GFC has been supporting Bangladeshi organizations since 2002. With funding from WE Trust, a Taiwan-based Family Charity, since 2016, it has been supporting those grassroots organizations in Bangladesh, which work to fight against hazardous child labor. In addition to grants, GFC also develops capacities of the recipient organizations in various ways.
SANJOG Bangladesh
SANJOG focuses on child protection in the communities. It runs five education centers based in the community level with fund of GFC. SANJOG is working with GFC focusing on primary education, primary health care and community awareness building led by community people including adolescent children. Till now, SANJOG has developed a group child mentors consisting of 15 children in the community which is working for child safeties in the community. 28 children have completed their Primary School Certificate Exam and amongst the 19 children have been enrolled to the mainstream education. Children are availing knowledge on saving money. They have been provided piggy banks (coin banks) in which they save ten taka in every week. They can withdraw certain amount of money in their needs without any interest.
In this way they are being aware of economical protection of themselves. SANJOG has formed a community-based care group consisting of local political leader, mother group and youth volunteer groups. There is a triangle shape approach introduced by SANOG comprising child mentors working in the centers, youth volunteers working in the community and community care group responding for the overall management in the community for creating awareness on SafetyNet and child protection.
Two modules have been developed on child protection. One tells a story through which child mentors land adolescent girls are getting trained up aware of behavioral attitude toward the children so that they can also make other people aware in the community. The other module names Adolescent Life skill Program on Sexuality. Using this module adolescents are getting aware of the taboo about sexuality that existing in the society.
APON Foundation
APON focuses on enrolling children to the mainstream education in GFC supported program. Through this partnership APON is initiating free education, free nutrition, family awareness etc. for the betterment of children. Community awareness meeting with the parents to send their children to school and continue their education made the family members aware. APON provides need based family support to the families purchasing weight machine, cow, sewing machine, rickshaw so that they can ensure family needs and don’t feel burden to send their children to school.
APON ensures free education for 64 children. Students from Dhaka University give them free coaching on English and Mathematics. Nine students are receiving sponsorship to continue their further education. In this regard, APON helps the families of this sponsored children by providing food material so that family will not create any obstacle to their education.
Also working for providing life skill training to the vulnerable youth so that they can get empowered themselves through technical education and get engaged to earning source. They are also being aware of helpful and harmful use of social media. APON initiated girls club including young girls who have been providing training and getting awareness on child marriage, drugs, and dowry. The members of this club are working as safeguard for the prevention these problems not only in case of them but also for the other children in the community. APON helps them in communicating with police in such cases. The club developed concept of unity of strength.
Sobujer Ovijan Foundation (SOF)
GFC-SOF partnership has initiated day care service for the children of women garment workers. Women who have children from 0-3 year may take the opportunity to receive the service without any cost. SOF had negotiation with the garment owners to set the day care center in the garment premises so that mother can pay visit to their children for breast feeding four times after every two hours. Which seems very convenient for the working mother. They can concentrate to their work being free from worry. Children are being provided with dry food by the garment authority.
Apart from this, SOF is giving service to the mothers who have children over eight years through day care centers. These centers are situated out of the garment factory. SOF concerns for the safety of the female children specially. At present 20 children are being benefited under the care of these centers where three care givers are constantly appointed to take care of the children. These care givers are helping the children to make soft toys with abandoned materials like tissue box, cotton, ice-cream sticks etc. Material development officer helps them to make toy materials.
In the garment factories, working mothers are also being aware of their health through training on occupational hazardous health and safety. They have been provided needle guards, musk, gloves. These materials may help them from getting sick. SOF is looking forward to start giving physical therapy for the mothers. Since, they work in the garments for long time and keep standing on their foot constantly.
LEEDO, A voice of most vulnerable street children in Bangladesh
LEEDO is working with the street children by giving them free education, health, extracurricular training, sponsorship and other facilities. This organization is running a permanent home names ‘Peace Home” and a temporary shelter home named ‘Shetubandhan’. Children who are rescued from the street are sent to the provisional home and are given free education and other extracurricular lessons, physical and mental counselling. After few days, they get reintegrated to their own families. If the families are not found they are either referred to other likeminded organization or taken to the Peace Home where they get many services including dance, music, painting, martial art, cricket training and so on. Differently able children are also taking education from the special school with the help of LEEDO. Eight children are going to play World Street Cricket Competition to Australia this year. Also 12 students are receiving education from English Medium School.
The children who get reintegrated to their own families they can avail orphan sponsorship by which they can continue their further education. It had been observed that their families are not able to help their education, so, LEEDO runs orphan sponsorship activity for them to continue their education.
LEEDO, at present running two non-formal educational centers under GFC’s fund. One is School under the Sky through which children are getting non-formal education along with counseling, health services. 25 children have been enrolled to the mainstream education from School under Sky in Rayer Bazar, Dhaka. While mobile school basically keeps moving on to different area in the Dhaka City and provides the street children free education, training on dance music etc. About 10,000 students have been reached through mobile school education program over the last year.
SOHAY
SOHAY supports the vulnerable children, child labors and youth with the contribution of GFC under Strategic Partnership with GFC. With support of SOHAY, vulnerable children are receiving nonformal education. After getting nonformal education SOHAY creates linkage to the government primary education for these children to be enrolled to formal education. On the other hand, children who are engaged to hazardous job get withdrawn from the job and receive training for kill development on beautification, tailoring and mobile servicing. After getting trained up they start job on their skill. SOHAY eliminates youth from drugs and trains up and makes them aware on various social issues like extremism, eve teasing, child marriage etc. They also get trained up on football game. At present there are six football team consisting of youths.
From 2013 till now 1142 children have received education and training. They are under close observation and doing better in their education or job. Some of them are still taking support from the education centers supported by SOHAY. Children also getting cultural education from the centers. They have formed dance group and performing on stages in events.
VAWFSD
This organization is working with the youth of different ages. These youth from school level to university level are getting aware of social issues like drugs, child marriage, extremism etc. And some youth who are under vulnerable situation under hazardous labor are getting trained withdrawn and receiving vocational training and living better livelihood.
VAWFSD is working with GFC from 2013 focusing on the youth of age 14-24. These youth are receiving training on mobile servicing and tailoring. 267 youth have received training on mobile servicing and 250 amongst them have been engaged themselves in earning source either through job replacement or running own shop. 338 young girls have received vocational training on tailoring, and all are now applying their skill in earning field.
The participants opined the method as an effective way through which the participants could communicate to other organizations in the workshop with their nature of activity and achievements. They found it very effective to know each other and became inspired.
GFC partners
GFC’s Goal
GFC’s common goals with WE Trust (a Taiwan-based Family Trust) is partnering to build a world where all children and youth are safe, strong and valued. Global Fund for Children invests in grassroots organizations around the world to help children and youth reach their full potential and advance their rights.
It’s Development Model and Approaches: GFC has designed it’s program model with planning to transform the lives of children and youth around the world by enabling a thriving, critical mass of social innovation organizations and young change agents to create solutions which out turn the problems in their communities through a development model of Finding the children and youth, Funding the efforts to organize them and Strengthen their capacities.
GFC being more issue focused, engages grassroot organizations concerning contextuality of hazardous child labor, early marriage, gender-based violence, and trafficking. GFC supports with innovative ideas for providing vocational training, life skills training, and leadership development, alongside innovative education models to help children and youth become change agents in the society for capacity building to bring efficient change in the society.
WE Trust and GFC partnership in Bangladesh engages and supports grassroots organizations that reduce risk and prevent the engagement of young children into hazardous labor, remove children from harm, rehabilitate and reintegrate children who leave hazardous labor situations.
Overarching goal of GFC-WE Trust partnership is to support grassroots interventions and advocacy for eradicating hazardous child labor to create a community of GFC partners which can coordinate efforts and align on a similar vision for change through identifying 3-4 common objectives and outcomes for collective success and monitor those through. The partnership searches for source knowledge from partners and share via blogs, articles, videos to have a strong youth voices component which leads GFC, its partners, and creates a next level of leadership in the control.
At present GFC is looking forward to the final year of funding from WE Trust to GFC for Bangladesh project. It has signed a contract with Network for Research and Training concerning monitoring and evaluation, visiting partner’s office, follow up, preparing Bi-annual and Annual reports for GFC. GFC also concerns researching that will lead for more funding prospects to invest in grassroots organizations in Bangladesh this year. GFC is more project focused – funding likely on trafficking and hazardous child labor, with possibility of looking at international/cross-border anti-trafficking efforts taking place in the context of Bangladesh.
WE Trust GFC partnership in Bangladesh has been able to do give continuous support to four partners and bring on two new partners. Through this partnership supplemental support to all partners in this unit has been provided.
GFC in the run of its achievement in Bangladesh over the next 8 months is planning to 1. Engage partners in a chapter-leader model 2. Identify local funding relationships for partners 3. Create potential youth leadership council with partners’ program participants 4. Serve as a reference for exited partners 5. Identify international supporters for partners 6. Give visibility to partners in GFC media and communication.
Based on the Partnership with WE Trust for Bangladesh since 2016, GFC supports WE Trust’s agenda of supporting networks of grassroots organization to encourage advocacy and policy change, engaging them in a) Reducing and Preventing the engagement of young children in hazardous labor, b) Removing children from harm and c) Rehabilitating and reintegrating them who leave hazardous labor situation.