The Bangladeshi Context Grameen Bank Groupbased Microcredit Strategies

The Bangladeshi Context: Grameen Bank Group-based Micro-credit - Strategies of the “Sixteen Decisions” Campaign - Women’s Development Approaches Kazi Abdur Rouf Paper presented at Thesis Seminar OISE, University of Toronto November 02, 2010

Bangladesh Socio-economic Situation • Bangladesh is an agricultural village, Islamic patriarchal dominated country where non-agricultural paid employment is limited. • The majority of them, 55 million women, are suffering from the feminization of poverty and from having their social, economic, cultural, political, and environmental human rights violated by rich, rural elites in the village. • Males make all family decisions and male elites occupy the public space in the community.

Continued-2 • The sexual discrimination of the gender division of labor undervalues women in the family • Women are labeled as homemakers and males are labeled breadwinners and the heads of the families.

Issues • Women are secondary decision makers in the family as males are thought to be superior • Sexual Division of labor: women’s unpaid domestic chores and men’s paid labor • Purdah, limits women’s physical and social movement in the society • Women’s intra-household power relations are unequal • Women’s civic capital development takes place in the shadow of men’s development

Grameen Bank’s Strategies to Address the Issues • Grameen Bank understands that marginalized women are suffering from the following poverty-related issues: • suffering from the feminization of poverty • poor women are unable to fulfill their basic needs of food, shelter, clothing, education and health etc. • have less or no power in the family and in the community • other socio-economical disadvantages

GB Strategies-2 -Continued • Grameen Bank has initiated its group-based collateral free micro-credit • GB has designed the “Sixteen Decisions” – a holistic socioeconomic, cultural, political and environmental message • GB has run the “Sixteen Decisions” campaign among GB women borrowers • Campaign is run through projection meetings, mini-group meetings, GB pre-joining seven days training.

GB “Sixteen Decisions” Campaign Strategies • Weekly Center Meetings • Seven-day Workshops • One-day Workshops • Exchange Visits • Annual Gathering Fairs

GB “Sixteen Decisions” Program Implementation • GB provides shallow tube well loans for safe drinking water and for irrigation • Supplies Sanitary Latrine Materials • Supplies Iodized Salts for Goiter disease • Distributes Oral Dehydration Saline • Supplies Vegetable Seeds • Delivers Fruit and Timber Samples, • Disburses Education loans and “Scholarships “ to the children of the GB women borrowers’

GB activities fit in the different Women’s Development Approaches • GB credit program fits into the Women in Business (WIB) Approach • Its “Sixteen Decisions” campaign fulfill the “Women and Development” (WAD) Approach • GB respects existing cultures, norms and traditions of the village society that comply with culture and development (CAD) • GB women borrowers nurture nature, manage of nature and are compassionate for the environment in accordance with the ideas of eco-feminists and in line with Women and Environmental Development (WED)

Women Development approaches continued-2 • GB women borrowers’ economic development contributes to macro level GNP. The Bangladesh Government developed a national legal framework for micro-credit institutions. These are the ideologies for women’s agenda inclusion in macro policy, planning and programming (WID) • GB is working within the existing patriarchal structure, not challenging male chauvinism • Gender division of labor is a problem for women in their families and in their communities, which is essential to a gender and development (GAD) approach

Women Development Approaches continued-3 • All these approaches are working for women’s empowerment, but in piecemeal. • Minimalist Micro-credit Economic Approach vs Integrated microcredit total socio-economic development approach • Single-minded Microcredit service emphasizes institutional financial sustainability • Integrated microcredit total socio-economic total development approach has multidimensional impact on people’s lives

Grameen Bank Holistic Development Approach Strategiescontinued-4 • GB group-based micro credit, savings program • Its “Sixteen Decisions” Campaigns together have been working for women’s socio-economic self-determination • It has been working for borrowers’ social development for the last three decades, • “Women Holistic Development” (WHD)

GB Participatory Development Approach continue-5 • The functions of Group Chairpersons and Center Chiefs in managing the group and the centers change every year. • This gives all women the opportunity to develop leadership skills and increases leadership development among GB women borrowers. • This process fits into the participatory development approach as grassroots women have been improving their socio-economic status through using GB micro-credit and applying the “Sixteen Decisions” to their lives.

Sustainable Development continue-6 • GB women borrowers development is “bottom-updevelopment” • GB understands that mass marginalized women are “targets” of development • Hence it complies with the people-centered “Sustainable Development” approach • It fulfills the “Community Development” approach

Problem/Question Please • Recently, GB has placed emphasis on its financial sustainability agenda • How does the GB women borrowers’ social and economic sustainable development agenda relate to institutional financial sustainability?