There’s an article in the January/February issue of The Atlantic about Bangladesh. Authored by Robert D. Kaplan, it’s called “Waterworld,” and it starts out with a long, perhaps sensationalist account of what Bangladesh might have to look forward to because of global warming — a scenario which wasn’t very surprising to me at least. (This much we knew from Al Gore.) There is also a bit about the growth of Islamic extremism — and that too wasn’t at all surprising for those of us who have followed Bangladesh even off-and-on.
What was interesting, however, was Kaplan’s account of the role NGOs play in making an otherwise dysfunctional country work. To begin with, Kaplan argues, central government has always been rather weak in Bangladesh because of the geography and climate:
Yet Bangladesh is less interesting as a hydrologic horror show than as a model of how humankind copes with an extreme natural environment. Weather and geography have historically worked here to cut one village off from another. Central government arrived only with the Turkic Moguls in the 16th century, but neither they nor their British successors truly penetrated the countryside. The major roads were all built after independence in 1971. This is a society that never waited for a higher authority to provide it with anything. The isolation effected by floodwaters and monsoon rains has encouraged institutions to develop at the local level. As a result, the political culture of rural Bangladesh is more communal than hierarchical, and women play a significant role.
Four hours’ drive northwest of Dhaka, the capital, I found a village in a Muslim-Hindu area where the women had organized themselves into separate committees to produce baskets and textiles and invest the profits in new wells and latrines. They had it all figured out, showing me on a crude cardboard map where the new facilities would be installed. They received help from a local nongovernmental organization that, in turn, had a relationship with CARE. But the organizational heft was homegrown. (link)
Later Kaplan goes on to mention Grameen Bank and BRAC, both of which blend the idea of social uplift with free market principles, and have had widespread success in Bangladesh as a result:
The credit for coping so well rests ultimately with NGOs. As familiar as their work now is, NGOs in Bangladesh represent a whole new organizational life-form; thousands of them fill the void between village committees and a remote, badly functioning central government.
Of course, this enhanced role raises ethical questions, not least because many of these Bangladeshi humanitarian enterprises have for-profit elements. Take Muhammad Yunus, who, along with his Grameen Bank, won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for pioneering micro-credit schemes for poor women: Grameen also operates a cell-phone and Internet service. Then there is the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee, which, besides doing bounteous relief and development work, operates dairy, poultry, and clothing businesses. Its head offices, like those of Grameen, are in a skyscraper that is some of Dhaka’s most expensive real estate. Yet to focus on the impurities of these NGOs is to ignore their transformative powers.
“One thing led to another,†explains Mushtaque Chowdhury, BRAC’s deputy executive director. “In order not to be dependent on Western charities, we set up our own for-profit printing press in the 1970s. Then we built a plant to pasteurize milk from the cattle bought by poor women with the loans we had provided them.†Now they’ve become a kind of parallel government, with a presence in 60,000 villages. (link)
We’ve had several posts on the Grameen Bank over the years, particularly after Muhammed Yunus won the Nobel Prize for his work, but there’s been less about BRAC.
I went to the BRAC homepage, and found a link to a YouTube video, with one young woman’s answer to the “Davos Question.” An interesting idea — though I have to admit I wasn’t overwhelmed by BRAC’s entry. (I liked this one, by “Going to School in India,” better)
Just as I was interested in what readers had to say about Pratham in a post on education in India last week, today I’m interested to know what people have heard about BRAC.
BRAC do good work and oxfam has joined with them in the past during disaster relief.
As it states it’s good to see an organisation derived from grass roots and people not depending on ‘western’ charities.
Organizations like the Grameen Bank and BRAC are revolutionary in terms of development (hence the Nobel Peace Prize). They take the responsibility and momentum of change away from the top and put it in the hands of people who are far more invested in the projects and results. This is especially important for social, religious, political minorities who are often at odds with the central government and can’t depend on assistance from the top. I’m curious as to how effective the Grameen Bank and BRAC have been in Bangladesh and whether orgs. like theirs could function (translate to the politics and economy) for farmers in Punjab where small farmers have become trapped in a cycle of debt and whose only way out has been suicide.
There was an excellent article a little over a year ago in the New Yorker about the profit/not-for-profit debate in the micro finance world, with Ebay’s Omidyar and Yunus painted as the champions of those respective views.
Thanks for the post Amardeep!
I had a chance to read the article on the plane today…I thought the global warming tie in to islamic fundamentalism was really fascinating – mainly cuz it’s been years since I’ve been back there, and it sounded like a lot has changed.
Taz, I have spent the last 3 months in India, returning after 17 years. I also had the pleasure of spending 3 weeks in Bangladesh, just returned a week ago. I will say this much, a lot is written about Bangladesh but having been there for 3 weeks, you won’t really know what’s going on until you actually spend time there. Bangladesh is a lot like India. It’s a collision of the modern world and time honored traditions. Bangladesh is a country working extremely hard trying to reinvent itself. The way they are trying to root out government corruption is something that’s quite brave and a lot of other countries could follow their example. I also didn’t notice any extraordinary poverty. IT’s there, just like in India, but I also saw 26 banks alone on Gulshan Ave in Dhaka which can only indicate a rapidly growing economy. I visited a couple of garment factories who produce for Kmart, Walmart, Kohl’s, etc. I saw very good working conditions and mostly women working very hard and earning honest wages. It’s definitely empowering. As for the fundamentalism, that exists in every country in every religion. What I did notice was that people there don’t always wear Islam on their sleeves, they keep it in their hearts. Despite the government instability, I saw a burgeoning business environment. I saw many educated youngsters working corporate jobs, doing extremely well, maintaining a very high standard of living and at a young age, they’re entrusted with many responsibilities. Try doing that in corporate America where you toil for 10 years and hope you become a VP. They have a lot to grow but it was quite amazing to see things. Oh, and the roads in Bangladesh, extremely well maintained, now if they can outlaw the cycle rickshaws, that would be something, they do have traffic congestion.
I wonder why the NGOs in India are not so efficient ? Or are they ? Maybe it is because the largest NGOs in India are mostly focused towards education whereas in Bangladesh they are more focused towards disaster relief. Correct me if I am wrong.
Here is an email I got from “the hunger site” about how they helped after Bangladesh cyclone. What strikes me is the ingenuity of the NGOs mentioned here (feel free to delete it if you think it is not appropriate to publish this here):
“Dear Supporter,
This past November, when the destructive Cyclone Sidr hit Bangladesh, half a million homes were destroyed and thous- ands of people were left injured and homeless, struggling for basic necessities like shelter, food, medicine, and clean drinking water. Quickly establishing a special relief fund with GreaterGood.org, we asked for your support and you responded with generous enthusiasm.
With the Help Cyclone Victims in Bangladesh Gift That Gives More(TM) supporters were able to make $25 contributions and the funding soon topped $18,000, with 100% of the donations going to disaster relief packages. Half went to BRAC, the largest non-governmental organization in Bangladesh, for emergency relief, and half went to MSUK (Manob Sakti Unnayan Kendro) to help provide clean, safe water for families in need.
Immediately following Cyclone Sidr, BRAC launched an exten- sive relief operation in more than 2,500 villages in the most affected districts of Bangladesh. Since the cyclone, more than 30,000 families have received food relief packages from BRAC. BRAC medical teams have treated nearly 2,000 pa- tients in the most remote areas of Bangladesh.
The nonprofit organization MSUK, through its innovative SONO Filter Program, has helped thousands of poor in urban and rural areas gain access to safe water by providing filters that remove arsenic and other harmful contaminants. Hundreds of filters were distributed to families in Cyclone Sidr affected areas of Bangladesh, helping to reduce the spread of disease by ensuring families have safe, clean water for drinking and cooking.
Tropical Cyclone Sidr is gone, but its devastating effects linger on. The disruption of whole communities could lead to thousands of additional deaths, but you can help…
Our Supply Clean Water in Bangladesh Gift That Gives More(TM) will provide a SONO Filter for a Bangladeshi school or family, giving them the gift of clean cooking and drinking water for years to come. Developed and manufactured in Bangladesh, the SONO Filter can produce 30 clean liters of water an hour for drinking and cooking, and lasts at least five years. http://shop.thehungersite.com/itrack/32390/EEH_0128_P_32390_m
Thank you for helping families survive and thrive today!
Sincerely,
Greg Hesterberg & Tim Kunin The Hunger Site greghesterberg@thehungersite.com timkunin@thehungersite.com http://www.TheHungerSite.com/tpc/EEH_0128_THSf“