Child Sponsorship and Child Rights Programme
Two words – but they put together so much! We are talking thousands of children making friends with equal number of sponsors, while ActionAid and partners make the bridge. 'Together' is a key word in this connection, this friendship.
Joining hands brings magic. Under the pet-name 'child sponsorship' thrives a human connection – one child in Bangladesh finding a friend in another.
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Child Participation & Protection
Capacity Building Initiative for Children
Child Sponsorship
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Impact Stories
Young Women Raising Their Voices On Public Service Accountability
This is the story of a community named Maria Polly situated in Bagerhat, a southern district of Bangladesh. This Polly is the home of 114 families, most of the people in this community are marginalized such as barber, cobbler, bamboo-cane artisans etc. This Polly situated in the periphery of Bagerhat Municipality and Karapa Union. These excluded people were denied receiving public service since the most the public service institutions had been remained reluctant to bring them under the public service net. As most of the people in this community live under the poverty line and the COVID-19 pandemic intensified their situation particularly in the areas of livelihood and receiving health services. Considering the context, a group of young people named ‘Ronger Mela’-- consisting of twenty-five young women--was raising their voices against the injustices and the exclusion. There was no community clinic at Maria Polly and the nearest public health institute, Sadar Hospital, is 5 kilometer away. The members from Ronger Mela Youth Group received trainings from ActionAid Bangladesh on accountability, gender responsive public services and budget monitoring to make them empowered to claim their rights. Therefore, according to their plan, they designed a signature campaign demanding for setting up a community clinic at their locality and organised quite a few mobilizations demanding their rights. Responding to the demand of the Maria Polly community, the Upazila Health and Family Planning Officer assigned a SACMO (Sub assistant community health officer) to visit the community every Saturday from 10am to 1pm to provide free health services. From December 2020, the SACMO is regularly visiting the community and giving health service to 40/50 people every Saturday. Ranger Mela Youth Group do not limit their activity with just one issue. During the seasonal cyclones/floods or during the pandemic, they do humanitarian responses (support to provide aid, raise awareness etc.). They also engage in different activities such as building adolescent health awareness, support marginalized people getting Social Safety Net services such as allowances for old people, widow allowance etc.
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Young People Protesting Child And Sexual Abuse
“Once upon a time when I was a child, I came to know about my classmates being groped by a stranger on their way to school. I want to raise awareness on this issue so that other girls do not have to face it as my friends did.” -Says young activist Sadia Rahman Nidhi Sadia Rahman Nidhi along with her friends has formed a platform called ‘Sharothy’ through which they are working for raising awareness on abuse and sexual harassment face by adolescents and young girls at different public and private spaces of their lives. After getting a training from Global Platform Bangladesh (A youth and capacity development hub of ActionAid Bangladesh) on Innovative campaign tools and Virtual Story Telling; Nidhi and her friends felt the urge to design a campaign to address this issue of abuse. Upon considering the timely demand for such campaign because of the rise in child and sexual abuse during the pandemic (according to several studies), Global Platform Bangladesh gave a small fund to ‘Sharothy’ to run the campaign project named ‘Tulbo Awaaz Ekhoni’. Through this campaign, members of SHAROTHI collected 50/60 stories of child abuse through their social media friends and followers. After going through the stories, they made some illustration paintings reflecting some common cases of child and sexual abuse with a massage on how to stop that. They also made a Puthi gaan and prepared a video with a social media influencer focusing on raising awareness. Now these young people are continuing their effort to bring changes and through their eyes we dare to dream for a Bangladesh where no one will be vulnerable to child and sexual abuse.
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Women Entrepreneurs Shining Bright With Green Power
Promoting Green Energy through the Enhancement of Just and Sustainable Value Chain, the FGG III (Fair, Green, and Global) project works with women in rural communities to encourage them to adopt renewable energy in sustainable and green alternative livelihood options. Through such interventions, the project is working to develop a fair and comprehensive power and energy policy that would ensure social and environmental justice by transitioning the energy sector value chain’s dependence from fossil fuel to renewable energy. Sukhi Begum, from Modhupara village in the Dhankhali Union of Kalapara, ran a small store with her husband. The income from the store supported their family well. Unexpectedly, in 2023, Sukhi's husband passed away. His death was not only a deep emotional shock to the family but also left Sukhi and her family in financial distress. In East Londa, another village, Soma experienced a similar condition when she lost her husband in 2017, who was a construction worker at the Payra 1320 Thermal Power Plant. Soma was left with the responsibility of taking care of their family's expenses alone. To cope with the newly emerged financial needs, she decided to explore learning resources and learned to sew. She wanted to use her sewing skills to generate income, but a sewing machine was still not affordable for her. Carrying on with strong determination, she saw the light of hope when she started getting support from others. ActionAid Bangladesh and Prantojon provided Soma and Sukhi with solar-powered sewing machines. These machines helped to keep operational cost low and helped Soma to earn money by saving high electricity costs. Sukhi Begum said, "I am supporting my son's education with my income," while Soma added, "My operational costs are lower because my sewing machine uses solar energy, which allows me to provide more for my family." Similarly, Sabita Begum from Lalua Union, whose husband died four years ago, shared, "With my husband, we ran our small store after our farming lands were taken in acquisition for the Payra port. Now, I am the only earning member in the family. I do not have enough resources to expand my business. Moreover, rising electricity costs further increase the store's operational cost." Farida Begum from Debpur village faced a similar fate when her land was acquired for the Ashuganj Power Station Company. After losing their primary source of income, she now runs a small shop near the Ashuganj Power Plant to support her family. She is also facing the challenge of rising electricity costs. The rising cost of electricity poses a significant challenge for small businesses like those of Sabita and Farida Begum. However, ActionAid Bangladesh stepped in with the FGG III project's intervention to sustain these enterprises of the displaced and affected community. Under the FGG III project, Prantojon assisted both Sabita and Farida in installing solar-powered systems in their shops. The solar power system reduces the burden of electricity bills, which helps to balance their operational costs. Both of them are now earning around 1000-1500 BDT per day from their solar-powered shops. These efforts by ActionAid Bangladesh and its partners, Prantojon, IRV (Initiative for Right View), and Songshoptaque, have not only supported women in Kalapara, Rampal, and Matarbari but also showcased sustainable solutions for small enterprise owners through renewable energy. Sabita and Farida are now inspiring other women to start their own businesses. Meanwhile, Soma and Sukhi are teaching other women how to save money by using renewable energy. This is helping the women of Kalapara understand that using renewable energy can protect their lives, animals, and the environment.
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