Women's
Work and the System of National Accounts
Project Director: Shamim Hamid
Funding Agency: The Ford Foundation, Dhaka.
The objective of the study was to evaluate women's contribution
to national income. The study developed a methodo-logy for
disaggregating GDP by sex. The study further carried out a
time-budget survey in rural Bangladesh and evaluated non-market
work performed by both men and women.
The findings of the study are that, keeping in mind the existing
deficiencies in capturing all aspects of female activities,
women contribute 25% to conventional GDP and men 75%. If non-market
work, including household work and expenditure saving activities
are accounted for, then GDP increases by about 20%, and women's
contribution to GDP increases to 41%. The study further finds
that conventional GDP estimates capture only 47% of female
production compared to 98% of male production. Also, the revised
SNA continues to discriminate against women, since 51% of
women's work compared to 22% of men's remains unaccounted.
Urbanization and the Urban
Poor
Project Directors: Mahbub Hossain/Rita
Afsar
Funding Agency: The Ford Foundation. Dhaka.
The primary objectives of the project is to generate an understanding
of the causes of migration and its consequences. The sample
studied consisted of 600 randomly selected households of which
200 were slum and 400 non-slum households from four randomly
selected wards in Dhaka city. Analysis was carried out on
the socio-economic and demo-graphic characteristics of the
households to identify patterns and causes of urban poverty.
Recommendations were made on appropriate policy measures to
deal with urban poverty. The report "Urbanization and
Urban Poor in Bangladesh: Issues, Trends and Challenges"
was the output of the project. Part of the data generated
by the project was used to prepare a doctoral dissertation
entitled "Causes, Consequences and Challenges of Rural-Urban
Migration in Bangladesh".
Before finalizing the report, the project organized an international
workshop to get a feed back on the methodology and techniques
used in the study, and to exchange cross-cultural experiences
in realistically dealing with the emerging challenges of urbanization
and urban poverty. The participants included Professor Graeme
Hugo, Head of the Department of Geography, University of Adelaide;
Professor Amitabh Kundu, of Jwaharlal Nehru University New
Delhi; and Professor A.T.M. Nurul Amin of Asian Institute
of Technology, Bangkok. Scholars and experts from BIDS and
government and non-government organizations involved in the
areas of urbanization, migration and urban poverty also presented
papers. A video "Struggle for a Better Future" prepared
under the project was presented at the workshop.
The Role of the Department
of Public Health Education in the Delivery of
Pure Drinking Water in Rural Areas
Project Directo: Rita Afsar
Funding Agency: WHO, Bangladesh.
The output of the project was a report which assessed the
role of the Department of Public Health Education (DPHE) in
improving the water and sanitation situation in all the ecological
zones of rural Bangladesh. The study examined whether the
nature of funding affected the performance of DPHE and the
reasons behind this phenomenon. Policy implications and future
options for efficient delivery of water and sanitation were
forwarded as recommendations.
Manual Irrigation Pump in Bangladesh
Project Director: Mahmudul Alam
Funding Agency: Swiss Development Co-operation, Dhaka.
The Manual Irrigation Pump (MIP) project was a study focused
on three major aspects of irrigation technology: (a) an assessment
of the financial viability of MIP at the level of individual
farmers, and an estimation of the socio-economic determinants
of MIP adoption, (b) an estimation of the direct and indirect
economic and social impact of MIP on a region, and (c) an
assessment of the potential impact of MIP under assumption
of generalized wide-spread dissemination.
The study utilized secondary data from official sources and
also generated primary data from eight different thanas spread
all over the country. The sample consisted of three types
of households - the MIP adopters; adopters of other types
of irrigation technology such as deep tube wells, shallow
tube wells and the low lift pumps; and those households which
did not use any type of irrigation. The study was completed
in September 1991.
Primary School Dropout Problems
in Bangladesh
Project Director: Mahmudul Alam
Funding Agency: The Asian Development Bank, Manila.
The project was part of the regional study "Dropout
of Primary Students in South Asia", funded by the Asian
Development Bank (ADB) under the Regional Technical Assistance
Programme. Other countries participating in the programme
were Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan. The study was supervised
by IREDU, University of Dijon, France. The primary objective
of the study was to determine school and non-school factors
which influence students' school attendance and achievements,
as well as the rate of retention in the various grades of
primary schooling.
The project came into operation in October, 1994. Ninety
five institutions including primary mainstream schools, ebtedaya
madrashas, and NGO-schools were surveyed in rural and urban
Bangladesh. The study found that among the four major delivery
mechanisms of primary education, NGO-sponsored Non-formal
Education Centers performed the best, followed by registered
private (community-based) mainstream schools. Among the determinants
which had positive impact on students' achievement levels
and retention at schools, mother's education, private schools,
and the socioeconomic status of households were found to be
statistically significant.
Informal Service Sector Study
Project Director: Mahmudul Alam
Funding Agency: UN-ESCAP.
The study is an account of the urban informal service sector
(ISS) of Bangladesh. It is a policy-oriented exercise which
evaluates the role of the urban ISS in the overall context
of the country's economic development and the role of urban
ISS in alleviating poverty. The study mainly uses secondary
data from the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. In addition,
a sample survey of 100 ISS participants from Dhaka city was
conducted from which six ethnographic case-studies were compiled.
Evaluation of Food for Education
Program
Project Director: Mahmudul Alam
Funding Agency: Primary and Mass Education Division, Ministry
of Education.
The Food for Education Program (FFEP) was launched in 1993
by the Primary and Mass Education Division (PMED), Government
of Bangladesh. The objectives of the study were to:
Assess the impact of FFEP on the internal efficiency of the
primary school system such as enhanced enrollment and attendance,
and improvement in the rate of retention of primary school
children from rural poor families
Evaluate targeting effectiveness of the program and its implications
for child labour abolition and nutritional improvement of
the beneficiary child
Review the management aspects of FFEP, estimate its cost-effectiveness
and compare the estimates with other similar food-intervention
programs of the country.
The Social Dimensions of Project
Implementation of the Third Fisheries
Project in the Coastal and Flood Plain Regions
Project Director: Atiur Rahman
Funding Agency: BCEOM/AQUA SERVICE, Dhaka.
The project was the first in a series for assessing the social
impact of the IDA-funded Third Fisheries Project. The objective
of the study was to monitor the impact of shrimp culture on
social cohesion and on income generation activities in the
coastal region. The project also examined the social impact
of the flood plain fisheries development on organized groups.
Social Survey-cum-Action-Plan
on Coastal Embankment Rehabilitation
Project -II.
Project Director: Atiur Rahman
Funding Agency: Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB).
The project focused on the socio-economic impact of the Coastal
Embankment Project and designed a social action plan for mitigating
the environmental consequences of the project around the Beel
Dakatia in Khulna.
Flood Plain Fisheries Project
Project Director: Atiur Rahman
Funding Agency: Centre for Development Studies, Bath University
(U.K.).
The project looked into the socio-economic background of
different fishermen groups located in Hail Haor in Srimongal.
It also examined the significance of community management
of common property resources such as "haors".
Backstopping Services to Third
Fisheries Project (Extended)
Project Director: Atiur Rahman
Funding Agency: BCEOM/AQUA SERVICE, Dhaka.
The project was an extention of an earlier project, and the
focus of the study was an assessment of the performance of
the two NGOs, CARITAS and Prodipon which were implementing
the project. The final report was submitted on schedule.
Bangladesh Poverty Monitor
and the South Asia Poverty Monitor
Project Director: Atiur Rahman
Funding Agency: UNDP, Dhaka.
Based on agreed methodologies and indicators, the project
monitors the performance of governments and NGOs in alleviating
poverty in South Asia. A joint BIDS-UNDP workshop on South
Asia Poverty Monitor was held in BIDS on July 12, 1997.
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