Bangladesh has achieved rapid and spectacular improvements in many social development indicators during the last two decades or so. However, extreme poverty remains a structural problem in this country where the poorest populations, especially those living in the coastal area of the Bay of Bengal and in the alluvial islands (called chars) of the Brahmaputra river in the north of the country are also the most exposed to natural disasters and to the impacts of climate change, which are affecting the food security and livelihoods of these already very precarious populations.
It is within these communities, among the most vulnerable and disadvantaged in the country, that Friendship implements its integrated rural development programme, developed and fine-tuned over the years to always better serve its beneficiaries and meet their needs. The 2019-2023 Framework Agreement (FA), signed on 30 January 2019 with the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, allows FLux to support this holistic rural development programme as a whole and, in doing so, to deliver on Friendship's four commitments: Saving Lives, Poverty Alleviation, Empowerment and Climate Adaptation.
Like Friendship’s activities in the field, and thanks to the flexibility offered by the FA, the support provided by FLux adapts to changing needs and circumstances - such as the coronavirus pandemic - but never strays from its core objective of empowering and building resilience in marginalised communities.
True to its holistic and resolutely integrated approach, FLux’s FA objectives and expected results are as follows:
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To improve access to quality and affordable basic social services, i.e. health, hygiene, sanitation and education for the targeted communities.
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To improve the livelihood, food security, resilience and income opportunities of the targeted marginalised communities.
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To create an enabling environment where citizens are aware of their rights and have unhindered access to justice and to the services of local and national Government institutions, thereby gaining social and economic independence
R1. Community members have access to dependable quality health care services [awareness, preventive and curative] through our 3-tier health care model.
R2. Community members have access to dependable quality primary, secondary and adult education.
R3. Community members have access to diversified livelihood, better income, improved food security and affordable electricity.
R4. Community members are aware of their rights and obligations and have access to public services and social safety net.
R5. Community members are more resilient and better prepared to face climate change impact.
The main objective of the mission is to carry out an interim evaluation of our Framework Agreement 2019-2023 through a sample of projects/programmes to assess its implementation status, in accordance with the DAC criteria of 2019.