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BANGLADESH / URBAN APPRENTICES
STORY: BANGLADESH / URBAN APPRENTICES
TRT: 2.55
SOURCE: UNDP
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: RECENT, NARAYANGANJ, CENTRAL BANGLADESH
1. Various shots, poor neighborhood in Narayanganj
2. Various shots, roadside market
3. Various shots, young people arriving for their apprenticeship
4. Various shots, apprentices at work
5. SOUNDBITE: (English) Dr Selina Hayat, Mayor of Narayanganj:
“UPPR [Urban Partnerships for Poverty Reduction] is making a great difference in Narayanganj, by putting development in the hands of local people. With community development committees, savings groups and community planning they are supporting lots of things like pre-primary education, or apprenticeships and job-training that are linked to local industry like garments. There is also help given to the poorest of the poor, such as support for small businesses like road-side cake selling. The most important thing is that the communities are deciding. They decide which drains they want covered, where tube wells are needed and which latrines should be replaced. Local communities, through representative bodies that are close to them are deciding what development they want and how they want it done.”
6. Various shots, children going to school
7. Various shots, women in garment factory
8. Various shots, women cooking in road side shop
9. Various shots, streets in Narayanganj
The urban areas of Bangladesh are home to an estimated ten million poor and extremely poor people. For them, life in the country’s rapidly expanding urban centers brings with it a number of specific challenges.
Non-existent or dilapidated infrastructure, poor sanitation and hygiene, inadequate access to safe water and proper nutrition, and the myriad social and economic problems associated with extreme population density, compound the problems faced by the country’s urban poor.
Yet in Narayanganj, just north of the nation’s capital, change is taking place. As happens most mornings these days, these young people are making their way to the workshops where they are undertaking apprenticeships that are setting them up for life.
These apprenticeships are funded by local community development committees, themselves supported by UNDP’s Urban Partnerships for Poverty Reduction (UPPR) project. Made up of local people these committees identify and assist young people to develop skills that will secure their livelihoods. Yet this is just one of their roles, and is just one of the elements of the UPPR project.
Dr Selina Hayat Ivy grew up in Narayanganj, and has been mayor of the town for six years, and says she is now beginning to see positive changes in her community.
SOUNDBITE: (English) Dr Selina Hayat, Mayor of Narayanganj:
“UPPR [Urban Partnerships for Poverty Reduction] is making a great difference in Narayanganj, by putting development in the hands of local people. With community development committees, savings groups and community planning they are supporting lots of things like pre-primary education, or apprenticeships and job-training that are linked to local industry like garments. There is also help given to the poorest of the poor, such as support for small businesses like road-side cake selling. The most important thing is that the communities are deciding. They decide which drains they want covered, where tube wells are needed and which latrines should be replaced. Local communities, through representative bodies that are close to them are deciding what development they want and how they want it done.”
UPPR is also ensuring its sustainability by linking many of its activities to established local institutions so that they remain viable in the long run.
For those living in urban areas in Bangladesh this is translating into more opportunities, a better living environment, and, for these young apprentices, a steadier start to life.
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