BACKGROUND

ESDO was established in 1988 with an aim of supporting poor and marginalized people affected by the devastating flood and gradually moving towards achieving a broader vision of achieving sustainable, secured and resilient livelihood of these poor and marginalized people through improving their overall sustainable development.  For the last more than three and half decades of development journey, ESDO has set an outstanding example on sustainable development model for the under privileged communities of Bangladesh. ESDO has been working in the mostly unserved and underserved locations of the country; nurturing community focused participatory approach and people’s ownership. As a result, an enabling environment has already established within the ESDO’s working area. We have made notable achievements in livelihood improvement, food security and nutrition, education, women empowerment, health, promotion of children rights, adolescents and youth engagement, and rights for ethnic minorities. During this long span, we have adapted with the changing situation and provided the most time-bound effective services especially to the poor and disadvantaged people. Considering the government development policies, we are currently implementing a considerable number of projects and programs including micro-finance program through a community focused and people centered approach to accomplish government’s development agenda and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN as a whole. ESDO is one of the most dynamic organizations expanding its development interventions across 397 upazila under 53 districts of Bangladesh covering over 12 million poor and vulnerable people.

EXECUTIVE SUMMERY

Eco-Social Development Organization (ESDO) continuous its mended for the holistic development of rural populations in the areas of livelihood, skill development, health, education, water and sanitation, nutrition, mother and child health care services, kitchen gardening, growth monitoring, immunizations, arsenic mitigation and the developing needs of marginalized people of Bangladesh from its inception 1988. At the same time, ESDO has been continuing microcredit, social development, food security, disaster management, agricultural development, livestock, fisheries, water resources management, hazardous child labor reduction, counter-trafficking intervention, human rights, adult education, child education, skill development activities for ensuring equitable society free from poverty in ESDOs working area. 

ESDO managed the mentioned programs in 4032 Unions, 162 Municipality, 397 Upazila under 53 districts & 7 City Corporation, 8 Division of Bangladesh, directly reaching more than 12 million poor and vulnerable people. Different need-based programs are aimed to enhancing the capabilities of deprived people in terms of social development, disaster facing, food security, agriculture, gender, nutrition, microfinance, health, environment, rights and governance, education and human development, and with empowering them to solve the problems that affect their lives and to cooperate to resisting oppression and exploitation. The undertaking of such self-initiated and autonomous actions is an important achievement in a context where the deprived people are dependent for their livelihood and social security.  

For the last 35 years of development journey, ESDO has been serving with untiring efforts to bring forth and optimum development situation in Bangladesh. During this long time, ESDO has been intended to adapt to the changing situation and provide the most time-fitting services especially for the poor and disadvantaged. The comprehensive software & hardware support package has been dedicated to ensuring, skill development activities, social development, food security, disaster management, agricultural development, livestock, fisheries, water resources management, microcredit, hazardous child labor reduction, counter-trafficking intervention, human rights, adult education, child education, health and nutrition, hygienic sanitation and personal hygiene for the grassroots people while focusing on community motivation and empowerment of people. A community-focused and people-centered approach has been adapted by ESDO while considering the national policy and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as its guiding principle. 

For the sake of bringing sustainable food security, skill development, livelihood development, ESDO provides demand-driven and bottom-up services, instead of supply-driven and top-down services, ensuring community participation in every step from planning, through decision-making to implementation and monitoring and follow-up as well as cost-sharing by community people. Maintaining this process ESDO has succeeded in creating a sense of ownership of the programs among the community. This approach has contributed greatly to the sustainability of the program's success. 

ESDO has made advocacy programs having major components like ethnic minority rights, gender awareness and women rights, social mobilization, legal aid services, hazardous child labor reduction movement, disaster management, social assistance to Adivasi’s and extreme minorities, counter-trafficking, etc. along with various promotional activities. 

ESDO regularly conducts three types of planning for project activities. These are (i) Strategic Plan (ii) Business Plan (iii) Yearly Plan. 

ESDO facilities monitoring considering it as an essential tool for its program management to measure the effectiveness of ESDO programs both on quantitative and qualitative aspects. The effective facilitation of regular monitoring also enables the ESDO management to take necessary correctively measures on its program interventions at the right time. ESDO’s all project activities are monitored monthly and quarterly basis by the respective project supervisors besides this ESDO has a group of experienced monitor teams under the guidance of team leaders. The monitor team has monitored the project activities quarterly and submits reports to the Executive Director as well as in monthly coordination meetings. According to the monitoring findings, the ESDO management undertook action to improve the planned activities. 

For ensuring qualitative and quantities program ESDO’s all project activities periodically and regularly audited by ESDO’s Internal Audit Team. A professional group regularly audited ESDO’s entire project under the direct supervision of the Executive Director. As per audit findings, the concerned sectoral coordinators ensure to meet-up their lacking or shortfall within the required period. 

ESDO regularly evaluated ESDO’s programs and projects through the different period. Mid-term evaluation and final evaluation is mandatory for each program. 

ESDO has its transparent financial system as well as comply with the donor’s requirement. ESDO maintain both accruals, cash basis accounting, and follow the double-entry accounting system. Keeping accounts both ways manually and by software also. 

Weekly, monthly, and quarterly reporting systems are established. ESDO can produce and provide reports to the donor as per their requirements. 

ESDO believes that efficient staff is a significant parameter of organizational strength. ESDO consider them as the most valuable resources. 5717 staff have been working with ESDO, among them 2983 are male and 2734 are female and Volunteer Staff: 771 Male: 264 Female: 507 of the total staff 92 are working in the central office and the rest 5625 are working under the regional and branch offices.

VISION: We seek an equitable society free from all discriminations. 

MISSION: Reduction in income poverty and human poverty of the people in our working area through undertaking massive integrated development programs for the poor and marginalized community through service delivery and rights-based approach. This includes programs on income generation, improved education, nutrition and health improvement, human rights and good governance. We integrate gender and environmental protection & regeneration as crosscutting subjects across all the programs. We believe in equity, are actively promoting human rights, dignity, and gender equality through building people's social, economic, political, and human capacity. Women in general and children are central to our activities. We seek to ensure quality of services through continuous strengthening of our organizational capacity. Extending our services to the ultra-poor is our main manifesto.

ESTABLISHMENT: 3rd April 1988