Nogorikata -Civic Engagement Fund (CEF)

Project Purpose

To promote SDG 5 (Gender Equality) and advance policy-relevant dialogue on gender equality in Bangladesh through a Human Rights-Based Approach (HRBA), placing youth, women, and most disadvantaged communities as central change agents.

Strategic Objectives

1. Reduce gender disparities
2. Eliminate gender-based violence (GBV)
3. Increase women's and youth agency
4. Drive structural changes addressing root causes of gender inequality

Direct Beneficiaries

Key Activities

• Courtyard meetings — 2,100 sessions across 84 Unions on women/youth rights
• Community dialogues — 216 sessions at Upazila level
• Public hearings on women's rights — 444 sessions
• Paribarto Corners — 8 safe spaces for women and youth (legal aid, SRHR counselling, referrals)
• Legal aid referrals — ~14,985 cases (75% women-related)
• Mohila Mukti Sanghee — 8 Women's Freedom Fellow groups
• 16 Days of Activism — reaching 2.5 million people
• CBO capacity building — 25 CBOs per district across 6 districts
• Youth Clubs — 6 clubs for youth aged 19–30
• Review of National Women's Development Policy-2011 — consultations, workshops, national seminar
• SRHR Toolkit development and distribution
• Web and iOS app for project management and beneficiary tracking
• Study on women in unpaid/informal work — findings submitted to GoB

JSUS-Specific Role

JSUS is one of five women-led NGOs in the consortium, responsible for implementation in Chittagong district. All five partner organizations are female-headed with 15+ years of experience working with youth, women, and disadvantaged groups in their respective areas.

All five consortium partners — including JSUS — share the same programmatic approach, using the HRBA "four powers" framework: Power Over, Power Within, Power With, and Power To.