Bangladesh has a high density in NGO population. There are more than 15000 NGOs working in Bangladesh. It is important to study the NGOs as development organization and how the NGO programs affect the life of the poor people. NGOs are one of the many sectors engaged in the same end. If development is the concern of the NGOs, they must posses some capacities, which ensures that to happen. The growing criticisms against NGOs are the reflection of the lack of required development capacities. The capacity of NGOs should be seen in terms of the programs they undertake. The emphasis here in this study will be given on to explore NGOs capacity of managing development programs that alleviate poverty and empower the same group of population in Bangladesh.
As the main tools of NGO approach is the group based credit, the examination of NGOs developmental role would be incomplete if it did not include an examination of the socio-cultural attitudes of the communities towards repayment and their perception of the role of lending agencies. Again, loan size and generating sufficient income also determine the user’s ability to pay for interest and savings.
NGOs approach to development is mainly based on the assumption that the poor people in Bangladesh are homogenous and belongs to the same income group. So they can be mobilized and will find easier to engage them in some form of economic activity. So most of the NGOs start working with the poor by forming groups. As the poor are mostly defined as income poor NGOs have come forward with credit service to their clients. And the groups ensure the payments of weekly installments.
As credit operation has become the main business of the NGOs in Bangladesh, they may have to keep their original mission aside to be in the market. So while running the credit program or commercial business NGOs should be concerned with the mission, why they have been evolved. If the new circumstances compel them to take different ways of running the affairs, it has to make clear to it stakeholders or they can change their mission statement. So, keeping the organizational mission upheld in the competitive world is important capacity of NGOs. Therefore keeping this in mind NGOs have to learn to be in the development field without sacrificing their primary mission or goal.
To serve interest of the poor the NGOs need to acquire capabilities in order to devise and uphold a clear organizational mission. The clarity of a mission statement can help an organization to become a ‘learning organization’ and build social capital, effectively manage programs and introduce voluntarism as an organizational value.
In the absence of these features NGOs sustainability may be at stake. In Bangladesh NGOs offer alternative development models. It is very crucial that NGOs work with commitment in order to attain the mentioned capabilities.
