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The Chars Livelihoods Programme (CLP) is funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and sponsored by the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives of the Government of Bangladesh. The programme aims to improve the livelihood security of the very poorest people living in the riverine areas of Kurigram, Gaibandha, Jamalpur, Bogra and Sirajganj districts; north-west Bangladesh.
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The chars are sandy islands and low-lying flood-prone areas at the river’s edge that are deposited, eroded, and re-deposited by the Jamuna River. Approximately 3.5 million people inhabit chars in the CLP’s intervention areas; with around 1 million actually living on island chars that are surrounded by water for the majority of the year. It is the poorest households living on these island chars who are the main target group of the CLP.
One of the principle causes of poverty in the Jamuna chars are the high levels of river erosion, of both its banks and of the island chars. Erosion and near-annual flooding force thousands of households to move each year, often shifting between five and seven times in a single generation. Furthermore, the chars are isolated from major markets with significant amounts of time and money being spent by their residents in efforts to reach the mainland. The vast majority of char households are not covered by standard government services including health, education and police protection.
Interaction between char dwellers and the private sector is also weak as transport costs are high and the chars are not connected to the electricity grid.
2007 floods
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The main components of the CLP are:
Providing infrastructure, primarily in the areas of flood protection, sanitation and clean water supply;
Asset building and livelihoods interventions aimed at the poorest island char dwellers, based around the provision of income generating assets;
Encouraging social development, with group interactions and exposure to important topics in health, sanitation, disaster preparedness and social rights and responsibilities;
Offering social protection, through ‘cash-for-work’, monthly stipends to the poorest households and the development of community safety-nets;
Promoting enterprise, that facilitates growth in agricultural and non-farm sectors and also supports the development of key growth-related services, in particular microfinance and livestock services.
With £50 million in grant funding, the CLP is the largest project in DFID-Bangladesh’s portfolio of activities to address extreme poverty in Bangladesh and contribute to achieving the First Millennium Development Goal.
The CLP is implemented through Maxwell Stamp plc.
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