Sylhet Correspondent :
The per capita income of underprivileged people living in haor areas has risen by 9 percent as a result of the work done by BRAC Integrated Development Programme.
In addition, the rate of men and women, aged between 16 and 65, who became self-employed also increased by 10 percent and 6 percent respectively, a press release said on Wednesday.
Aside from that, spending by women in areas like health, child education, savings, purchasing land grew 14 percent when compared to the past, it added.
This was revealed at a workshop held in BRAC Centre titled ÒBRACs Operations in Haor and Flash Floods. Integrated Development Programme of BRAC organized the workshop titled Activities of BRAC in haor and flashflood.
Water Resources Minister Anisul Islam Mahmud addressed the workshop as the chief guest while Executive Director of BRAC Dr Muhammad Musa presided it over.
The Head of Co-Operations from Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) Peter Bogh Jensen, First Secretary (Development Results and Evaluations) of Department for International Development Bangladesh Yousuf Rafique, Director of Research and Evaluation Division at BRAC Professor Abdul Bayes and Director of IDP, Community Empowerment Programme and Gender Justice and Diversity Anna Minj, among others, addressed the workshop.
BRAC commenced its Integrated Development Programme back in 2013 to improve the living conditions of disadvantaged dwellers of haor region and indigenous population in the North West.
Key findings of the report on A New Approach to Reducing Poverty and Vulnerability: Evidence from BRACs Integrated Development Programme was presented by Jinnat Ara, Research Fellow for the Development Economics Unit at BRAC Research and Evaluation Division.
The findings revealed that 5,183 households out of 7,783 were beneficiaries of BRACs Integrated Development Programme.
Furthermore, the rate at which programme beneficiaries were accessing hygienic latrine facilities and formal healthcare services increased by 77 percent and 50 percent respectively.
Sixty three percent of the beneficiaries had food security, while that rate was lower at 46 percent for those who were yet to fall under the umbrella.
Women under the programme boasted a self-employment rate of 95.2 percent, while for men that rate was at 71.2 percent.
Another research was conducted among 1,845 households in 70 villages at 31 unions across recently flooded areas of Moulvibazar, Sunamganj, Sylhet, Habiganj, Netrokona and Kishoreganj.
