The Blue Community can welcome its second partner in Bangladesh, the organisation KOTHOWAIN – Vulnerable Peoples Development Organization, established in 2003 and based in Bandarban, South-East Bangladesh.
KOTHOWAIN, a Tripura word meaning ‘Hope for Survival’, was established in response to the issues of extreme poverty, low literacy rate, social and political conflict, eroding cultural identity, climate, environment, and high incidence of human rights violations among the indigenous peoples in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh. It was officially registered as a non-government and non-political voluntary development organization by the Social Service Department of Bangladesh Government and is registered for foreign donations (voluntary activity regulations Act 2016) –NGO affairs Bureau of Bangladesh Government.
KOTHOWAIN’s vision is the socio economic development, promotion and empowerment among marginalized people in Bangladesh. Its mission is «to bring sustainable positive change by reducing poverty among the marginalized people, especially women and children, through participatory process by undertaking needs- and rights-based development programs in the Chittagong Hill Tracts».
Through the years, KOTHOWAIN has strived to build the capacities of the communities to manage and implement projects in a sustainable manner, have a voice in decision making, and dignity as a people. This has been achieved in partnership with local, national, and international agencies as well as government institutions.
In its commitment to the Blue Community, KOTHOWAIN states:
The communities drink unprotected water and collect it from a river or stream which is very far away. It always poses a threat to the lives of the elderly, pregnant women and children when they collect water. The unprotected water causes many water-borne diseases, and pregnant women, lactating mothers and children are the most vulnerable and impacted. They also defecate in open spaces, which creates countless problems of which they lack awareness.
So, it is necessary to provide the community with safe water through the installation of tubewells, a gravity flow system, ring wells and rainwater harvesting systems with proper technological installations. This support will also help with economic development, sustainability, equality, saving lives, improving health, and other social and traditional activities. They need sanitary latrine installation and an awareness-raising programme. All of this will be led by the community under the facilitation of project interventions, ensuring their ownership, participation and sustainability.
Gabriel Tripura, KOTHOWAIN’s Executive Director, states:
«We discovered the Blue Community, which has great values, commitment and dedication that align with our organisation’s mission and community interests. Therefore, we kindly ask for your support and leadership to help us achieve our goal of ensuring that no one is left behind in reaching the global common goal.»
Sreelakshmi Panigrahi, Vice Chairperson of the Blue Community Indian Society for Rural Development (ISRD) and NGO Coordination Head of the Blue Community South Asia Coordination Committee, welcomes KOTHOWAIN in the Blue Community:
«I warmly welcome KOTHOWAIN, Vulnerable Peoples Development Organization as our second partner from Bangladesh.
We are delighted to have KOTHOWAIN join the Blue Community family. We look forward to working together to promote safe water, sanitation, and community-led sustainable development across South Asia. Wishing KOTHOWAIN every success in this shared journey.»
