Beyond Development NGOs Activities among the Women in the Urban Slum Area

Abstract

This article investigates the key problems and challenges of women in NGOs development programs. Since 1972 NGOs started work in Bangladesh. Initially, NGOs focused on relief and rehabilitation activities following the liberation war of 1971. Gradually NGOs became institutionalized in the country progressively. Women as a vulnerable group got the priority for the development agencies. Therefore, women became a cross-cutting issue in development programs. In the late '90s, NGOs rapidly expanded their programs in the urban areas targeting the inhabitants of slums and temporary settlements. The programs mainly focused on water, sanitation and disaster risk reduction. Here, the women also became targeted beneficiaries as they are easily accessible at home. Most of the NGOs botched to address women as a homogenous group. They analyzed the women's needs as a single group. The development initiatives unable to reach all the women equally. Hence, the sustainability and effectiveness of NGO's programs have become increasingly subject to debate.