Executive Director's Message

NUK has mostly focusing on its restructuring and transition from its more donors dependency to self-sufficiency and sustainability reflecting on the organization’s bright future as a pathfinder in the field of its women’s empowerment agenda. NUK has working to seek out new opportunities and modify approaches built on NUK’s comparative advantages for the future.

NUK’s renewed vision is to empower women and girls to make them aware about their individual rights, train them to act collectively and promote gender equality through education, networking and advocacy at the state, society and market levels. The vision is aligned the Millennium Development Goals “Promote Gender Equity and Empower Women”. In this regards NUK’s institution and programs are aimed at mobilizing women, both as beneficiaries and as agents of change, and address gender equity issues in development. The snowball effects of NUK’s interventions are manifested in the social, economic and political empowerment and leadership provided by NUK’s various constituencies. These include women-headed NGO’s, Development NGO’s, Readymade Garments Sector, Trade Unions, Secondary Schools and colleges in rural areas, and all current operation tiers of local government, including Union Parishads, Municipalities, City Corporations and Upazilas. 

NUK continues to work towards decentralization of its programs and projects. Taking into consideration its upcoming 20th anniversary, NUK is focusing on consolidating, restructuring and decentralizing several programs and institutions that now have the capacity of working as independent organization/institution. These include the Social Compliance Initiatives-Bangladesh (SCIB) for the garment sector, Bangladesh Woman Foundation (comprised of NGOs of the National Women NGOs Forums), Community Hospital, Kishoreganj Eye Hospital and the micro-finance unit of Kishoreganj. Under NUKs management, SCIB has continued focusing on areas of social compliance, remediation and advocacy through its Garment Factory and Workers Support Programs. Agarasindhur Community Hospital and Kishoreganj Eye Hospital have achieved high level of performance which is evident by the increase in the number of patients and outstanding quality of health care services. In order to achieve its renewed vision, during the year 2013-14, NUK concentrated its efforts on increasing partnership with multidimensional beneficiaries and development partners. The vision includes empowerment of women and girls, raising awareness about their rights individually and collectively and promoting gender equality through education, networking and advocacy with the state and the market. The vision is aligned with the government’s poverty reduction strategy. NUK gives high priority to issues like women’s political participation, participation in sports and other physical activities, gender based violence against women & girls and empowerment of disabled persons. NUK is one of the first organizations in Bangladesh that has been working to include/improve women and girl’s participation in sport and physical activities for women. NUK’s experience over the years and the impact of its interventions over its target population has now reached a stage where it can shape a suitable integrated community based gender equitable society model. This could help trigger general people’s realization about the existing patriarchal system and the need to change it. Under its “Adolescents Rights Support” program, NUK facilitated the establishment of “Student’s Forums” to engage young girls in sports, physical activities as well as Karate training. NUK’s innovative approach induces the general mass to rethink about drawbacks of the existing patriarchal/male dominated society.

NUK has sought out new opportunities to modify its approaches for its upcoming 20th anniversary and build on its comparative advantages. During the reporting period, NUK has integrated a new component towards defending women’s rights and ensuring self-security under the scope of the ‘adolescent girls rights support programme’ that is the “Sports and Physical Activities for Women’s Empowerment”.

I am particularly grateful to the Chairperson and Members of the Executive Committee of NUK for their continued support and guidance in conducting the affairs of the organization successfully. Special thanks to NUK’s development partners and supporters that include Christofell Bliden Mission (CBM)-Germany, SOLOs Invest-France, Global Fund For Women and the Tides Foundation of USA, for their generous financial and technical support and spirit of partnership in developing and implementing our programs. 

gratefully acknowledge the contributions of the senior management team, respective staff members and NUK’s network partners of woman NGOs, elected women representatives, student forums of secondary schools, Bangladesh Garment Workers Protection Alliance (BGWPA), as well as the Trade Unions, for their commitment and dedication to the cause of achieving NUK’s goal and objectives.

Mashuda Khatun Shefali
Executive Director
Nari Uddug Kendra (NUK)