Act (1990) is a landmark legislation that provides legal guarantee to the child’s right to education although a quarter of Bangladeshi children are still out of school 16. The four strategic objectives identified by the PRSP in relation to the development of children in Bangladesh are, (i) creating opportunities to help children realise their full potential (access to health, nutrition, education, and water and sanitation etc.), (ii) serving the best interests of children in national, social, family and personal situations (empowerment of children), (iii) ensuring safety and security at home and in the public space (protection against abuse, exploitation and violence) and establishing and protecting children’s rights (social inclusion, decent work and livelihood)17. The non-governmental children’s organisations in the country, including Save the Children UK have played an active role in ensuring that in the formulation of the policy objectives views of poor children are reflected. Inclusion of these objectives and subsequent action points in this regard in a key government policy document means that for the first time the authorities have accepted that the causes of poor children need to be taken on board as a priority national concern. Since the issues are now officially recognised, it is hoped that they will be regularly monitored and evaluated. This will give, particularly the causes of disadvantaged children a better chance to be addressed systematically. The international and regional treaties pertaining particularly to children that Bangladesh is a party to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the ILO Convention No. 182 on the Worst Form of Child Labour, the SAARC Convention on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Women and Children for Prostitution and the SAARC Convention on Regional Arrangement for the Promotion of Child Welfare. Since 1995, Bangladesh has been implementing the ILO’s International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC). 2.2.2 Older People 15 NCLS 2003, ibid. 16 GoB, 2005. Unlocking the Potential: National Strategy for Accelerated Poverty Reduction (the PRSP). General Economics Division, Planning Commission, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. Revised Draft dated, January 12, 2005, p.134. 17 ibid. 17 That older people are among the most marginalised and vulnerable is not very well recognised by the Bangladeshi society and the government because the societal norms attribute the elderly with qualities of wisdom and sagacity and prescribe that they be respected, their wishes be complied with and they be looked after by the younger generation. Nonetheless, old age can be a phase of acute insecurity for the poor and marginalised who lack savings and assets and must rely increasingly on family and kinship support as their physical abilities decline. It is expected that in accordance with the existing socio-cultural norms, the family and the community should/will look after the older persons with respect and care. But with the break down of community institutions due to poverty and associated reasons, older persons are at best neglected. This exacerbates their status as a ‘liability”. The proportion of the older people in Bangladesh is on the rise with the declining trend of the population growth and increase in life expectancy. In 2000, the percentage of older persons of the total population was 6 per cent or 7.3 million18. A study by Helpage International and RIC of the situation of the older people found that the majority were poor and invariably suffered isolation and ill health, often without any resources or support. While the state recognises and seeks to provide the conditions for the development of children, the elderly do not receive such a response. They usually remain outside any planning and programming initiatives for development, possibly because expectations of the family, society and the state from them are limited. Government has an old age pension and widow’s allowance programme but it is too little for very few. The PRSP recognises the needs of the marginalised people in very general terms that “social security provisions can be introduced for the sick, the vulnerable females and the elderly”19 but does not elaborate upon the specific steps that need to be taken. That there can be more steps taken to address the problems of aged population in the country other than the meagre allowances is yet to be recognised and fully articulated in the national policy agenda. This may be partly responsible for the fact that unlike other professional or marginalised groups like the disabled, children, ethnic minority etc., there has not been a strong lobby in the country to speak on behalf of the older persons. There are a few isolated charitable old age homes in the country set up by some affluent people with charitable intentions but no such facilities exist for the poor elderly. Moreover, the idea that the excluded groups of older citizens have a right to receive the basic services and amenities to survive with dignity - is not fully appreciated by the society as a whole, and the responsible authorities in particular. Except for RIC with a limited programme of work in this respect with developmental (and rights) perspective, there is no significant NGO operated programmes in this area 18 RIC, 2000 19 ibid. p. 140 18 in the country. Although the issues of older persons are appreciated and variously addressed by different NGOs, there has not been an effective coalition of such groups. This is an urgent need in the country to have a strong advocacy group to work for the development of the distressed older persons. 2.2.3 Adibashis (Indigenous People)20 The Constitution of Bangladesh does not recognise minorities (whether ethnic, religious or linguistic) as distinct groups. Everyone is considered a Bangladeshi and the obligation assumed by the state to conserve cultural traditions and heritage of the people has the objective of enriching the national (Bangladeshi) culture, which is defined essentially in terms of a single dominating language (Bangla) or a single dominating religion (Islam) or both21. This has led to the social, political and economic exclusion of all indigenous peoples in Bangladesh. Although Bangladesh is by and large a homogenous country with most people belonging to Bengali ethnic group, there are about 1.8 million Adibashis who can be divided into 40 to 45 different tribes22. They can broadly be grouped into three linguistic families, viz. (i) Tibeto-Burmese: comprising all the ethnic groups of Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) including Garo, Koch and Tipra, (ii) Austro-Asiatic or Mon Khmer: The Khasi, Santal, Munda, Mahli, and (iii) Dravidians: Oraon, Pahari etc. But in terms of social and political marginalisation from the mainstream, two main groups draw attention, viz. the indigenous people living in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (commonly known as the hill tribals) and those living in the north west Bangladesh (commonly known as the plains tribals). The former have drawn more public attention because they have been politically more active and assertive. Relatively less is known about the minorities in northern Bangladesh (viz. Santhal and other tribal groups, a large proportion of them practice Christianity). 20 Adibashis have been variously described as tribals, indigenous people and ethnic minorities. For the purpose of this report, the term Adibashis which roughly translates into indigenous people has been used. 21 See Rahman, I A (2003). Minorities in South Asia. A paper prepared for the Commission on Human Rights. Sub-Commission on Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, Working Group on Minorities. Ninth session. 12-16 May 2003. 22 The main Adibashis were the Proto-Australoids who believed to have existed in ancient times in the region stretching from central to south India and Sri Lanka to Australia. Similar physiological construction among the indigenous people of the South India, the Veddas of Sri Lanka and the Australian aborigines are found. The Adibashis of the present day Bangladesh, particularly the ethnic groups in northern Bangladesh known as Santals, Bhumij, Munda, Banshfore, Malpahari and similar groups are known to be related with the Proto-Australoids. There are also many smaller ethnic groups of Mongoloid origin who have migrated from Eastern India, Tibet and Myanmar at different turns of history. Sources: Mohanta, R. 1998. Aboriginal Perspective of Sylhet Region and an Analysis of Shabdakar Society (in Bangla).AUS, Kamalganj, Moulvibazar. and Ali, Ahsan 1998. Santals of Bangladesh. P-14. Institute of Social Research and Applied Anthropology, Midnapur, West Bengal 19 There are different sub-groups among them, and some are more influential than others in the local power hierarchy because of their population, general levels of education and access to resources and thereby authority. But the majority of the Adibashis are poor and marginalised and have for long have been neglected and repressed by the mainstream society and the state. The mainstream development process has ignored their problems and concerns. Various NGOs have frequently brought to public notice cases of discrimination and the media has also carried reports regularly on discrimination (both subtle and overt) faced by the adibashis. They continue to face discrimination under existing laws and practices by the civil administration. They are denied of social, political and economic justice and their fundamental human rights are frequently violated23. The activists contend that the biased views about the minorities among the majority results in various forms of discrimination and often causes alienation. The stereotypes are perpetuated, albeit subtly, through mass media, textbooks, and other such channels. Even for the development NGOs who are otherwise known for their successful pro-poor programme efforts are known to have been conveniently by-passing the poor Adibashis. One of the reasons is that the majority of them are extremely poor, which does not qualify them as ‘viable’ clients. Achieving “successful results” from the programmes with Adibashis is known to be very difficult compared with those with the ethnic Bengali communities. The loan recovery rates from the micro- finance programme, for example, with Adibashi clients are said to be much lower because, unlike their Bengali counterparts, they have limited opportunity to invest their money in profitable ventures. Moreover, their consumption needs are also very high which they cannot always meet from the meagre income they get (mainly) from the sale of labour. By a long process of systematic repression, exclusion and denial of rights, their resource base has become almost depleted. It is now being realised that this situation can only contribute negatively to the process of nation’s development and peace. The mainstream development process in the country has to ensure that the problems related to violation of Adibashi rights are addressed and its human rights obligations, efforts to improve governance, security and justice system and welfare services extend into “these disastrously neglected rural and urban hill and plains areas”24. Efforts are now being made by the NGOs to bind the Adibashi groups all together around common issues of social identity, political representation and economic exclusion through alienation from land rights and common resources. The government too has made a positive move in this direction through the PRSP, which 23 GoB, 2005. op.cit. 24 Bleie, Tone. 2005. Tribal Peoples, Nationalism and the Human Rights Challenge: the Adivasis of Bangladesh. UPL, Dhaka. p. 310. 20 formally recognises all ethnic nationalities in the country and their problems and seeks to include them directly in different development initiatives. 2.3 Analysis of the findings from case studies and lessons Case studies of three non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Bangladesh were undertaken in the learning process of the UK Inter Agency Group on Rights Based Approaches (RBAs). These NGOs have acquired the experience of both the RBA as well as non-RBAs as they have been implementing development projects. Brief Overview of three case studies from Bangladesh Case Projects Approac Duration Project Activities studies h Save the River Project Non- 1975-1996 Provision of Children rights After phase emergency relief, UK based out, the community project area development handed over through health to partner services, supplementary nutrition, income generation, basic education, etc Poverty and Working Rights- Since 2000 Improving working Children (PWC) based Continues conditions of programme after being children in the Part I: Child labour in redesigned shrimp industry by shrimp industry in 2005 negotiating and Part II: Children in collaborating with conflict with law the employers and other key {The two stakeholders, and components of the promoting children’s PWC programme participation have since been included in two Improving the separate conditions of the programmes: correctional homes ‘Violence at the so that they become workplace’ under child development Child Protection centres by working programme and with different ‘Preventing child stakeholders and labour’ under promoting children’s Household Economic participation Security programme Resource Older People’s Non- 1990-1999 Formation of clubs 21 Integration Inclusion (OPI) rights Continues and groups, Centre based as provision of (RIC) downsized pensions, healthcare project and recreation without external funding Older Citizen’s Rights- Since 2002 Mobilization of Monitoring Project based The project elderly into a (OCMP) funding federated ends 2006 organizational structure, lobbying and networking with key stakeholders, working with the media Gram Support and Non- 2004 Provision of health Bikash Awareness for rights and sanitation Kendra Behavioural Change based services, basic (GBK) (SABEC) education Indigenous People’s Rights- Ongoing Strengthening Development Project based since 2004 traditional people’s (IPDP) institutions, legal aid for addressing land issues, basic and culturally appropriate pre- school education for children, local level advocacy and raising of public awareness These NGOs have been working with some of the most disadvantaged and vulnerable communities of people. As mentioned earlier, Save the Children UK which along with its partner organizations works with children, RIC works with the older people and GBK works with the Adibashis. As of now, their programmes are governed by their understanding of the underlying causes of marginalisation and vulnerability of the project constituents. It needs to be noted that when they began the non-RBA projects, there understanding was different as it was determined by the context and contingencies. Identified causes of marginalization and vulnerability Children Older Persons Indigenous people/Adibashis/ tribals/ethnic minorities • Lack of • Exclusion and • Non-recognition of authority discrimination their identity • Patronising • Negative societal • Negative societal societal perception perceptions 22  perceptions • Lack of safety nets • Discrimination and controls for the poor • Alienation from • Limited elderly land opportunities • Changing family • Neglect/indifferenc and options structure due to e of state due to poverty urbanization and institutions migration • Socio-economic • Lack of and political organization and isolation institutional • Lack of support organization These NGOs are in different stages in the process of transition, marked by the evolution of the discourse on rights based development as well as their own experiences. If Save the Children UK has phased out entirely from the non-RBA projects, the other two are still in the process. As their experiences accrue, some lessons have become apparent. Besides the successes, there are also areas which continue to be of concern. The following discussion tries to draw out the lessons from an analysis of the findings from the participatory interest group discussions (PIGDs) with the project constituents. 2.3.1 Voice and participation For decades, development discourse has put a premium on people’s participation but it has mostly been a desired outcome rather than the central objective. If development programming incorporates people’s voices, the chances of achieving the objectives improve considerably because the projects are no longer the prerogative of the donors. Furthermore, greater ownership of the project constituents reflects trends towards democratisation, initiative and lessening dependence, which could positively transform their quality of life. The three case studies reflect the changes in the evolving discourse and also the attempts to address emerging challenges. What are the ways and means through which people can, and do, participate? To what extent are their views being or could be voiced? If and how is it adding quality to project implementation and socio-economic development? Relative to Non-RBA projects, the quality of “participation” in RBA projects was deeper and focussed. As the non-RBA projects were aimed to produce immediate results, like meeting emergency food and medical needs of poor people, participation of the project constituents was incidental (and to some extent tokenistic) rather than central in the implementation process. Participation in RBA projects appeared to be better planned and therefore more inclusive in terms of addressing the needs of groups of people who are usually overlooked by standard development programmes. 23 Participation of project constituents has been a desired objective of all developmental interventions studied as part of this learning process. Both non-RBA and RBA projects promote participation, the difference being the way it is conceptualised and operationalised. Among the non-RBA projects, the staff of the River Project, for example, of Save the Children UK, sought involvement of community members in the discussions and negotiations pertaining to the project. Informal community organizations were an important feature of GBK’s Support and Awareness for Behavioural Change (SABEC) project and RIC’s Older People’s Initiative (OPI). They have ranged from tokenism to well-thought out campaigns. While the non-RBA projects have concentrated on people as recipients of goods and services, promoted their visibility and recognition as needy of support and attention, encouraged their attendance and leadership in project meetings or fora, the RBA projects seek to go beyond. Rallies and events that bring together the project constituents have been organized frequently by different kinds of organizations for a variety of reasons (e.g. creating a sense of solidarity, promoting interactions and sharing of problems and lessons). And these have ranged from tokenism to well-thought out campaigns, a display of identity towards claiming entitlements to negotiating of legitimate demands of groups/individuals with the local authorities. But the rallies and events in the RBA projects are slightly more nuanced as they seek to project the collective identity and concerns of the project constituents towards claiming entitlements by negotiating their legitimate demands with the local authorities. A common feature of the RBA projects is the growing focus on organizational structure and the process of organization. A conscious attempt has been made to organise children in the Poverty and Working Children (PWC) project. The older people have been organized in a formal federal structure and elections by the Older Citizen’s Monitoring Project (OCMP). However, the IPDP does not create new structures but seeks to resuscitate and strengthen traditional community institutions by involving them in decisions about the project activities. While people’s involvement was considered important from an ethical standpoint in the non-RBA projects, the political and strategic dimension are becoming important in the progression from the non-RBA to RBA projects. Although the ultimate aim remains collective action it is perhaps too early to expect leadership from the project constituents as all the RBA projects are still in their early phase. Thus, the anti-alcohol drive by the Adibashis is essentially led by GBK and the RIC continues to facilitate participation of the elderly in various commemorative events. But there is a greater element of planning and consultations with the project constituents, as they are making a transition from non-RBAs to RBAs. 24 Different factors, including trust fostered by the NGO project staff, a degree of organisation within the community, and expectations of material and non-material support, influence participation of the project constituents in the non-RBA and RBA projects. All projects seek to build a rapport and trust with the project constituents. However, more than the approach, the negotiation of the relationship with the community by the project staff seems critical in eliciting participation. Some more than the others have been able to strike a chord among the project constituents and draw them out for the meetings and consultations. Regular interactions of the RIC OPI project staff with older people and facilitation of benefits created trust and rapport, which drew out the elderly from their routine and households. Thereafter, through the OCMP, the RIC workers continue with the interaction, support and advice to older people about basic services and benefits instituted by the government. The IPDP staff is trying to mobilise indigenous people by facilitating dialogue among them, and increasingly with the government institutions and the mainstream society. Some of the local staff are Adibashis and therefore understand the local ethos and speak the local language. Whether the communities continue to participate and demonstrate ownership seems to depend on the characteristics of the community (e.g. level of organisation, homogeneity, common interests and concerns). A lesson from the case studies is that the poor and marginalised people participate in varying degrees if they are already organized or an effort is made to organise them through formal or semi-formal platforms or structures (non-RBA and RBA). The perception of the value of participation and expectations matter a great deal. After the OPI (a non-RBA project) concluded, the older men’s clubs in Narshingdi that had a semi-formal structure have more or less disappeared. But older women’s groups that were loosely organized continued to function as the participants got an opportunity to interact socially. Furthermore, the community organizations in Moheshkhali under the same project grew stronger and took over the controls from RIC. According to the RIC staff, it was possibly because the Hindu minority community in that area was already fairly disciplined and well-organized. The RBA projects that organize people are likely to enhance cooperation among people during natural hazards as there is greater possibility of organization, negotiation and relief management. The perception of immediate and potential gains plays a key role in the nature and level of participation. If the issue pertains to their survival and immediate well-being, they participate more readily. Crisis or the promise of real/tangible changes in their lives in the near future galvanise the project constituents. In the River Project, poor people do not think of 25 approaching and questioning authorities when there is no significant decline in their living standards. But RBA engages with stakeholders at different levels and persists with negotiations. The involvement of project constituents could be limited in terms of numbers but likely to be more lasting. Older people belonging to extremely poor and marginalised snake charmer community continue to associate with the rights-based OCMP though participation is minimal because of the expectation that they may gain something in the future. Non-RBA seeks affirmative action, RBA goes beyond to seek equitable participation by devising ways and means of addressing the root causes of discrimination. The influence of socially prescribed position in the community and society and stereotyped images inhibits people from participation. The RBA projects have tried to challenge the stereotyping process and are thus making way for greater participation of the socially weak and marginalised. Social norms promoting discrimination are visible in both non-RBA and RBA. (e.g. boys vs girls, older vs younger children, majority vs minority religion, socially ostracised families/individuals, mainstream vs indigenous people, dominant tribe,... ). Both non-RBA and RBA recognise that discriminatory practices exist in the society, community, family and even in relationships, which may impact on participation. RBA goes beyond affirmative action and looks for participation from within. The level of self esteem and confidence among the project constituents determines the nature of their participation. For example: adults guide and determine the lives of children, who by implication appear to be lesser human beings. Poor children have to carry the burden of poverty and societal perceptions. Traditional and social norms make older people withdraw from the public and personal sphere, and their isolation is compounded by generation gap, loss of peers and deprivation in the poor households. RBA works at building confidence and capacities among people which enable them to participate meaningfully. All the three RBA projects (OCMP, PWC and IPDP) have been trying to challenge the social stereotypes and working towards establish the entity of project constituents as rights holders and interest groups. For instance, OCMP (and the non-RBI OPI to a lesser extent) is trying to draw older people out of their seclusion towards a socially and politically active role in the community and society. OPI gave older people visibility and recognition but OCMP sought to involve them as social and political actors. The PWC is working towards developing life skills among the disadvantaged children and highlighting the profile of children as social actors. The IPDP is making attempts to counter marginalisation of indigenous people. Indeed, both IPDP and OCMP seek to build the self esteem and confidence of the project constituents through rallies and celebration of events. 26 The power dynamics based on age, gender, economic resources, social networks and political influence within the project constituents can be seen in both the non-RBA and RBA projects. The non-RBA River Project saw the community as passive recipients of goods and services. The most poor/marginalised did reap benefits from the project but were not able to improve their lives significantly. The relatively better off were able to utilise the education and opportunities and have earned for themselves a degree of economic security. Under the non-RBA OPI, old women continue to attend group meetings but old men seem to have lost interest with the closure of clubs. It is because the former have fewer opportunities of social interactions as compared to men. While non-RBAs encourage people’s participation, the RBAs seeks participation of even those who have traditionally been on the periphery as a means of challenging power imbalances. The OCMP with the RBAs has been able to keep both men and women engaged in the interactive process through the organizational structure. However, it was observed that in the OCMP and IPDP, the most poor/marginalised do attend the meetings but are usually at the periphery and not very active in the proceedings and activities. The discussions revealed that even in the projects which do not promise any goods and services, people continue to have expectations. To avoid the possibility of losing out on benefits (if they come), they try to attend the meetings passively or keep themselves informed of what is going on. Active participation is to a great extent determined by the perception of costs of participation and the benefits that could accrue Leadership remains the prerogative of the relatively better off, whether it is non-RBA or RBA project. The degree of participation varies based on differences in the personalities, opportunity costs and social and political power dynamics. In all projects, irrespective of the approaches, there are groups of people who participate more than the others. Apart from the fact that the authority of the ‘elite’ (the term has relative connotation) among the project constituents is established in the local milieu, they can also afford to spare the time and effort for mobilisation and other programme activities. Because of their better social networks are seen as being capable of leading others. It is interesting to note that the position in local community, the ability to articulate and ambition/dynamism are seen as the traits of a leader by others who seem satisfied in their role as followers even in the RBA projects. Men are likely to take on leadership positions more easily than women who prefer participating (attending) local meetings and activities. Slowly but steadily women too are taking on leadership roles. Simultaneously, 27 there are women who are not forthcoming because of growing conservatism, purdah and restricted mobility. However, it is the relatively young among the older men and women who have assumed leadership position and take greater interest in the discussions and planning processes. Among the children, it is usually the older age-group and boys more than the girls who dominate the programme activities. The relatively better off assume leadership positions and the active participation is by project constituents who have the awareness, ability and mobility. A number of older people were encountered in the project areas who were extremely poor and destitute but who could not participate in the project because the opportunity costs were high. Indeed, in most PIGDs it was observed that the poorer and more vulnerable were present but sat on the edges quietly to follow what was going on and lest there was an opportunity for availing goods and services. By and large, the common concerns of the poor and marginalised are reflected but the poorest and most marginalised are likely to remain at the periphery in both non-RBA and RBA. They lack self-confidence or the opportunity costs of participation are too high or they are unable to overcome the systemic drawbacks (e.g. age - the older old people, gender - women from conservative families, girls, abilities – the old and disabled, insecure livelihoods – inhabitants of charlands, wage labour,... ) which makes them poor and marginalised. People tend to have views about who is or could be the leader. For instance, in Karamtoli in IPDP project area one of the reasons for the disbanding of the women’s group was the inability and unwillingness of women from stepping into the shoes of the previous leader who was better off and relatively more educated and could not spare time for the women’s group activities upon being elected to the Union Parishad. In the River Project and SABEC, the community leaders were more vocal and articulate in the community and matters of the project. These leaders derived their authority from their social position in the local community or were considered more articulate and dynamic. Usually their position in the community contributed to their leadership qualities. Lack of recognition or the inability to deal with power dynamics often prevents non-RBA approaches from staving off domination of relatively more powerful and privileged groups and individuals. RBA tries to bring to the forefront the poorest and most marginalised although there is always the possibility that the voices of “social outcastes” and the most vulnerable may not be heard even in the RBA projects. Discrimination can and does happen in both the non-RBA and RBA projects. That people have views, not always expressed overtly, about who should participate was reflected in the project area of rights-based 28 OCMP, where most women tried to keep out from the discussions a local woman who apparently was seen as an outsider – as someone who was not one of them. There were other instances of unintended and intended discrimination, which has to be carefully monitored and responded to. IPDP recognises differences between the indigenous people and the mainstream society but it has not paid sufficient attention to the power dynamics within and among different tribal groups. Recognising the traditional system and the influence it continues to exercise on the project constituents, GBK is seeking the strengthening of the Majhi Hara the traditional decision making institution of indigenous people through its projects. In order to strengthen women’s voices, female membership is being promoted in this male bastion. Four Majhi Haras had reportedly included women as a result of GBK’s efforts but it is not clear if the decision was based on a real understanding, appreciation and internalisation of gender equity or based on the expectations from the NGO/GBK. The participation of the older among older women is limited (OPI and OCMP) for obvious reasons and it is indeed the relatively younger older women who are more active, more able and with better social networks who are at the forefront. In many parts of Bangladesh, growing conservatism is limiting women’s participation. It has been observed that women from conservative families following purdah do not generally participate. Some older women have however started attending the meetings even if they are not really in leadership roles. Usually their husbands are also associated with the project, which perhaps contributes to their mobility and confidence. 2.3.2 Changing Relationships Participation by the poor and marginalised people has been the desired goal of development interventions ever since Bangladesh became an independent nation. Be it the democratisation process or development programming, the emphasis has been on mechanisms facilitating participation but how they impact on the lives of people has not received sufficient attention. Do they change relationships between them and the decision-makers so that the decisions impact positively on their lives? Do they influence the relationships among them so that they can support each other in adverse situations? Can they together mount a stronger claim for their legitimate demands? Can the relationships survive a generational change? These concerns are extremely pertinent for the indigenous people, older people and children who share the experience of social and political isolation and powerlessness. Their condition is considerably secured when they have strong and reliable relationships. By careful targeting and recognising the issues confronting the project constituents, both non-RBA and RBA projects are able to bind them together but there is greater scope of interaction and 29 collective action in the latter. In terms of conceptualisation and design, the RBA projects have a longer-term perspective, are more strategic, creative and pro-active in addressing power dynamics while the non-RBA projects tend to work around them. In practice, however, the RBA projects are constrained by the limited knowledge and skills among project staff at different levels. In both the non-RBA and RBA projects, the project constituents term kinship relationships (family and friends) as the closest and most dependable. In poor and disadvantaged households, basic necessities are always in short supply and stresses and strains appear as a result. Thus, an association with the NGOs gives poor and marginalised people hope. There are expectations from the NGOs, and that by itself is a source of strength for the project constituents who have few options. Although intra-household dynamics did not change radically, there is relatively greater recognition of their concerns. Their family members expect to gain through them and their association with the NGOs directly or indirectly. This also contributes to the recognition of their importance within the household. Nonetheless, while the non-RBA projects brought together the project constituents for a variety of reasons and enabled them to share and support each other, there was no indication that the relationship could be sustained beyond the duration of the project. If it did, it was because of factors independent/ extraneous of the project. Indeed, a fundamental alteration in the relationship that could enable them to ward off isolation together was not forthcoming. The River Project was a typical relief and community development programme which responded to humanitarian crises in the 1970s and 80s. It brought together the community by enabling their survival and generating expectations. But if the dependency on supplies and services by the ‘Padri Sangstha’ (viz. Save the Children UK), even after a decade of phasing out is any indication, it maintained a status quo – if indeed it did not disempower. The marginalised communities did not look beyond what was given to them. There was no change in their hopes and aspirations – survival was and remained their major concern. The OPI was devised and implemented when the language of rights had slowly started filtering into the development discourse. So while providing assistance to the older people, it helped reduce their individual isolation by enhancing social interactions among them. This contributed to relative improvement in their worth in their families and community. It was particularly able to enhance social interactions among older women outside their homes, effectively responding to a critical psycho-social need. 30 The RBA projects have tended to withdraw from service provision and have focused on organising the project constituents, creating awareness among them about the obligations of institutions, linking them with groups elsewhere and lobbying and advocating for their cause. For instance, the PWC works to bring about qualitative improvements in the lives and livelihood of children by working with them as well as others (e.g. employers) who play an influential role in determining the outcome. The working children are now well-acquainted with their rights and agency and now speak of protecting and encouraging schooling of their younger siblings. A number of factors are likely to determine whether their desire would be realised but the indications are so far positive. The facilitating NGOs would have to ensure that the levels of awareness and ability to articulate do not waver and indeed result in positive impacts on the lives of project constituents. The bonding between individuals could diminish with the passage of time. The children grow up, the elderly grow older and die, and the Adibashis in northern Bangladesh are known to migrate. Apart from the community characteristics and careful and systematic negotiation with organised project constituents reduced the chances of dependency. Compared with the non-RBA projects, the RBA projects are better able to relate the needs and aspirations of the project constituents with the political dynamics in the community and society. They do so by fostering a common identity, identifying shared concerns and promoting collective action. The rights based OCMP recognised the isolation of older people but instead of addressing their individual isolation, it focused on reducing their social and political isolation. It is promoting their collective identity and strengthening links among them. With visible increase in peer support among older people, the health seeking behaviour improved as some of the elderly accompanied the other to the health facilities. The RBA projects have not been in operation for too long. So it is too early to expect a significant shift in the ways the project constituents view themselves. But there is expectation and hope among many people, a positive feeling among some and a sense of motivation among a few. As a common identity is being promoted, shared concerns are being identified and the thrust is on collective action aimed at systemic changes, more people stand to gain and the risks are minimised. This could be seen as a positive sign for the future. But there remain some concerns as RBAs seek to catalyse changes and shift emphasis from individual responses to institutionalised responses. As the issues of project constituents as a community are sought to be addressed by the RBA projects, the problems of individuals are being left unaddressed. Poor, marginalised and discriminated individuals and/or 31 their families have to fend for themselves in the absence or inadequate basic and support services, and redressal mechanisms. A significant shift from the non-RBA to RBA is the recognition of the value of establishing and strengthening the ability of project constituents to seek their entitlements without increasing the burden of services on the projects. In all the RBA projects, efforts are being made to link them with professional service providers. The PWC project has been able to elicit an offer of legal assistance from a lawyers’ group to children under law. IPDP is facilitating Adibashis’ right to land. According to the GBK staff, the non-partisan stand of civil society institutions encourage marginalised people to maintain open and active linkages with them. If there is limited awareness about other civil society groups in the non-RBA projects, the RBA projects promote linkages of the project constituents with other groups that can be a source of motivation and support. Indeed, the RBA projects seek to forge partnerships with a range of institutions, including government authorities at different levels, public service providers, financial institutions and the private sector. In the River Project, networking with civil society organisations was weak as the interactions remained confined between the project staff and the local communities. It is possible that the expression of helplessness is encouraged by the non-RBA projects, which are premised on giving and taking based on indicators and notions of poverty and vulnerability. The PWC is associated with the correctional centres run by the government and employers of children working in the shrimp industry. Consistent efforts and dialogue have resulted in better relationship of the project staff and through them of the children with employers’ association in the shrimp industry. The forum for poor children in Khulna helped mobilise the local government and other relevant organizations in favour or poor children. The OCMP is actively associated with the Forum for the Rights of the Elderly (FREB). It also works with upazila authorities, local administration, banks and public health department. The RIC has established a resource centre on ageing and participates actively in networks towards promoting awareness about various ageing related development issues in the development community. The project constituents of OCMP benefit from RIC’s national and international links and the children being reached by the PWC draw upon the growing body of experiences of Save the Children UK. By and large, the non-RBA projects operated in an insular manner, focusing on the target area and/or project constituents and operating within the confines of a developmental sector or 32 thematic area. In the RBA projects, attempts are consciously made (a) to create and strengthen a constituency of project constituents that extends beyond the confines of the project, (b) to relate the project with the cause of the problem or rights violation, and (c) to network with others in order to link the local experience with the wider experiences. These attempts are based on identified core values and common concerns and draw upon experiences elsewhere. While the non-RBA projects responded to the immediate needs of the project constituents, the RBA projects are working towards developing the project constituents as and interest group so that they could in the future evolve into a pressure group. By and large, the non-RBA projects have tended to operate in an insular manner, focusing on the target area and/or project constituents and operating within the confines of a developmental sector or thematic area. The approach of OPI was rather inward looking and there was not much scope for addressing the needs or concerns of older people who were outside the project area or the reach of the project staff. If the project could make a relatively smooth transition either through the phasing out or phasing over to the RBA project, the credit goes to the RIC leadership and local communities rather than to the project approach and design. The RIC leadership was open to learning from experiences and the groups of elderly accepted the changed scenario either in a spirit of philosophical resignation (e.g. in Narshingdi) or by taking initiative or control (e.g. in Moheshkhali). Similarly, in the River Project too the focus of the project staff and the project constituents was on the delivery of goods and services. No attempt was made to explore the issues of poverty and vulnerability, the underlying causes and short-, medium- and long-term effects. The engagement was with specific communities and individuals, which although important was insufficient for strengthening the constituency of the poor and vulnerable and adding weight to their issues and claims. Greater value can be attributed by looking at the issues in the entirety rather than with reference to some individuals or communities and their special circumstances. RIC is making efforts to highlight older people as an interest group with problems and issues by celebrating the international day of the older people. By strengthening linkages with older people’s projects elsewhere, OCMP is working towards creation of the elderly people as an interest group. The elderly in the western countries as pensioners have had a certain clout and have been able to engage with the state and financial institutions. It is not the case in the rural, agrarian societies such as Bangladesh where the informal sector comprises of the major share of the economy and families and communities are responsible for social and economic security in the old age. 33 GBK also organises celebration of the world day for the indigenous people through colourful rallies, symposiums and other events. These events are considered important by the organization for boosting the morale of the otherwise isolated and marginalised people. The Adibashis on this day get to know that they are part of a larger group of people and they have rights like every else does. In the past, the non-RBA projects also celebrated the special days but the focus was on social aspect and tokenism was the hallmark. Increasingly, they are being influenced by the reasoning of the RBA projects. While non-RBA dealt with immediate problems, RBA have explored the underlying causes of rights violations and are trying to respond to them. The issue of globalisation and economic liberalisation come into focus when one seeks to respond to the issue of exploitative child labour in the shrimp industry as is being done by Save the Children UK. Instead of seeking to understand and respond to the processes of globalisation, which contribute to exploitation of children in the shrimp industry, the non-RBA approach might have involved responding to identified children’s immediate needs (e.g. literacy, none-formal education, perhaps vocational training, and recreational activities). From a child’s perspective basic education, life and livelihood skills are important but the non-RBA approaches lack the perspective and focus for bringing about systemic changes, resulting in the neglect of innumerable children waiting to join the shrimp industry. In the RBA projects, there is greater investment in forging linkages with NGOs and movements in other parts of the country, region and world. Thus, there have been interactions of project staff with others elsewhere and increasingly efforts are being made to promote people-to-people contact (e.g. meetings and consultations among representatives of project constituents) in the expectation that a movement would be created or strengthened. Both non-RBA and RBA projects engage with the government officials and institutions but while the former have sought social partnerships the latter aim at strategic partnerships. The non-RBA projects did engage with the government, especially the local administration. There were invitations to the government officials for various celebrations in addition to social interactions usually to showcase the good work being done by the NGO. Overall, the objective was to promote ‘models’ that could be replicated elsewhere. While the River Project made efforts to hand over basic services to the government, it did not and could not influence the way the local administration worked. Indeed, there has been an element of co-option as some of the former project staff are now part of the local governance structure, one of them being the local Union Parishad chairman. Some of the project constituents are employed in the local administration. Their perceptions of the process and goals of social change are based on their own experiences. In other 34 cases, the effort and energy of the project staff was concentrated to a large extent on the relationship with the local communities. In the RBA projects, invitations are still extended but increasingly for events/workshops for promoting mutual understanding and advocacy. The relationship with government is extremely important for the RBA projects. As of now, active engagement with the government departments and functionaries is confined to the local level and based essentially on personal equations. This could and does affect the relationship when the officials are transferred. The senior officials of the project implementing organisations do network with government officials at the national level. Direct engagement with officials at the local level has been easier than those at the national level. As projects are becoming rights-based, the nature of engagement with the government remains cooperative but there is recognition that it could steadily become challenging. As they seek to influence policies, they are increasingly recognising the need for more in-depth issue and power analysis. RIC on its own and as part of a wider network has been monitoring the situation of the elderly and engaging with the government at the national level towards influencing policies and programmes. Its approach is based on the recognition that a thorough assessment of the situation of older people, backed by facts and analysis, would enable a meaningful interaction with the government. Accordingly, it has established a resource centre. Simultaneously, it is organising older people so that they can assume a more challenging role in the dealings with the government. Once organized, the older people would be able to advocate for their issues and concerns and RIC would play a supportive role. The forum for the rights of the elderly of which OCMP is an important part has begun interacting with the authorities. There is recognition of the concerns of older people and some headway has been made if the government’s decision to increase old-age pensions is any indication. Save the Children UK has sought to include children’s views in government policies, including the PRSP, through the PWC project. Albeit it does not have a formal resource centre, it has been engaged in a number of studies pertaining to children’s lives and rights that could enable it to engage with the government at the policy level. It has sought to bridge the gap between the policy makers and children by organizing consultations, with the inclusion of children’s views in policies as the objective. Thus, a forum for poor children has been set up in Khulna to mobilise local government and other organizations. The issue is also important in determining the interest and response of the government. The issues of ageing have suffered largely as a result of neglect and lack of understanding. But there is growing recognition by government of the issues of ageing. But the issues related to children 35 because of their emotive nature tend to elicit affirmation if not action by the government. However, neglect and violation of indigenous people’s rights continues because of the government’s policy framework and discriminatory attitudes of the mainstream society. Thus, there is greater likelihood of resistance and conflict. In contrast to the non-RBA projects that are based on the notion of cordiality in relationship, the RBA projects focus on the responsibility and accountability of duty bearers for people’s entitlements. There is growing emphasis on holding the duty bearers accountable for their responsibilities and ensuring people’s entitlements. Thus, RIC has been monitoring the government policies and budget in order to determine how they relate with the reality of older people’s lives. Save the Children UK and its partners have been monitoring government policies and programmes, the PRSP and the budgets, and advocating for inclusion of children’s perspective in the planning process. GBK and its associate organisations have been monitoring the situation of indigenous people. Increasingly, the media is being used by the RBA projects to disseminate development messages widely so that there is greater awareness, followed hopefully by popular support. It is helping to enhance visibility of poor and marginalised and to raise public awareness about their issues. The media was used sparingly in the past – usually abroad for fundraising purposes, as in the case of the non-rights based River Project. It would, however, be interesting to explore further and in-depth how the notion of accountability is viewed by the project constituents and the facilitating NGOs. As of now, it appears that the accountability is seen only in relationship between the people and the state. The accountability in the relationship among the project constituents and with the NGOs is not much of a concern in the RBA projects. As discussed earlier, many project constituents continue to have expectations of goods and services even from RBA projects. It is unlikely that they would have the interest or inclination in questioning the NGOs about their work. In the non-RBA projects, on the other hand, the project constituents addressed the issues of accountability (if they did) only to the NGOs and did not look at the broader picture. A major challenge is to ensure an understanding of accountability in different sets of relationships – among the project constituents, within the civil society, with the NGO, of course with the state agencies, and also the international agencies whose actions impact on the lives of the poor, vulnerable and the marginalised in the developing countries. International legal frameworks and conventions add an additional dimension to the process of promoting accountability and are increasingly providing a basis for human rights oriented programming and advocacy in the RBA projects. 36 Save the Children UK has been using the reporting process for the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child which allows NGOs a role in monitoring and reporting on children’s situation. But other organizations have not sufficiently explored or utilised other international legal frameworks (e.g. CERD) that might be appropriate for the issues they are addressing. Although a beginning has been made, the potential of advocacy using international legal frameworks has not been realised. 2.3.3 Institutional responses The RBA projects were relatively more effective than the non-RBA initiatives in building capacity of the project constituents for demanding and obtaining services from relevant organisations. The non-RBA programmes with their traditional service delivery mode were successful in eliciting continued demand for attention from the project-holding institutions, who are in most cases temporary catalytic agents (e.g., NGOs or short-term government projects). The project constituents are hardly enabled to look beyond them. Poor older persons, the project constituents of the OPI, were still waiting two years after the project had ended for the NGO to return with more support. The community had not made any attempt to approach the government institutions for the pensions and health services. Similarly, despite a long period of interventions in the River Project area, there was little evidence of enhanced capacity of people to approaching, questioning and challenging institutions. It could be attributed to a number of reasons, including the lack of a shared long-term vision. Initially, the interventions did not have a longer term vision as need for emergency humanitarian assistance was pressing. The project did take a ‘developmental’ approach with longer term perspective later by establishing improved facilities for children’s education, health clinics and feeding centres for malnourished children and their poor families. But the project could not make people aware of how these services could be continued beyond NGO intervention. As people were not prepared for it, the NGO found it difficult to leave the area after more than 20 years of continuous and quite substantial inputs. The poverty and vulnerability situation of this Char area in the north of the country along the mighty Jamuna river is so high that a significant change in the lives of the people affected by river erosion and frequent flooding in the short term is impossible. Thus, to make to phasing out acceptable, Save the Children UK invited a national NGO Prodipan to work there and to take over some of its functions. The non RBA projects faced major challenges and did bring about positive changes in people’s lives. But as they were not oriented towards embedding their efforts in the institutional networks, their sustainability became uncertain. They assumed the roles of established institutions because the latter were widely viewed as 37 weak and degenerated. These institutions needed to be engaged, not ignored, for the sake of meaningful continuity that can end the state of poverty and vulnerability. The RBA projects, in comparison, with their ‘less generous’ material inputs are trying to shape the expectations and behaviour of project constituents in a way that there is less dependence and greater confidence among them. The OCMP project constituents (poor older persons) with their active interactions with different local and national level organisations to influence policy decisions in favour of older people is in sharp contrast with the OPI project constituents mentioned above. In OCMP, the practice of peer support, for example, among the older people in the community can be seen as a sign of positive motivation and self-reliance. The RBA project approach to support the KUK (the government centre for boys under law) also appears to be a good start in changing the attitude and behaviour of the staff and children and the civil society groups’ support to Adibashi communities in establishing their rights to lands can be linked to interventions such as IPDP. In the three RBA projects, in varying degrees, the project constituents are beginning to approach institutions and to some extent questioning the authorities for their acts of omission and commission. The institutional identity of the marginalized people also makes people and organisations take them more seriously, while it helps poor people experience a sense of self-worth. Group identity has helped project constituents claim their entitlements. The older people’s committees at different levels in the OCMP allow them to engage the authorities to make fair and effective decisions in selecting the recipients of the old age pensions. They as a group have also successfully lobbied to raise the value of the pension amount for the older people. The older person’s committees have been involved in the monitoring of disbursal of pensions and health services, which in turn enables RIC with policy research on issues concerning the elderly in Bangladesh. By monitoring the situation, it has been able to take forward its advocacy agenda. Save the Children UK is very actively seeking ways and means of influencing the PRSP process in Bangladesh into including specific references to children’s issues in the document. Save the Children UK and RIC’s efforts in this respect have particularly borne results. There is a trend towards recognition of the role of public institutions among the project constituents in the RBA projects, which could help build bridges between people and institutional duty bearers and contribute to transparency and accountability. 38 In all projects, be it non-RBA or RBA, people’s expectations were raised when an NGO offered services. The NGOs were perceived to be more committed and approachable. Thus, the communities preferred a relationship with the NGOs instead of making claims on the badly run and under-resourced public sector agencies. In the public perception, government institutions are viewed as lacking transparency and accountability. Predictably, a general distrust of the government institutions was observed among the project constituents of both the non- RBA and RBA projects. While the popular perception does hold true, it also acts as a barrier to people exercising their democratic rights in order to claim their entitlements and/or to demand changes in the way these institutions function. Socio-economically weak communities and people are generally averse to approaching government authorities for services. The Adibashi did not believe that they could ever get any fair and positive service from the local land office, although now with the help of civil society groups the land offices are being engaged actively in ensuring that the documents safeguard the Adibashi lands. Independent legal aid groups in Dinajpur district mobilised by the IPDP have contributed to promoting land rights of the Adibashi people. This has been achieved by both getting the concerned government departments to recognise the rights of the people and their duty towards them, as well as by sensitising the Adibashi people about their rights. Scepticism about certain institutions may partly also come from ignorance about their roles and responsibilities. However, there is hardly any educational or political process through which poor people can know what to expect from whom and how. Some of the RBA projects (e.g. PWC and OCMP) have successfully worked with communities to build awareness about vital service institutions. GBK has been promoting such knowledge and awareness among the Adibashis through adult literacy programmes With lower level of education and political awareness among the marginalized communities the issues of rights are only very weakly understood by them. This is partly because of their harsh struggle for survival and economic emancipation and a sense of powerlessness. So much so that poor people lose confidence in their own abilities to claim their rights. Lack of effective claims made on the already weak and corrupt service institutions only help them further dissipate their hopes. Some of the NGO programmes have also been seen to behave in the similar fashion. Instead of helping to establish sustainable process of service delivery for disadvantaged communities, the NGOs through the non-RBA projects ended up by providing substitute services and thereby fostered dependency. SABEC in Dinajpur and OPI in Narshingdi bypassed the government institutions/programmes and introduced services that could not be continued when the donor support ended. 39 The RBA projects have been trying to link the project constituents with the existing institutions and making those functional - if they were not so. Usually they have an internal institution building as well as an external institutional strengthening element in it. The SC project with working children in Khulna through its partner NGO Prodipan has formed a very active local network of different stakeholders including journalists, local government (LG) representatives, NGOs, and different government agencies. The elected LG representatives there take pride in successfully arranging to deliver government services for the hitherto unattended poor children of the city. This was possible because the project had leveraged the authority of the sympathetic and politically ambitious women Municipal Ward Commissioners. They have been instrumental in getting the concerned government departments to meet their obligations towards poor children and their families. Similarly, the OCMP project in Pubail, Gazipur has got the former Muktijoddha (Freedom fighter) Commander to lead representation of the senior citizens of the area to the offices of the Deputy Commissioner and Union Parishads with their demands. The rights based approaches to development have thus been observed to be effective in creating a culture of positive mobilisation in order to make the social and institutional power structure responsive and accountable. RBA projects are useful in engaging people to make institutions function in a demand-responsive and effective way. Limitations of capacity and resources to address the needs of poor people may be a problem, but there is no shortage of organisations or institutions. In Bangladesh, there are many national and local level institutions which ostensibly seek to serve people in need in different key sectors of development. Besides informal social institutions, there are many formal government and non-government organisations trying to fill any institutional gaps there may be towards meeting the needs of people. True, there is limitation of resources, but that is often not the main constraint in their ways to function. It is mostly due to lack of motivation, sometimes lack of managerial and technical capacity and lack of will of the concerned people in these organisations which causes problem. Lack of transparency and accountability of these organisations make people lose trust on them. As a result, institutions engaged to provide basic needs services like health, education, food and shelter become gradually ineffective and dysfunctional. To make institutions work in a responsible manner, they are needed to be questioned and challenged at appropriate times. In the River Project, the delivery of different services through its various components like, health, nutrition, and education etc. for a long time did not leave a lasting impact on the area or in the lives of the poor people. The project, instead of trying to create opportunities for livelihoods and 40 getting appropriate agencies to run children’s schools and health centres, it had assumed the roles of all these agencies making others become gradually redundant. Similar attempts of unsustainable service delivery were also made in the SABEC project for the indigenous people in Dinajpur and the OPI project in Narshingdi for older people – and all came out with similar results. Results from the RBA projects have so far been different. The PWC, OCMP, KUK and IPDP projects have been quite successful in getting the appropriate institutions work for the disadvantaged people, including the voluntary ones. This approach helped break the sense of isolation for the Adibashis in Dinajpur, the older people in Gazipur, and the working children and their families in Khulna. These projects tend to rely on a network of stakeholders and organisations which give the initiatives legitimacy, authority and social clout. The forum for working children, for example, has enhanced its influence in Khulna which cannot be ignored. The same is true for the local lawyers group in Dinajpur who offer their services free of charge to the marginalized Adibashis, while the older persons group under OCMP are themselves a ‘well-connected’ group. Thus, the RBA projects make the concerned institutions to be more cooperative and responsive than before. This inclusive approach gives the poor people strength and much needed self-confidence. It was observed that the RBA projects try to make a concerted effort to make the institutions respond in positive ways. On the other hand, the projects with the non-rights based approaches in varying degrees assume the roles of some of the institutions intentionally or unintentionally and thereby encourage or allow these responsible institutions to abdicate their roles and responsibilities. The RBA projects and the NGOs implementing them are helping bring about changes in the way institutions respond to the concerns of poor and marginalised people. In the three non-RBA projects (viz. SABEC, OPI and the River Project), the concerned institutions neither had the motivation nor incentives to encounter any challenge that would compel them to work in favour of the poor. But the RBA projects (viz. OCMP, PWC and IPDP) through a process of constructive engagement are trying to make the institutions more active and supportive to the poor and are succeeding in varying degrees. The Union Parishad in Pubail that was earlier indifferent about the older people of the area had begun showing greater interest and concern since the OCMP began. Its functionaries now make an effort to consult the OCMP village committees when the list of allowance recipients (old age pension or widows’ allowance) is being prepared. The government’s decision to introduce old age pension and widow’s allowance has been influenced partly by the example set by RIC in its project areas. The old Juvenile Correction Centre in Jessore has transformed itself into Kishore 41 Unnayan Kendra (KUK) or child development centre. Undoubtedly, this change in nomenclature may not mean anything if its orientation of treating children as criminals rather than as children does not change. It does, however, signify the recognition of its role and responsibilities that are in tune with rights and social justice. Furthermore, it opens a window of opportunity for the civil society organisations and activists for further engagement pertaining to accountability in relation to the now accepted roles and responsibilities (e.g. monitoring if the children are really being treated as children and not as criminals). The institutions in the past often found an excuse in the standard procedures of conventional systems. The Prime Minister’s office, responding to a Save the Children UK study on children in jails set up district level task forces to monitor and rehabilitate children illegally detained in different jails in the country. Save the Children UK along with other partners has contributed to the changes in the PRSP drafts that reflect among other concerns, children’s right to express their views and to be active participants in their education. It hopes that a specific change adopted in the plan by their suggestion would make the PRSP complimentary of the government’s Primary Education Development Programme (PEDP II). 2.3.4 Tangible Impacts and Outcomes in relation to MDG The goals defined in the policy and planning instruments such as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the PRSP aimed at addressing the key developmental concerns of developing countries have receive greater prominence than the process through which they should be achieved. The process is important because if defines the underlying values of participation, ownership, partnership and inclusion. But the goals are important because they are a measure of tangible difference the process has made to the lives of poor and marginalised people. The non-RBA projects were formulated way before the MDGs but even in retrospect they can be related indirectly and to some extent with some of the MDGs. For instance, the River Project provided relief in terms of food and health services and helped numerous people devastated by frequent floods survive extreme hunger, reduced child mortality and did put some children on the track of education, who are now grown up and gainfully employed. It was fairly successful if this were to be the measure. But questions could be raised if one were to consider that those who benefited were not the poorest and were not able to share their relative prosperity with others in the community. Also, the level of dependency was exceedingly high – the local communities, including those who were either not born or were too young to remember Save the Children UK’s activities want the organization to come back and do exactly what it did three decades ago. The OPI provided old age pension and health services the SABEC provided community school, 42 vegetable seed, latrine slabs etc., and thereby in principle contributed to health and nutrition. Bringing about positive changes in the lives of project constituents is a challenge. But ensuring that these are not confined to a few and that the process of change is sustained beyond the project duration is a greater challenge. While the non-RBA projects seek to improve upon the lives of the project constituents, the expectation is that they would be able to build on the changes and have greater options. This is where the process becomes critical. Interestingly, the projects – be it non-RBA or RBA - that started later were less likely to be goal oriented; their emphasis has been on the process. Although they address a number of critical concerns as elaborated upon in the Millennium Development Declaration (viz. justice, equity and dignity), they are not geared towards attaining the MDGs. The OPI and later OCMP could claim some credit for contributing to women’s empowerment as it brought older women together and tried to introduce them to protagonism. But a definitive measure of the impact is not possible. Save the Children UK’s PWC could be linked with the MDG of attaining universal primary education but if the impact on the poor working children who are the project constituents were to be measured in terms of school enrolment, the outcomes would be far less satisfactory. They are being encouraged to attend non-formal education classes and are fairly aware and articulate about their rights, the fact remains that most of them are still not in formal schools and receiving quality education. Recognising that development projects can be sustained in the longer term by institutionalising changes, all the organizations (viz. Save the Children UK and its partners, RIC and GBK) wish to strengthen the state and societal institutions especially as they would still be there after the project has ceased operations. The importance of institutionalisation and active engagement with the state symbolises a major shift from the non-RBAs to RBAs. The non-RBA projects dealt with the day-to-day issues of individuals and communities living in a particular area and did not have the scope or incentive to address the underlying issue from a holistic perspective. But the RBA projects incorporated improved conceptual understanding and knowledge among project staff of what could be sustained reasonably over a period of time. Accordingly, their engagement with the various stakeholders has been towards creating a sound and solid base which would hopefully require minimal external support. However, somewhere along the way they forgot to set for themselves goal posts that could indicate positive impacts on the lives of the project constituents. 2.3.5 Sustained change 43 The non-RBA projects essentially addressed issues of survival and development through support in cash, kind or services. It was anticipated that improvement in health, education and living conditions with some external support would trigger off a process of improvement in the quality of life of the individuals, their families and communities. Experience has shown that they are valid but not sufficient conditions. The RBA projects, unlike the non-RBA projects, recognise the political nature of social change and development and the importance of active engagement with state institutions and agencies. The OCMP recognises the importance of the role of the state in providing old age pension and the public health system in providing geriatric health care. Save the Children UK’s projects promote a legal framework and institutional mechanisms for ensuring children’s rights in their entirety even if they focus on certain categories of vulnerable and disadvantaged children. GBK interventions highlight the social, cultural, economic and political rights in general and land rights and education in particular of the Adibashis of northern Bangladesh. Once the systemic changes are effected, regular monitoring could ensure access to basic services and accountability of the stakeholders. In a way, they are following the national and global trend in development practice. The RBAs must influence and/or challenge the stakeholders and development agencies towards seeking revision or changes in the norms, processes and practices that violate the rights of the poor, vulnerable and marginalised. This is difficult and time consuming but imperative for effecting lasting changes in poor people’s lives. Save the Children UK and its partners sought to and were able to influence the correctional centres into becoming Kishore Unnayan Kendra (KUK) or child development centres. While it is too early to claim that they really are about child development and child friendly justice system, the first steps have been taken. The RIC influenced the government policy to some extent on the old age pension and continues with the monitoring of the services to the elderly. GBK with the help of civil society groups and legal experts wants to influence the government to ensure protection of the Adibashi lands from encroachment though adoption of appropriate policy decisions. Linkages with other groups and communities are encouraged by the RBA projects to help empower local communities and enable them to claim collectively their rights and entitlements. The linkages with government and financial institutions could help facilitate access to basic goods and services. But if these conditions are to be met, then education and knowledge must be generated among the 44 project constituents. Indeed, social capital becomes exceedingly important in this scenario. Ownership of the development intervention by the project constituents is important for sustaining change. Towards this, the reality of people’s lives has to be acknowledged and there has to be a promise of qualitative improvement in their living standards. The case studies suggest that people do not take the initiative to participate when their life and livelihood is seriously jeopardised and when surviving is their only priority. They do not also value and own the development intervention when they receive goods and services easily without making any contribution. Furthermore, there are opportunity costs of participation by the poorest and most marginalised that must be reduced. Thus, RIC has provided relief assistance during floods even after adopting RBAs. There are many situations when relief and service delivery seems imperative. Apart from survival, fostering of trust, self-esteem and motivation among the project constituents are cited as some of the reasons for delivery of goods and services. However, who provides the basic services and how is important if longer term development is being considered. Otherwise, a relationship of dependency is created that cannot be overcome easily later – as was the case in the River Project. There is also the issue of people contributing to the development interventions and basic services. Be it the non-RBA or RBA projects, the community members were not happy about approaching service providers where they had to pay fees. They are either used to free or subsidised services or were not convinced about their quality and efficacy. Indeed, problems are created for other NGOs who work in other ways/ with RBA. The loss of self-esteem and confidence among the extreme poor resulted in a sense of resignation and inaction (River Project, SABEC, OPI and IPDP). Motivating and supporting them is therefore a challenge. Special programmes targeting indigenous people that take into account their specific concerns and problems might be required in order to avoid overshadowing or marginalisation by the mainstream development approach. When people see benefits or feel their quality of life is improved, they participate (OPI, OCMP and PWC). Thus, emphasis has to be placed on values, skills and opportunities that promote self-confidence among the poor and marginalised, which may require sustained efforts over a long period of time. Apart from the social interactions, RIC is providing opportunities to older people for participation by older people through elections and GBK is promoting inclusion of indigenous women as members in Majhi Hara. Save the Children UK with partners have organized consultations and promoted activism and advocacy by children 45 Perceived powerlessness and lack of faith in the authorities prevents marginalisation of Adibashis who do not make claims when they see themselves as marginalised and discriminated against (SABEC and IPDP). How do we enable them to shed their despondency? This can be possible if efforts are given in creating a positive socio-political and cultural environment where Adibashis can express their concerns and can participate in different activities. Working children bear the burden of being children as well as poor and marginalised (PWC). How do we promote recognition of their right to childhood and ensure their survival and livelihoods? Save the Children UK is trying to develop the identity of children as social actors but the broader issue of access to basic services to all and not just the project constituents remains unresolved. Recognising, identifying and addressing discrimination remain major challenges. Efforts are being made to include the poorest of the poor and socially excluded people in the development programmes and processes. Should it be dealt with through inclusion in community activities, negotiation and/or positive discrimination? Currently the response of rights based NGOs is rather ad hoc and more experience based learning and reflection is required. The promotion of collective identity of the poor and marginalised on the basis of common concerns is considered by the RBA projects to contribute to sustained change. The NGOs are trying to take on a facilitating role that helps them promote interactions, negotiations and decision making on the basis of a defined collective identity of the project constituents. Save the Children UK is now more focused on children rather than the community of which children are a part. Similarly, RIC and GBK focused on the common concerns of the elderly and the Adibashis. The challenge for all the three organizations is to strengthen the organic links of children, the elderly and the Adibashis with other social groups without diluting or undermining their specific issues. This has implications for how they promote interactions among different interest groups. Another challenge is to go beyond the project constituents to include others who are also poor, vulnerable and marginalised, perhaps more so. For example: while the experience of facilitating children’s representation in policy-making fora is growing, it needs to be considered whose concerns are being represented - of some children and their facilitators or of the concerns of all children in Bangladesh? It is an ethical question that also points to the importance of taking children, the elderly and the indigenous people as heterogeneous social groups. They share some common concerns but also differ in terms of life experiences because of their social, economic and political circumstances and contexts. Also, gender, age, location (e.g. rural-urban) and various other factors are 46 important. They need to be considered and addressed through a more nuanced approach if the changes are to be sustained. While the NGOs in Bangladesh in general are willing to promote rights based approaches, their ability to do so is circumscribed by the limited understanding and skills required to put the principles in practice. To some extent, the shortcoming could be attributed to the limitations in the conceptual frameworks which have familiarised people with the language if not the spirit of rights and social justice. Nonetheless, the responses of the NGOs are evolving in terms of analysis, planning and strategy as their learning is growing. The inability to meet material needs once funding dried up led to the decline of the non-RBA projects. How could have the transition been handled better? In almost all cases, the NGOs found it more convenient to phase out of the non-RBA projects and begin new projects with the new approach. The OPI in Moheshkhali continues because of the initiative of the community – characteristics of the community rather than the project. The ability of NGOs to deliver is also influenced by the political culture and response of the political establishment. The government agencies have been more forthcoming in their support for issues of children and the elderly than to indigenous people (especially on the issues of identity land rights). Furthermore, the ideological underpinnings of rights based development are in liberal democracy, equated with the west. One of the fallouts of the growing fundamentalism in many parts of the world (including Bangladesh) and the global war on terror has been the questioning of the human rights discourse and organizations. NGOs, especially those who speak and promote the language of rights have been receiving flak from sections of the political establishment and civil society. The outcomes of the RBAs depend to a large extent on the role of civil society. Awareness and concern are not sufficient conditions, articulation with a degree of organization is important if there is to be a meaningful response. The political dynamics and uncertainties in Bangladesh have also affected the government-NGO relationships and there is also a polarisation within the NGOs sector which is based on political affiliations. NGOs are no longer seen as apolitical entities – this has both positive and negative implications, which need to be studied carefully. There is a lot that needs to be done even in terms of the RBAs if sustaining change is an important goal. The importance of linkages has been recognised but organizing, relationship cannot be reduced to a mere structure based on trust. Given the power dynamics, building strategic alliances is of utmost importance. Similarly, one needs to question the roles and objectives of networking and explore how meaningful partnerships could be developed. The capacity for critical analysis to enable reflection on the situation and causes of why rights and 47 entitlements are denied collectively or individually needs to be strengthened among different stakeholders at different levels. 2.4 Conclusion The non-RBA projects were a product of their time. They were conceptualised and implemented in response to certain developmental issues or contingencies. They were essentially defined by the context and the dominant development paradigms. Introspection about the experiences identified gaps and generated lessons, and paved way for the RBAs. Rights based development is becoming the norm because it puts the community of individuals at the centre of development programmes, rather than the other way around. It is still evolving in Bangladesh and as experiences are accruing, the approaches are being refined. So far, the emphasis has been on the process but soon it must consolidate the impacts on the lives of people. The organizations adopting RBAs are trying to develop common causes and meaningful partnerships. They are promoting and supporting social and economic development by strengthening institutions and access of project constituents to their entitlements. They are not focusing on only one ‘approach’ but are flexible with a combination of different approaches. For example, participatory or bottom up development approach or self-help approach which focuses on community ownership of decision making process at the grassroots level and so on. They may or may not be rights based as such. They have just begun and confess to being in a learning mode. It would be a while before their interventions demonstrate clear outcomes, positive or negative. What can be observed now are essentially impressions and possible trends. The major difference observed between the non-RBA and RBA projects is that the latter enables the project constituents to challenge institutions. Organisation and motivation of the project constituents, thus, becomes a pre-condition. As a result, the political process and establishment is alerted to the needs of the poor, be it the children, older persons or the Adibashis. The concerned institutions are then compelled to revisit their perception of the marginalised groups of citizens and responses to their claims and entitlements. In fact both approaches help to develop a social identity for highly marginalised groups, but RBA embed a process within the broader context of gaining political and social legitimacy. Within the RBA projects three highly excluded groups: children, older persons and indigenous peoples are actually redefining citizenship in varying degrees. Promotion of their participation in the mainstream development planning and policy making processes is becoming a rule. In non-RBAs, it would be mere representation of their interests by others. 48 Linkages are critical for the RBAs, which seek to connect local issues with the national policy concerns, and local structures with national organisations to give an enhanced profile of the project constituents through the media and other means among the general public. This helps to build bridges between the marginalised groups and the mainstream population and thereby deal with unfamiliarity and prejudices. The context, within which RBAs in Bangladesh is practiced and rationalised, is characterised by high degree of exclusion of groups of extremely poor people. It is applied amidst poor and disadvantaged people who suffer multiple vulnerabilities, including their age, socio- economic status or ethnic identity or their combination. Support for them, if forthcoming, tends to be in the form of charity or relief assistance which neither helps build self-esteem nor addresses multiple sources of vulnerability. Access to legitimate support is often dependant on patronage and social networks, which are mostly weak in the case of poorer people. However, the prevalent practice in development programmes still tends not to disaggregate the poverty groups. This is partly due to limited understanding and concern about the need for disaggregation. As a result, development programmes often fail to address the needs of the most marginalised groups of poor. The case studies for this learning process reflect the select experimentation that is taking place in approaches of dealing with poverty and extreme poverty. The RBAs have been gaining currency in Bangladesh’s development sector but it is still the language rather than the spirit. Often the appeal of RBA lies in the common (and growing) perception that it is favoured by the donors. Thus, their practice is still limited because a universally acceptable framework is lacking and conceptual understanding is generally limited even among those organizations who claim to be rights based. As a result, it is difficult at times to differentiate between the non rights based and rights based projects. Thus, some of the non-rights based projects have elements of rights and vice versa. Albeit there is no unanimity on what a truly rights based approach is, it is generally believed that the process of change is on right track and with time would deliver results. Nonetheless, this optimism needs to be tempered with recognition of the practical difficulties in applying the RBAs. Rights based development requires shifts in the ways of reflection and action, different skills sets among the programme and field staff, and a transformed organizational culture. The transition will obviously be problematic, especially as Bangladesh has a strong NGO sector and many of the organizations are known all over the world for their innovative development models and have influenced the development discourse significantly. For them, to effect changes is bound to be difficult. The situation is further complicated by the need to demonstrate perceptible changes before the way of working is accepted. But then the way of working has to be applied consistently and relentlessly over a 49 period of time before changes become apparent. The RBAs need time before their effects become manifest, especially as they are based on a comprehensive analysis of the root causes of poverty, vulnerability and marginalization, power dynamics as well as strategic action. It is a proverbial “chicken or the egg?” situation. The three case studies (viz. Save the Children UK, RIC and GBK) from Bangladesh are a reflection of this scenario. The project implementing organizations are in the process of transition from the non-RBA to a more rights oriented development approach. For some the change has occurred over a longer period of time while for others it has just begun. Indeed, the so-called RBA projects still have non-RBA features in varying degrees and similarly the non-RBA projects have shades of rights orientation in the way they are executed and the changes they have brought about. Indeed, each project needs to be analysed with reference to the development discourse at the time it was initiated. All of them reflected contemporary understanding of development theory and practice. With passage of time, they underwent changes, incorporating new ideas and shedding the outdated ones. The transition was usually painful, especially when the old order had been in place for too long. But when it was too quick, it prevented a common understanding among various stakeholders of the problems, core issues, responses and appropriate interventions. They are also faced with a number of challenges. The RBA projects are grappling with the problem of developing a participatory culture, and participatory potential among the project constituents so that they can become active social actors and change agents. Mechanisms and institutionalised practices promoting participation are important but they can be effective only when people demonstrate strong and abiding interest and commitment. Even the most democratic states have not been able to ensure active and continuous participation of most of its citizens, except perhaps in the elections. The level of organisation is important for eliciting more meaningful participation but the process of engagement has to be dynamic and must respond to the basic and changing needs of the project constituents. Furthermore, the process of institutionalising changes can be long drawn as mindsets, culture and systems have to change radically. This does not submit itself to the common frameworks and formats of programme planning, development, monitoring and evaluation. A number of issues still need to be resolved in the practice of RBAs in Bangladesh. They include: scaling up, going beyond monitoring by establishing checks and balances in the system and strengthening mechanisms for redressal of rights violations, and dealing with immediate basic needs of individuals and communities. Social and political instability within the country, in the region and at the global level also impacts on rights based development. 50  References Save the Children Fund (UK): An Evaluation by Saifuddin Ahmed. July 1994. Rural Children: Their Work, Education and School Calendar. By Javed Helali. 1996. An Evaluation Study of the Income Enhancement Scheme: River Project. Draft. Internal Evaluation. 1993. Javed Helali. Save the Children UK Bangladesh Annual Report, 2004-5, Save the Children Bangladesh Quarterly reports, PWC Programme, January-March 2005 Thematic Programme Plan (2005-2010) on Protection of Children from Violence, Abuse and Exploitation, Save the Children UK, Bangladesh Programme Project planning document on Protection of Children in Conflict with the Law, Save the Children UK, Bangladesh Programme, 15 April 2003 Global Impact Monitoring Report: Poverty and Working Children Programme, April-March 2004, Save the Children UK, Bangladesh Programme. Global Impact Monitoring Report, Justice and Violence: Programme 2003- 04, Save the Children UK, Bangladesh. Participation of Children in the PRSP Process, Learning from Save the Children Experience, Save the Children UK, Bangladesh (Translated Bangla version of the original English document published by Save the Children UK, London). RIC Older People’s Programme. Undated. Resource Mobilisation for Population Ageing in Bangladesh. Country Presentation – Bangladesh. Prepared for ESCAP, Ad Hoc Expert Group Meeting on Regional Follow-up to the Second World Assembly on Ageing. RIC. Undated. Progress Cards of OCMP Bangladesh 1 to 3 (Audit phase, pilot phase and monitoring phase). RIC. Undated. IPDP Internal Impact Study Report, GBK, November 2003. SABEC Project Document, GBK/GKAP, Dinajpur, 2003. 51 Bleie, Tone. 2005. Tribal Peoples, Nationalism and the Human Rights Challenge; the Adivasis of Bangladesh. UPL, Dhaka. Ali, Ahsan. 1998. Santals of Bangladesh, Institute of Social Research and Applied Anthropology, Midnapur, West Bengal. Chakma, Sugata. 1985. Bangladesher Upajati (Tribals of Bangladesh), Bangla Academy, Dhaka. 52