Empowering for development

In Bangladesh, there is an extensive range of formal rights reflecting a progressive liberal constitution that establishes state commitment to universal human rights. In practice, however, the ability to enjoy rights depends upon who you are, what you have and whom you know. In this existing system, landless poor people face extensive barriers when attempting to obtain access to services, resources and livelihood opportunities. Monopolistic state service providers, an underdeveloped private sector characterised by extensive market failure and segmentation, and above all pervasive patron-client relationship structure create poverty and inequality along class and gender lines. Therefore, the landless poor, especially women have little access to government-controlled resources, services and administrative decisions.

The economic disparities between rich and poor people are originated in the structural injustices which characterise the nature of the state and society. The principal source of disparity is originated in the monopoly of political power in the country exercised by the rich and the elite. Political parties are generally dependent more on local and national elites who mobilise their dependent clients, rather than the independent 'voting power' of landless poor. As a result, politicians are unlikely to hold officials to account or press for pro-poor reform, and often have a vested interest in the accumulation of resources and power by elites.

The landless poor face many dominant constraints in their struggle for a decent livelihood. The nature and magnitude of these constraints often also determine the prospects for dealing with the challenge of poverty. Such constraints are, of course, not immutable and can change over time in their intensity and significance. Over the last three decades or so, one can note a significant weakening of certain types of constraints while in others, little change has occurred. Such constraints are: (a) socio- cultural, (b) socio-political and (C) socio-economic. These constraints hinder the process of empowerment of the landless as well as their poverty reduction.

More than half of the total population remain deprived of income, resource, education and social security. These people are becoming gradually poor and from poor to hardcore poor as a result of defeating unequal socio-political race. Such socio-political race has been created due to unequal distribution of resources and facilities including land, education, medical, as well as social and political power in the country. It is becoming very difficult for the poor to survive. Consequently, the discrimination between rich and poor is gradually increasing and the Gini index is increasing very speedily. In the villages, 'Gram Basti (village slum) is increasing in number and size and on the contrary high rise skyscrapers are coming up indiscriminately and continuously in the capital city. This situation is not indicating any real progress of a state or nation.

The sovereign Bangladesh is now thirty-four years old. Since its birth to date, neither government nor any of the major development partner NGOs ever raised the issue of distributing resources to the poor. The leftist political parties raised this issue, however, it did not serve the grassroots level effectively. Government and NGOs, keeping this unequal socio-economic race going, are creating 'safety net' through providing micro-credit, VGF, VGD cards etc. to the poor. The poor could not demand to establish their right to resource and justice. It means that keeping the poverty process on, creating different safety nets for reducing poverty from the country cannot provide envisaged result. In reality it may give negative effects if the rate of being poor from the non-poor increases more than the rate of being non-poor from the poor.

The good news is, now not only the people who are involved in development activities at the grassroots level, but also the national and international think-tanks and development partners realise that empowerment and accumulation of resources are most important for poverty reduction and sustainable development, which we can also understand from the evolution of 'Rights Based Approach (RBA)' to social development.

This approach addresses the need for:
- Expanding the ownership and control of the landless poor over productive assets
- Enhancing their access to a knowledge based society
- Strengthening the capacity of the poor to compete in the market place
- Redesigning budgetary policy to reach public resources to the poor
- Designing institutions for the poor to enable them to acquire ownership of wealth and manage effectively
- Empowering the poor through progressive political realisation and participation

As a rights based non government development organisation Samata is continuing a process of ensuring that all people, including those who are normally marginalised and excluded from full participation in activities of society, can take valued part in decision-making processes and utilise their rights and responsibilities as citizens. It is looking at people "holistically"; see their whole context and relationships, NOT just their category or groups. The NGO has been working in the following areas for outcomes:
- enabling the landless poor to claim their rights and entitlements
- providing and securing institutional space for the landless poor
- creating a pro-poor environment to support change, and
- capacity building of programme implementers

In the meantime, about 600,000 extreme landless poor people from its member households have moved above the poverty line ($1 per day) as a result of the acquisition of about 60,000 acres of public khas land, khas water bodies and other natural resources and returns of their savings investments significantly contributed in achieving 'MDG-1: Reduction by half in people living under $1 per day'. In addition, 316 organized landless people now have become members of Union Parishad, 1645 have become members of Gram Sarkar and 1481 have become members of different socio-politico and cultural committees which have important influence on the rural society.

More than 73,000 women group members reported that they were now esteemed and respected in their family while 133 women group members have become members of Union Parishad, 596 have become members of Gram Sarkar, and 204 have become members of different village based socio-economic and political committees which contributed in achieving 'MDG-3: Gender Equality and Women Empowerment'.

More than 78,000 landless poor families reported that they were able to send their children to schools regularly for primary education. Besides, about 6,000 drop-outs have been re-schooled and 1260 children in remote char land areas received 3 years basic education. These outcomes contributed in achieving 'MDG-2: Universal Primary Education'.

Development, to a considerable extent, means following Amartya Sen -- the expansion of capabilities. In other words, it is increasing the possibilities for more people to realise their potentials through the expansion of their capabilities for functioning. The secretary general of Bangladesh Economic Association Prof. Abul Barakat stated in his paper on 'Power, Politics and Poverty in Bangladesh' that 'the issue of poverty needs to be viewed in relation to deprivation: poor people are caught in deprivation trap, and true human development requires breaking the trap by empowering the excluded -- poor and deprived, focusing on human freedom contrast with narrower views of development such as identifying development with the growth of gross national product, or with the rise in personal incomes, or with industrialisation, or with technological advance, or with modernisation. Growth of GNP or of individual incomes can be important as means to expanding freedoms enjoyed by the members of the society. But freedom depends also on other determinants, such as social and economic arrangements as well as political and civil rights'.

Therefore, it can be said that the pathway to achieve the objectives of MDGs has already been created and acknowledged by the development practitioners and academicians, which should be broadened, strengthened and continued. Because, any societal reform is not an easy task, it needs longer time. The administrative and political criminalisation, politicisation of national and local public institutions, rampant corruption, administrative irregularities, grabbing of public resources, high level of bureaucratic procrastination, increased insecurity of citizens, lack of employment opportunity, poor governance, lack of transparency and accountability, lack of political freedom, lack of participation of poor and women in the decision making etc. are the unresolved and endemic problems in the country. These cannot be solved only by government. It needs comprehensive rights based activities from the grassroots to national level to address broader societal reformation.

Md Abdul Kader is Executive Director and Sohel Ibne Ali is Director of Samata.