PROGRAMS

Focusing principally on Human Rights and Governance, MJF is working through its partners to create opportunities to advance rights of vulnerable women, children, workers, marginalized groups and people living in the CHT.

MJF partners are specifically working on:

- Child protection and development
- Combating violence against women
- Ensuring Access to justice for poor and disadvantaged people
- Promoting accountability and responsiveness of public service delivery
- Promoting and protecting the rights of vulnerable and socially excluded groups
- Promoting and protecting workers’ rights
- Supporting the socio-economic development of Chittagong Hill Tracts

1. Child Protection and Development (CP&D)
In Bangladesh countless children are exposed to dangers that hamper their growth and development. MJF's Child Protection and Development (CP&D) program provides an opportunity for realizing children's right and welfare. MJF through partners targets children in hazardous work and those who are in vulnerable and disadvantageous situation.
The program will:
- Build capacity of children, social agents, rights defenders to address issues of child rights violation
- Improve and facilitate process so that vulnerable children may access basic services like education, health, recreation and get opportunities for the realization of human capabilities
- Address key sensitive issues such as sexual abuse and other forms of violence against children.
- Monitoring the implementation of the Convention on Rights of Children (CRC)
Impact: The program provides protection and development of 1, 31,622 children directly and altogether addresses livelihood needs of 6,58.110 people. Effective CRC monitoring has impact on the lives of millions of children.

2. Combating violence against women
Violence Against Women (VAW) is now increasingly recognized as a major problem in society. The women’s movement both globally and nationally has been able to bring it to public attention that VAW is a major human rights violation.
The program will:
Reduce domestic violence, acid attack, rape and assault through
- Creating awareness in community and family
- Advocating with policy makers for a law on domestic violence
- Monitoring and building capacity of state mechanism to curb violence
- Educate women on laws and policies that protect them.
Impact: The program aims to provide human security to approx. 17.5 million women

3. Ensuring Access to justice for poor and disadvantaged people
There are certain national policies that provides for legal and social justice to be accessed easily in an affordable manner by poor and disadvantaged groups. MJF through partners is facilitating the implementation of these. MJF is also contributing towards the process of activating two guardian institutions such as Ombudsman & National Human Rights Commission.
The program will:
- Strengthen local justice system (particularly shalish, Gram adalat Arbitration council)
- Influence national policy to make greater positive impact on overall justice system
Impact: the program provides access to justice directly and indirectly to 1.83 million poor women and men.

4. Promoting accountability and responsiveness of public service delivery
Right to Information (RTI)
Right to Information is now considered a key development tool. It has implications on peoples livelihood, well being and participation in public affairs
The program will
- Bring all different efforts on RTI under an umbrella to create a joint force in favour of demanding information as people’s right
- Advocate with policy makers for enactment of the Right to Information Act
- Raise awareness among general population on use of this act and ensure its effective implementation.
Impact: If the law is enacted and implemented Bangladesh will be a more democratic and better governed country. Local Governance
The program contributes to the process of creating an enabling environment for democratization and decentralization in Local Government (LG) system.
The program will
- Review existing policies on LG and recommend changes
- Strengthen LG institutions through capacity building of UP members
- Join with others on advocacy for decentralization LG strengthening.
Impact: Peoples participation and Union Parishad responsiveness will improve in 800 unions/ wards
Governance Performance Monitoring (GPM)
GPM addresses the supply side of MJF work. Improvement in the governance of public service delivery agencies through promoting transparency, accountability, responsiveness and strengthening people’s participation are key elements of this program.
The program will
- Ensure responsive public services e.g. education, health, agriculture department
- Ensure distribution and utilisation of disaster risk reduction fund.
- Promote social auditing within key government institutions
Impact: Create a culture of responsive governance in Health, Education, Agriculture departments in 44 Districts

5. Promoting and protecting the rights of vulnerable and socially excluded groups
People living on the margins of society, which includes extreme poor and socially excluded, suffer the most violations of human rights.
The program will:
- assist people to attain their social, economic, political and cultural rights
- endure access to public services
- improve their participation and inclusion in public affairs
MJF has defined marginalization as:
- occupational (sex workers, fisher-folk)
- minority status (religion, caste, ethnicity)
- location of extreme vulnerability or hard-to-reach areas (char, haor or hill areas)
- physical and mental disability and HIV infected
Impact: The program is effecting the lives directly and indirectly of 5.69 million men, women and children to live in dignity and security

6. Promoting and protecting the rights of vulnerable and socially excluded groups
Numbering around 60.3 million, workforce in Bangladesh are engaged both in the formal and informal sectors contributing to national economic growth as well as family income.
The program will:
- Strengthen through partners the processes of formulating, reformulating and implementing laws and policies on workers rights.
- Educate and motivate employers towards a worker sensitive work place
- Implement the minimum work standards and ethics
Impact: If better policies are reformulated and implemented then the demand of 8.77 million workers for better wages and working conditions will be fulfilled.

7. Soci-Economic Development in Chittagong Hill Tracts
Considering the special needs of Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), MJF offers a special package for organisations working in the CHT. This package includes service delivery, building of infrastructure and supply of capital goods combined with rights and governance activities.
The program will achieve the following:
- Marginalized communities are demanding rightful control over land and other natural resources.
- Improved livelihood security through sustainable income generation activities.
- Improved quality of institutional service delivery and access to basic services. (Local government, Health & Education)
- Preservation and institutionalization of tradition and culture
Impact: 164,193 people are directly gaining access to basic services, included in increased income, their identity preserved and human security ensured.
 
 
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