projects of care bangladesh

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The Rural Maintenance Programme (RMP)
Supported by: Government of Bangladesh, Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the European Community

The RMP is one of the largest poverty alleviation programmes implemented by CARE Bangladesh started in 1982 and is active in approximately 90% of rural Bangladesh. The programme addresses important development challenges such as poverty alleviation, women's empowerment and institutional capacity development of local government institutions.

Destitute women are recruited to the RMP and are employed for a 4-year period, over which time they receive wages for maintaining earthen village roads, accumulate savings for investment, and participate in a comprehensive 4-year cycle of life-skills training. By the time the women are graduated from the RMP, they will have received skills training in roads maintenance, health awareness, numeracy, human rights, gender equity, health, nutrition, business management as well as income generation activity (IGA) preparation. The RMP helps women to become self-reliant and prepares them to be better able to face challenges in their everyday lives.

SNAPSHOT

	The RMP is one of CARE's largest poverty alleviation programmes, covering 90% of Bangladesh
	More than 40,000 destitute women work for four years, earning a regular salary with an 22% savings component
	Up to 84,000 kms of rural earthen roads are maintained every year
	Every year 10,000 women graduate from the project and 79% of them are self-employed
	66 RMP women have been elected to Union Parishads

The RMP is in its third phase and is currently being implemented through partnership with the Local Government Division of the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives of the GoB.

The goal of RMP is to contribute to the long-term socio-economic development of rural Bangladesh. The objectives of RMP are:

To provide year-round employment to approximately 42,000 destitute rural women
To train, counsel and support the RMP women in life-management skills so they can become self-reliant
To maintain 84,000 kms of important rural earthen roads and feeder roads
To enable local governing bodies, such as Upazila Parishads, Upazila RMP Cells, Union Parishads and elected Project Management Committees to plan, implement and monitor the Road Maintenance Component of RMP and other development projects at the local level
To promote the participation of local women leaders in project decision-making and operations management.

RMP field activities are currently organized under two components. These are the Income Diversification Component-Revised (IDC-R) and the Road Maintenance Component-Capacity Strengthening (RMC-CS).

The major focus of the IDC-R is to:

Carry out recruitment of destitute women to the RMP and organize them into crews and Road Maintenance Associations (RMA)
Provide life management skills on group cohesiveness, primary health, numeracy, human rights and basic business management
Perform project integrity monitoring
Provide income generation activities preparation (IGA) and follow-up business counseling

The major focus of the RMC-CS is to:

Train road workers and monitor road maintenance quality
Improve the managerial capabilities of the Local Government institutions so they are better able to independently manage the Road Maintenance Component as well as other development projects and initiatives involving local communities
Promote the participation of the local community, especially women, in project policy-making and management.

Currently, approximately 41,520 women are employed in road maintenance work through the Rural Maintenance Programme. The RMP operates in 4,152 Unions of 61 Districts through its eight regional offices based in Barisal, Bogra, Comilla, Gazipur, Jessore, Mymensingh, Rangpur and Sylhet.