Social capital and sustainability of NGO intermediated development projects in Bangladesh

Abstract

Non-governmental organizations in Bangladesh have established innovative development models that have improved participant livelihood, through efforts in income-generation, social-service provision, and group capacity building. However, the dominant focus of most agencies in Bangladesh - including Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee, the Grameen Bank, and Proshika MUK - is income-generation, often at the expense of longer-term structural change associated with the extension of social capital. NGOs have expanded community norms and networks, but this has been laregely between agency practitioner and participant, as opposed to within the participant community.