Education, sanitation and livelihoods

Minority communities in Bangladesh’s remote Bandarban Hills region experience significant disadvantages. Remote communities have limited access to education, income, and infrastructure, leading to worse outcomes for kids, young people, families, and whole communities. Greater access to education, better sanitation, and more opportunities to develop skills to generate community income are needed to break cycles of entrenched poverty.

What is the Community Sustainability Project?

The Community Advancement Forum is a locally-led NGO. The Community Advancement Forum works with local communities to improve access to quality education, sanitation, and livelihood opportunities, empowering them to continue to strengthen their communities into the future.

What is the impact of this project?

The Community Advancement Forum installs latrines, improving sanitation and hygiene for rural communities, and helping to end the practice of open defecation. Hygiene training and latrine installation improve health outcomes and protect water sources from contamination. The installation of latrines donated by Community Advancement Forum with your support inspires communities to install their own facilities—for every 10 latrines installed, as many as 20 more are built by families using their own funds.

Income opportunities in the remote Bandarban Hills are limited, and the Community Advancement Forum partners with communities to expand business support and planning. Community Advancement Forum works with communities of ethnic minorities to generate income through community handicrafts including weaving. The handicraft initiatives particularly encourage and empower women. The income-generating activities have enabled the employment of teachers in remote villages to allow children to attend school.