Sustainable Development Program
“Inclusion of marginalized communities and genders in sustainable development, accountability of IFIs, and aid effectiveness are among the main focuses these programs”
Aid Effectiveness
Policy research, advocacy, and capacity building projects on Aid Effectiveness began in 2003 for with the objective of helping to form a national economic policy independent of bilateral and multilateral impositions. As the project progressed it became clear that the conditions tied to the aid were major factors in affecting multilateral policy. In 2005, we became directly involved in the agenda of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. After joining the Reality of Aid coalition in the same year, we started focusing our activities on issues of democratic ownership and aid conditionality at the grassroots level in Bangladesh. In 2007 we co-founded the Aid Accountability Group, with an aim to broaden our activities by involving other CSOs, stakeholders, donors and government bodies in the process of mutual commitment to more effective aid. We have published a number of knowledge outputs, action plans, and position papers as part of our activities on Aid Effectiveness.
REFLECT
REFLECT stands for Regenerative Freirian Literacy through Empowering Community Techniques; is an innovative approach to adult learning and social change, which fuses the theories of Brazilian educator Paulo Freire with participatory methodologies. REFLECT program operates ten circles in ten villages, all located in the Mymensingh region. It was developed with support from ActionAid and partner organizations in the 1990s through pilot projects in Bangladesh, Uganda and El Salvador and is now used by over 500 organizations in over 70 countries worldwide. The circles have seen remarkable success within their communities with women of all ages. They meet every day at a specified time and location to participate in literacy exercises and discuss community and family-related problems. What sets Reflect Circles apart from other rural education programs is the fact that no teaching is imposed from outside; the women use issues that are pertinent to their lives as a starting point for literacy. The learning and teaching process is organic, people-based, and suited to the needs of each village, and many circles had achieved self-sufficiency after program funding terminated.