Train Women Entrepreneurs From Slums in Bangladesh

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Summary

25 women living in the urban slums of Chittagong will be provided with extensive business training and a loan of $200 to set up their own small businesses, such as grocery shops and roadside hotels. progress reportread updates from the field

How Donors Like You Helped

Thanks to donors like you, a total of $1,369 was raised for this project.

Received $1,369 from 7 donations from people like:

Mustafa
Joseph
(Anon.)

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More Information About this Project

Project Needs and Beneficiaries

25 women selected for this project will be given an unprecedented opportunity to launch a business that could propel them and their families out of poverty. Many of these women moved to Chittagong from the rural areas with high hopes of achieving financial independence by securing factory jobs. They instead found the realities of urban living to be harsh and unsustainable.

Activities

The 25 women will receive training in entrepreneurship, marketing, and business plan development and then provided with a $200 loan to start their own small business in the heart of Chittagong City.

Funding Information

Total Funding Received to Date: $1,369

Funding Information

This project is now in implementation and no longer available for funding. Received funds will be used to accomplish concrete objectives as indicated in the project's "Activities" section. Updates will be posted under the "Progress Report" tab as they become available.

Donors' contributions and pledges to this project totaled $1,369.  The original project funding goal was $6,153.

Additional Documentation

This project has provided additional documentation in a Microsoft Word file (projdoc.doc).

Resources

Why this Project is Important

Potential Long Term Impact

Increases the capacity of women to start their own business and, in the process, increases their income and provides employment in the community. The project will help women scale-up their income generation activities.

Project Message

The entrepreneurial spirit is thriving within the women’s groups with whom CDS works. I’ve met women who have broken all class boundaries and are running successful businesses. It’s amazing.
- Balu Iyer, IDEX Asia Program Director

Who is Running This Project

Contact

Balu Iyer,
IDEX Asia Program Director
IDEX
827 Valencia Street, Suite 101
San Francisco, CA 94110
United States
415-824-8384
Email:

Project Sponsor

International Development Exchange (IDEX)

Organization

Center for Development Services (CDS) Logo Center for Development Services (CDS)
38/1, Block F, Ring Road
Shyamoli
Dhaka, 1207
Bangladesh
880-2-811319
http://www.idex.org/partner.php?partner_id=8

Learn more about Center for Development Services (CDS) and the project team.


Center for Development Services (CDS)'s Funded Projects on GlobalGiving

Send 100 Children to Pre-School in Bangladesh
Send 100 Children to Pre-School in Bangladesh

Where this Project is Located

Country

This project is located in Bangladesh and can also be found under Economic Development.

For more information about Bangladesh, read the Human Development Report on Bangladesh or the Wikipedia entry for Bangladesh.

When this Project was Updated

Last Updated

This project was last updated on October 01, 2005.

Date Added to GlobalGiving

This project was added to the GlobalGiving project catalog on June 03, 2004.

Latest Update from the Field

Support Women Entrepreneurs in Bangladesh

By International Development Exchange - , June 15, 2005 12:00 AM

Bangladesh’s Centre for Development Services (CDS) was established in 1983 to provide start-up support, technical assistance and guidance to the poor so that they can start their own businesses. CDS’ model supports sustainable, self-initiated economic development, particularly for women.

Runa Das described her former existence as “miserable:” living in a slum of Chittagong City, she struggled to make ends meet for her husband and two children. Like many residents of the slums, her husband moved the family to Chittagong with a dream of factory work. However, the urban realities are harsh and there is little work to be found. Women in particular are affected, as often they have little education and scant business skills to help earn family income.

Centre for Development Services (CDS) has been working in the Chittagong region for over eight years. In 1999, CDS launched the Women Entrepreneurship Development program as part of their Economic Justice Initiative. The program not only gives women the initial funding to start a business, but provides education on running a business, and savings and credit, so the women can sustain their enterprises. Goals also include increasing self-reliance and mutual knowledge sharing through women’s groups, and giving women an awareness of their human rights. Lastly, to make the women’s entry in the workforce feasible, CDS provides preschool for participants’ young children.

Last year Runa received a microcredit loan of 25,000 Taka (about $215) and purchased two sewing machines, thread dyes and fabric paints to start up her textile business. At her weekly women’s group meetings, she and the others discuss progress and constraints of their nascent enterprises. They share their experience in marketing strategies and product feasibility. They also find the groups a forum in which they can freely discuss women’s rights in the society and in the family. Many note that their income generation made them more willing to assume a role in making the decisions that affect their families. Now Runa has plans to expand her business and open a showroom at the local Kazir Dewri market.

CDS would like to expand the program to include 25 more women in Chittagong. Please support these women entrepreneurs in pulling themselves and their families out of poverty by visiting and supporting the Women Entrepreneurship Development program at http://www.globalgiving.com/pr/600/proj580a.html.

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