Association for Under-privileged People (AUP)
Background
Association for Under-privileged People (AUP) is a non-government, non-profitable, socio-economic development organization that was established by some socially conscious senior citizens with relief operation and rehabilitation activities during the devastating flood in 1998 to help the displaced and distressed people around Dhaka Metropolitan City. Since its inception, AUP has been putting efforts in developing the socio-economic status of its underprivileged people through implementing various Programs and development projects on Education, Skill development Training , Sustainable Livelihood, Micro-credit, Housing Loan, Water & Sanitation and awareness on health and social rights issues. AUP focused its development initiatives towards the extreme poor and underprivileged people.
Vision
AUP works for the people to achieve socio-economic development through social mobilization, human development and financial assistance. AUP believes in human quality and strength and try to bring people together towards a positive social change.
Mission
AUP looks forward to accelerate and achieve the sustainable socio-economic development through development education, self-employment and empowerment of the underprivileged people.
Objectives
Our prime objective is to eradicate poverty through education, self-employment and empowerments of the vulnerable section of the society ensuring their participation to the mainstream development activities.
Legal status
AUP is registered with the NGO Affairs Bureau having good relationship with the central and local level Governments' departments and autonomous bodies as well as other NGOs network.
NGO Affairs Bureau / Registration # 1692 / 04/11/2001
Directorate of Social Welfare / Registration # Dha-04160 / 24/06/1998
Directorate of Narcotic Control / Registration # DNC-0007 / 13/01/2003
Micro credit Regulatory Authority / M R A No. 000058 / 05/09/2007
Working Partnership:
01. Bangladesh Bank (Housing Loan Fund.),
02. Palli Karma Sahayak Foundation – PKSF ((Micro finance )
03. BRAC (Non-Formal Education)
04. Rural Development Academy (RDA)-Bogra (Arsenic free Water Supply,
Irrigation Project & Micro finance support),
05. Credit and Development Forum-CDF (Technical support for Micro-finance).
06. Directorate of Women’s Affairs(VGD Program) .
Network Membership:
01. Federation of NGOs in Bangladesh (FNB)
02. Credit and Development Forum (CDF),
03. MAC-Foundation,Comilla
04. PlaNet Finance, Paris, France
Operational Area
A huge remote area of poor, landless and vulnerable people under Comilla, Chandpur and Manikgonj districts
has been covered by the Organization.
Capacity of the Organization:
• Have a valid Executive Council to formulate Organizational policy,
• Organogram,
• Service Rule,
• Financial Management Manual,
• Personal records of the staffs,
• Procurement policy,
• MIS & FIS Reporting system,
• Yearly Plan and Budget,
• External and Internal Audit Report,
• Strong Monitoring & Evaluation Cell,
• Good leadership, Participatory planning and Decision-making process.
• Financial capability.
Governance
The General Council of the Organization is constituted with 27 members who comes from different walks of life and committed to serve the society as well as believe in mission, vision and the Constitution of the Organization. The members of the General Council have been selected as per set criteria in the light of the constitution from the applicants of Membership and duly approved.
The Executive Council is formed after every 3 years by direct fair election and the election is held as per rules depicted in the constitution. A qualified 3- members’ Election Commission is formed in the Executive Council Meeting before one month to perform the election of the Executive Council. The Election Commission publish the Voter list, and the Election Schedule notifying all the Members of the General council about the submission of nomination papers, date of scrutiny and the date, time and place of election. In a democratic process, thus a new Executive Council of 9 members is formed by votes of the members of the General Council to take over the responsibilities of the organization for another 3 years.
The Executive Director as the Member Secretary of the Board/Council prepare the documents with the professional hands of the organization for Planning, policies, Budgets, Strategies for implementation of Programs/Projects and produce before the Board as agenda of the meeting for approval. The Council after threadbare discussion of the agenda passes the issues as resolutions, generally but not necessarily, with their observations.
Executive Council of AUPChairman:
M. Abdur Rashid
Retired DGM, Uttara Bank Ltd.
Vice- chairman:
Muzibur Rahman Masud
ChieF Reporter, Jugantar.
Secretary General:
Muzibul Islam Faruque
Executive Director, AUP
Finance Secretary:
Kazi Mahbub Alam
Head of Finance & Accounts of an Industry.
Executive Member:
Prof. Dr. Md. Abu Bakr Siddique
Sylhet Agriculture University
Executive Member:
Tahmina Mahmud
Owner of a Diagnostic &Treatment Center
Executive Member:
Sajeda Habib
Free Lunch IT professional
Executive Member:
Md. Firuzur Rahman
SVP of a Life Insurance Company.
Executive Member:
Md. Abdul Barek
Renowned Businessman and Social worker of the Locality.
Strategy
The principal strategy of the organization in implementing its program/project is to follow a participatory development approach involving and activating both the stakeholders and the beneficiaries as development partners. AUP’s program interventions are designed and developed for addressing the priority issues like Education, Skill Development Training, Microfinance, Health, Sanitation, Mother & Child’s nutrition, etc. We very strongly believe in promoting and perusing maxima list approach to break the vicious cycle of poverty.
AUP follows a bottom–up and participatory approach and to this end starts mobilizing and organizing beneficiaries trough awareness building. We strongly believe that sustainability depends on the beneficiary target groups. Groups really decide the kinds of approach and assistance they really need and in the light of their decision, the organization provides the technical and financial support.
Main Sectors the Organization is working
Sl. No / Main Sector / Name of the Program01 / EDUCATION & CHILD’S RIGHT / Non-formal Primary Education (NFPE)
02 / SUSTAIABLE LIVELIHOOD & WOMEN DEVELOPMENT / Micro finance Program
Housing Loan Program
Skill Development Training
03 / AGRICULTURE DEVELOPMENT / Financial Support for Seasonal Crops, Livestock Rearing and Fishery development.
04 / SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT / Vulnerable Group Development (VGD)
Safe Water Supply and Irrigation Project
NON-FORMAL EDUCATION (NFP) PROGRAM
Education is a basic human right and is an essential element for human and social development. Education is considered as one of the pre-requisite conditions for sustainable development, social justice and peace. Realizing the fact AUP started the Non-Formal Education with its own resources since its inception in 1998. Later it started Adult Literacy in partnership with Proshika in the year 2000.
AUP started Non-Formal Primary Education in more organized way with the financial and technical assistance of BRAC under its Education Support Program since January 2003 at Kachua Upazila under Chandpur District. The program facilitates to cover disadvantaged children who have either been dropped out from their regular schooling before completing the primary education or never been enrolled as a learner in any school. The learners are aged between 8-11 years old and they come mostly from the neglected and poorest families of the community. The learners Non-formal Primary School of BRAC NFPE system include, 80% female and 20% are male students and education materials from BRAC have been used in these schools.
Objectives
To supplement national efforts towards building an illiteracy-free society which ultimately helps the poor and to empower themselves to come out of poverty.
Scope of Interventions
• Selection of learners
• Facilitating Non-Formal Education for children & adolescents
• Facilitating Non-Formal Primary education for dropped-out or unrolled children of 8-11 age group
• Providing infrastructure support for building school
• Providing education and material support Imparting training to the school teachers and supervisors
• Providing primary education to the working children.
AUP had completed 3 years course of primary education for 1740 children in 58 schools with the technical support by BRAC-ESP and financial support from European Commission and others Donors in till December, 2010. The Learners were awarded certificates in a simple ceremony in presence of the parents, School teachers and local community leaders.
In Non-formal Primary Education (NFPE) Program AUP have been running 24 schools in Kachua & Matlab Upazila under Chandpur district. The Non-formal Primary Education Program has widened the insight on different socio-economic issues and created opportunity to unlock the dormant potentials by imparting education for the non-school going children and dropouts.
Phase out NFPE SchoolsNo / Name of NFPE / Year / No of School / No of Students
1 / Non-formal Primary (NFPE) School / 2003 to 2005 / 10 / 300
2 / Non-formal Primary (NFPE) School / 2006 to 2008 / 10 / 300
3 / Non-formal Primary (NFPE) School / 2008 to 2010 / 38 / 1140
4 / Reaching Out of School Children (ROSC) / 2007 to 2010 / 12 / 360
5 / Non-formal Primary (NFPE) School / 2011 to 2015 / 10 / 300
On going NFPE Schools
No / Name of NFPE / Year / No of School / No of Students / Remarks
1 / Non-formal Primary (NFPE) School / 2012 to 2016 / 06 / 180 / Class iv students
2 / Non-formal Primary (NFPE) School / 2015 to 2019 / 03 / 90 / Class ii students
Funded by AUP & the community
3 / Non-formal Primary (NFPE) School / 2016 to 2020 / 06 / 210 / Class i students
Funded by AUP & the community
MICRO-FINANCE PROGRAM
AUP launched its micro-finance program in 1999 in a small village, called Tinchita under Daudkandi Upazila of Comilla district for the landless, poor and the underprivileged people and ultimately had extended working areas in neighbouring Chandpur district. AUP completed 15 years of operation of its microfinance program in 2015 and during the period many clients who started as the poor gradually graduated to micro-entrepreneurs which are a great achievement of its microfinance programme. AUP’s clients can now be classified into three components, these are:
• Rural Micro Credit (Jagoran)
• Micro Enterprise (Agrosar)
• Seasonal Loan (Sufolon)
Micro- insurance Services
Each & every borrower is covered by AUP insurance service for a period of 1 year. AUP introduced the insurance service as a safety net for the borrowers as well as hire repayment rates. The insurance service covers the risk of the repayment by unwanted death of any borrower or her husband. In case of sudden death of either the borrower or his/her spouse AUP writes off the remaining debt of the deceased and pays to the nominee the amount savings. For the insurance each of the borrowing members has to pay 1% as premium for the amount she borrowed. Every year we have to pay a substantial amount of money as insurance claim because the rate of mortality is generally high among the poor people.
Rural Micro Credit (Jagoran)
AUP started this program in a small village under Daudkandi Upazila of Comilla District in 1999. The objectives and present status of the program are presented below.
Objectives :
•To build confidence and capacity of the poor and ultra poor;
•To organize and built a receiving mechanism of the poor and ultra poor through which they can receive their necessary services, inputs and financial assistance for the improvement of their socio-economic status;
•To alleviate poverty from the very grass-root level of the country.
Conditions
•Service Charge: 13.1%-14.3% (Flat), 25%-27% (Declining) •Term: yearly (46 week)
•Repayment Schedule: weekly and monthly depending on the nature of activity.
Micro-insurance
•Premium: 1% of the disbursed amount.
•Risk coverage: The total loan amount shall be written off and the total savings shall be given to the legal inherit ant in case of either the death either of the loanee or the spouse.
Micro-Enterprise ( Agrosar )
AUP started this product for its graduate members who developed capacity to invest and manage bigger scale of income-generating activity (micro-enterprise) in 2009. The criteria of electing a member for this product are as follows;
Criteria of micro-entrepreneur
•Graduate members who developed capacity to undertake enterprise;
•Received Enterprise Development and Business Management (EDBM) Training.
•85% attendance in the weekly/ fortnightly meeting.
•100% utilization of previous loan.
•Good track record of business.
•10% of the proposed loan is accumulated in his/her savings account.
•Willing and capacity to participate at least 10% of the investment in the enterprise.
•Regular deposit in savings account.
Loan terms
•Working Capital : 1 year
•Fixed Capital : 2 years
•Service Charge : 13.1%-14.3% (flat) ,25%-27% (Declining)
Loan repayment conditions
•1 month grace period
•Weekly installment
•Monthly installment
Agriculture Loan (Sufolon)
AUP started this product April 2011 for support the marginal and small farmers to increase production (crops, livestock and fisheries) through access to seasonal based microcredit. The criteria of electing a member for this product are as follows;
Criteria of Seasonal Loan
• Graduate members who developed capacity to undertake enterprise;
• Have included RMC / ME Loan program.
• 85% attendance in the weekly/ fortnightly meeting.
•100% utilization of previous loan.
•Good track record of business.
•10% of the proposed loan is accumulated in his/her savings account.
•Regular deposit in savings account.
Loan terms
•Time: 3-6 Month (7 Month- depending of the situation)
•Service Charge : 13.1%-14.3% (flat), 25%-27% (Declining)
Loan repayment conditions
•No grace period
•Monthly/ One time installment
•Only Service charge monthly repayment mandatory.
Loan by Purposes
(Figures in percentage)
Sl. / Purpose / 2012 / 2013 / 2014 / 30.06.1501. / Agriculture Farming / 42.15 / 41.64 / 28.69 / 27.41
02. / Cow Rearing / 4.81 / 4.95 / 3.77 / 3.78
03. / Goat Rearing / 7.18 / 7.26 / 6.58 / 6.42
04. / Beef fattening / 3.89 / 3.06 / 3.02 / 3.02
05. / Poultry / 2.46 / 2.21 / 2.85 / 2.84
06. / Home gardening / 0.39 / 0.31 / 0.54 / 0.55
07. / Fruit gardening / 0.47 / 0.46 / 0.34 / 0.35
08. / Nursery / 0.51 / 0.96 / 0.88 / 0.89
09. / Handicrafts / 3.38 / 3.15 / 2.95 / 2.93
10. / Garments/Tailoring / 0.66 / 0.79 / 0.73 / 0.71
11. / Fisheries / 6.05 / 6.12 / 8.27 / 8.25
12. / Housing / 0.55 / 0.94 / 3.22 / 2.60
13. / Water Sanitation / 0.95 / 0.92 / 0.83 / 0.81
14. / Local Transport / 8.73 / 7.79 / 7.25 / 7.31
15. / Small business / 10.97 / 11.02 / 11.48 / 11.89
16. / Micro Enterprise / 6.85 / 8.42 / 18.60 / 20.24
Total / 100 / 100 / 100 / 100
Automation of Microfinance Program:
Human life and livelihood became more easy and dynamic by using Information Technology.
Like other sectors, Microfinance Sector has also been using Information. Technology since many years. Now a day’s even in the very rural Micro finance offices has been using the technology very efficiently and so far we know more than 100 MFIs has come under the integrated Online Microfinance Management System –MIS & AIS. AUP had signed an Agreement with the Grameen Communications in June, 2013 and by this time we have successfully implemented the G-Banker Software (Micro Credit Automation software) in 2 Branch.
The Software has the facility to calculate the interest in Decline method as per regulations of the Microcredit Regulatory Authority. Moreover, we can get the the MIS and FIS Reports as introduced by PKSF. Now we are more and more transparent in Financial Management and as well as the Group Management.
We have availed the following facilities from the Software to run our Microfinance Program in
More easy and dynamic way:
- Data can be Transferred by using EDGE Modem
- Weekly/Monthly Collection Sheet
- Reports on daily Collection, disbursement, and rate of collection.
- Reports on Center/Fieldworker based collection and disbursement.
- Monthly client based Report.
- Trial Balance Sheet, Income-Expenditure Statements and Balance Sheet.
- Profit and Loss Statement from Monthly closing.
- Subsidiary Ledger, Loan Ledger; and other relevant information regarding the Microfinance Program.
HOUSING LOAN PROGRAM
Housing for all’-is basic right of the people. A sweet home to live in is a long dream for everyone. Working people after daylong hard work in the fields, factories or other working places come back home tired and vexed need a complete sound sleep. But they often don’t have the opportunity to sleep at night because of the rain, storm and other natural calamities. Even in some small thatched houses more 6/7 people live in an unhygienic and hazardous condition. In such a miserable housing condition Bangladesh Government has taken the right and the great step to arrange loan to build houses for the homeless people on long term loan.
The overall objectives of the Housing Loan Program are:
• To build house for every homeless people providing long term loan at very low interest;
• To develop the living condition and make life more comfortable.
• To live in better health and hygiene condition in the houses.
As a Non-governmental Organization, we have taken the great responsibility of implementation of the Housing Loan Program at Matlab and Kachua Upazila under Chandpur District. We have been building the houses for the people since September 2005 and by this time 229 built houses had been transferred to the beneficiaries and another 67 houses to built for 67 new beneficiaries during the year 2014. We have never forgotten responsibilities and must not ever forget our moral obligation.
ARSENIC FREE WATER SUPPLY AND IRRIGATION
AUP has implemented a Project building Overhead Water Tank of 30,000 gallons of water capacity for Arsenic free Safe Water Supply to the Households at Joymotop Union of Singair Upazila under Manikgonj district as well as Irrigation for the crops, vegetation and Poultry and Fishery farms for the development of socio-economic condition of the People. The Project has been designed, technically and financially assisted by Rural Development Academy (RDA), Bogra. The project has the following three components:
• Arsenic and Iron free safe water supply to the households through pipe water line.
• Irrigation to the marginal farmers for more agricultural products
• Skill development Training and Credit support for Income Generation Activities to develop the socio-economic condition of the rural people.
AUP has been very successfully running the project since 2007 with 2 very high capacity Deep Tube Wells with submersible pumps; one for safe water supply and the other one for irrigation support for the local farmers. AUP had built more than 2 kilometers underground supply water pipe line to connect about 500 households and about 1 kilometer of RCC underground Irrigation Drainage Line to facilitate irrigation for 300 acres of cultivable land and other farms. More than 300 people got Skill Development Training on Modern Agriculture, Farming and other professions.