About Us

Background :

In 1988, a devastating flood occurred in all over Bangladesh. Tangail is a low-lying area thus, it was severely affected. A group of social worker worked on relief and rehabilitation activities and realized that the poor and destitute families were more severely affected, victimized and traumatized because these people had no education, no idea to cope with any adverse situation, very conservative and bonded with so called religious and social superstitions which pushed them to be neglected from every corner of human rights. Since then said social workers were communicating and discussing among them regarding the sustainable development and support for those backward community people by creating a path of empowerment. Eventually they established a development organization namely SATU.

SATU is an acronym of Social Advancement Through Unity –a Non-Government, Non-political and Non-religious Organization founded in 1991 by a group of likeminded social workers with a view to work for poor and destitute families and establish social peace where everyone of the community enjoy their rights and living in peace and harmony. Firstly, SATU started with consciousness rising on personal and environmental hygiene, importance of education, human rights and use of local resources, safe drinking water and sanitation. Secondly, it was given emphasis on staff capacity building and effective management. Thirdly, SATU came into formal shape in 1992 and registered under the Directorate of Social Service. Gradually, SATU became a recognized NGO in Tangail of which its comprehensive programs and activities attracted the donor agencies and Government of Bangladesh and praised by them to undertake, design and implement integrated development programs for the betterment of the poor, vulnerable, destitute and disadvantaged families especially for women and children. SATU registered with NGO Bureau under the foreign donation rules and regulation in 1993. After that SATU developed a number of NGO networks in Bangladesh and abroad. Moreover SATU have got its membership with PKSF in 2002 for functioning Micro-Credit Program.

Objectives of SATU :

To develop human resources and behaviour by providing need-based training both for staff and target people and to undertake programs for eradicating illiteracy of adults & children.
To establish child rights as per UNCRC and undertake programs to eliminate worse forms of child labor from formal and non-formal sectors, eventually to make a child friendly environment where every child will enjoy their rights.
To empower the women especially who are the poor, distress, disadvantaged through formation of group/somity by ensuring active participation-in identifying problems, in searching several options for addressing the problems, in decision making process and in undertaking schemes for their socio-economic development.
To raise level of awareness of the target beneficiaries regarding human rights, psycho-social protection, HIV (AIDS), STD, safe drinking water, sanitation, social forestations, nutrition and health care.
To make the target women’s self-dependant and generate their savings for Income Generating Activities.
To assist the target beneficiaries in developing entrepreneurship for employment generation through micro-credit support.
To undertake programs on Disaster Preparedness for the people of disaster victims and disaster prone area, where the target beneficiaries will be capacitated and familiar with copping mechanism and will have enough preparation to mitigate, and undertake Relief and Rehabilitation program for them to recover losses.
To undertake programs for Protection of ecological balance of environment like tree plantation, use of organic fertilizer etc.
To establish network and linkage nationally and internationally with GOs, NGOs and Donors/Partners for information, intervention and cooperation.

Development Philosophy of SATU :

SATU development philosophy emphasis non-relief ideology, rather it believes that through utilizing one’s own ability attains development leading to self and social freedom. SATU utilize a group based development approach in implementing its development plans. In a cyclical process rural poor and urban dwellers particularly women and children are identified, organizing them, identifying and discussing their problems and sorting remedies, monitor progress, and again identifying new problems. SATU acts as a catalyst, initiating and supporting the development process of the group members. The organization works with all persons and community as partner and ultimately directs its development according to the principle of self-reliance and empowerment.

Management, Planning and Decision Making Process of SATU :

SATU fully follows the participatory approach in its management, planning and decision-making. In some cases due to certain situation in management decision, it follows top-down process/approach while in planning and decision making it follows the Participatory Reflection and Action (PRA) and Participatory Learning Approach (PLA). The following committees are deeply involved in management, planning and decision making and are continually providing support to the organization in implementing its programs and activities.

General Committee :

SATU’s General Committee has been formed comprising of 27 members of likeminded and people from different profession motivated in social works within the society. . Among them are professor, teacher, doctor, businessman, social worker, advocate, and journalists etc. who serve for the overall development of the organization in SATU as volunteer. According to the constitution, General Assembly is held regularly. In the annual General Committee, meetings ongoing progress of different projects and activities of the organization are critically reviewed and approves yearly activities plan and budget for the next year after analytical discussion on the annual report and expenditure of the previous year. As per constitution, General body elects an Executive Committee through direct voting system.

Executive Committee :

The General Committee elects members of the executive committee for a period of two years. The Executive Committee consists of 9 members. It performs all responsibilities on behalf of the General Committee. The Executive Director serves as the Member Secretary of the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee is accountable to the General Committee. Executive Committee appoints Executive Director who is responsible for the day-to-day running the activities of SATU. On behalf of the organization, this committee formulates different policies, approves projects and as required assists the Executive Director in decision-making.

Senior Management Committee :

All Directors and Department Heads are members of the Senior Management committee. Headed by the Executive Director, Senior Management Committee is the top body to make decisions in relation to formulation of different policies and its implementation. The Directors with delegated authorities assist the Executive Director as per Management structure of the organization. Senior Management Committee holds monthly meetings before Core Staff Meeting and weekly meetings based on the necessity of the situation.

Core Staff Committee :

The staff those who are directly involved with the program implementation and management like, Deputy Director, Assistant Director, Manager (Accounts), Manager (Program), Training Officer, Zonal Managers, Area Managers (Program), Education Officers, Program Officer/Project Implementation Officer and Directors are members of the Core Staff committee. Headed by the Executive Director, Core staff holds monthly coordination meeting/workshop where various program performances, progress and learning are reviewed on last month’s planned activities and prepare operational plan for the next months.

Mid-Level Management Meeting :

Mid-Level Management Meeting/workshop are held monthly in all areas and quarterly in head office where all Branch Manager attends in the meeting. Progress of different activities, identifying problems and ways and means to resole problems are discussed and for better and effective implementation of the program and its activities, new intervention are undertaken and prepare operational plan for next quarter.

Legal Status :

SATU is registered with the following organizations:

Name of the Registration intuition	Registration Number	Date of Registration
Directorate of Social Services	TA-0541	March 15, 1992
NGO Affairs Bureau	795	December 29, 1993
Micro-Credit Regulatory Authority (MRA)	01300-00405-00047	September 05, 2007

Target People :

SATU’s development philosophy emphasizes sustainable development and is built on the principle of self-reliance and empowerment. The development programs of SATU utilize a group based approach rather than individual and engage in a cyclical process of facilitating poor, disadvantaged, distressed, helpless and ethnic minority people focusing women and children in rural, urban and char areas.

Sources of Funding :

• Womenkind-Uk

• APHD-Thailand

• Andheri Hilfe Germany

• Canadian Internationa Development Agency (CIDA)

• European Community

• International Development Exchange (IDEX-USA)

• Caritas Netherlands

• Save the Children Australia (SCA)

• German Embassy

• World Fish Center and USAID

• Australian High Commission

• International Labor Organization (ILO)

• International Fund for Agriculture Development (FAO)

Ongoing Programs :

Human Resource Development
Non-formal Education Program
Ultra Poor Development Project
Rural Micro-Credit Project
Urban Micro-Credit Project
Micro Entrepreneur Project
Seasonal Loan Project
Risk Prevention Program
Agricultural Development Activities
Fisheries and Livestock Development Activities
Housing Project
Mother & Child Health Development
Enrich Program
Night Care Program
Environment Development Activities
Rural Water & Sanitation Development
Beggar Rehabilitation

Networking :

As mentioned above that SATU established a very good linkage with stakeholders, donors, NGOs and different Networks. SATU is a member organization of:

• Bangladesh Shishu Adhikar Forum (BSAF)
• Federation of NGOs in Bangladesh (FNB)
• Credit Development Forum (CDF)
• Danish NGO Forum
• Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE)

Staff Strength :

Particulars	Male	Female	Total
Permanent Staff	433	186	619
Part-time Staff	06	104	110
Total	439	318	757

To increase income Training on Awareness Building and Skill Development :

Training is a continuous program of SATU. Without training improving the socio-economic condition of the beneficiaries and subsequently sustainable development is not possible. To develop the group members socio-economically, two types of training are available. SATU, in order to develop the socio-economic condition of the beneficiaries, group members’ who are unaware and are economically weak and who are unable to develop themselves they are organized and given awareness building training on various issues and subsequently provided different skill development trainings. On the other hand, group members who are skilled and experienced they are provided with micro-credit to move ahead with their initiatives for self-dependant. To reduce social problems, awareness building training and to increase family income skill development trainings are provided. To eliminate various social issues, awareness building training is a regular activity that continues along side the regular activities of the groups. This awareness building training sometimes takes place at the village level and sometimes Union-wise. In order to increase the family income of the beneficiaries different skill development training are being implemented. Different skill development trainings like poultry rearing, milch cow rearing, beef fattening, goat rearing, tailoring science, vegetable cultivation, bamboo & cane furniture making etc. are provided to the group members. As of December ’11, SATU has provided awareness building to nearly all of its group members and skill development trainings on theabove mentioned issues to those group members who have received loans. Skill building training is a formal training that is held in a training venue.

Designers

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ABOUT US