Save the Children Empowering Girls in Bangladesh

Updates from the Field:

Updates from the Field (or Progress Reports) on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.com by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.

Keep Up-to-Date

Subscribe to "Updates from the Field" by E-Mail
Subscribe to "Updates from the Field" by RSS Feed

Index of Updates from the Field

Partner Organization Profiles and Roles

By Courtney Williams - Manager Corporate Partnerships, July 18, 2008 05:25 PM

Partner Organization Profiles and Roles

Save the Children
SC plays a lead role in the design, partner capacity building and ongoing monitoring of the project. SC is working with local partners to develop their ability to be relevant to adolescent girls’ needs and aspirations. SC works with J-PAL to capture learning in delivery of a comprehensive set of interventions.

Bangladesh Development Society : This implementing partner for Kishoree Kontha is responsible for two sub-districts of Barisal district. The Society is a regionally based NGO that has been operational since 1978, and work mainly with local non-governmental and community-based organizations in the Barisal division to improve health, microfinance and livelihoods for people, especially those who are disadvantaged. The Society is currently funded by Palli Karma Shahayak Foundation, SIMAVI-Holland, Practical Action in Bangladesh and Bangladesh Bank, in addition to Save the Children. .

Padakhep Manabik Unnayan Kendra: Padakhep is the implementing partner for the Kishoree Kontha project for three sub-districts in Bhola and Patuakhali districts. Padakhep is a national-level non-governmental organization, working in health, early childhood development, education, microfinance, agriculture and research activities and is funded by national and international donor agencies. This organization is also the partner of Save the Children for the nationwide HIV/AIDS prevention project. Major donors to Padakhep include PKSF, IFAD, CGAP/World Bank, DANIDA, Grameen Trust, Govt. of Bangladesh, WINROCK INT., Oxfam, UNICEF, MSW, FHI, UNDP, Action Aid Bangladesh, AED, USAID, BNFE, European Commission, BRAC, IDCOL, MWCA, UNDP, and BSAF.

Both organizations are implementing the Kishoree Kontha project in 5 sub-districts through female front-line staff. These staff members are supervised by field officers. All project activities of districts are being managed by the team Leaders; overall coordination and project management are the responsibilities of project coordinators of the two partner organizations.

Update - Program Description

By Courtney Williams - Manager Corporate Partnerships, July 18, 2008 05:35 PM

Program Description
With support from the Nike Foundation, Save the Children (SC) has been implementing a 3-year adolescent girls’ empowerment project, Kishoree Kontha (Adolescent Girl’s Voice), in south-central Bangladesh since May 2006. This project was added to a holistic food security program called Jibon-O-Jibika that is funded by USAID in three districts: Barisal, Patuakhali and Bhola.

Kishoree Kontha provides SC with a unique opportunity to leverage its existing food security program to address the needs of Bangladeshi adolescent girls aged 10 to 19. The project operates in five sub-districts of three districts (Babugonj and Muladi of Barisal district, Sadar and Bauphal of Patuakhali district and Sadar of Bhola district). The primary target group is an estimated 45,000 adolescent girls ages 10-19; the secondary target groups include parents, community and religious leaders, teachers, local governments, non-governmental organizations, village health service providers and marriage registers and matchmakers.

The Kishoree Kontha project focuses on the holistic development of adolescent girls by giving them strong voices that will help them shape bright and healthy futures. This holistic development approach focuses on five main strategies: community mobilization; literacy and school learning support; developing social networks and life skills; increasing readiness for livelihood opportunities; and providing incentives to delay the age of marriage. The first four strategies of the project will be implemented at the field level through two partners: the Bangladesh Development Society and Padakhep Manabik Unnayan Kendra (Padakhep). Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) ,the research partner of this project, and Save the Children will implement the final component, delaying the age of marriage, by providing food for families with unmarried adolescent girls through SC’s existing food security program. The implementation of these strategies will be randomized with control groups; both livelihoods readiness and provision of incentives will be monitored for their value-add to the others.