press release Experiences Shared of the Jibika Project

12 December 2018, Dhaka: An event was held yesterday to share the learnings and experiences of the three-year long Jibika project - a collaboration between BRAC and Chevron and implemented under the latter’s Bangladesh Partnership Initiative, which is a multi-year economic development program serving the company’s gas-field communities in Northeastern Bangladesh. 

Md Kamal Uddin Talukder, Secretary of Rural Development & Cooperatives Division, Ministry of LGRD & Cooperatives, was present as chief guest, while Md Abdul Majid, Registrar and Director General, Department of Cooperatives, Ministry of LGRD & Cooperatives; Neil Menzies, President, Chevron Bangladesh; Ismail Chowdhury, Director, Policy, Government & Public Affairs, Chevron Bangladesh and KAM Morshed, Director, Advocacy for Social Change, Technology and Partnership Strengthening Unit, BRAC were present attended as special guests. Anna Minj, Director, Community Empowerment, Integrated Development, Gender Justice & Diversity Programme of BRAC presided over the event as chair.  

Mr. Talukder lauded the collaboration between BRAC, the largest development organization in the world, and Chevron, Bangladesh’s largest International Oil Company, working together for the socio-economic development of vulnerable communities residing in Chevron’s areas of operation in Northeast Bangladesh. 

Mr. Menzies expressed his appreciation to the Department of Cooperatives for their support in the institutionalization of 106 community-based organizations (village development organizations, or VDOs), a core element of the Jibika project. 

KAM Morshed spoke at length about the merits of the value-chain system and said that this aspect of the project could be successfully replicated in other regions of Bangladesh, especially in the haor area. 

Mr. Ismail Chowdhury touched on Chevron’s corporate social responsibility programs, which have been running since 2006, impacting the lives of thousands of people residing near its gas fields. He highlighted Jibika’s role in supporting local communities with delivery of capacity-building trainings, boosting entrepreneurship and leadership skills, and provision of seed funds for the establishment of new enterprises.  

Attendees were able to visit a model VDO office, constructed especially for the event, and speak in person with selected Jibika beneficiaries about the modalities of the project. It is worth noting that two of the 106 VDOs were recognized by the Upazila Cooperative Office as the best cooperative in Nabiganj Upazila (under Habiganj District) for 2018.  

The Jibika project was designed to develop local institutions and promote entrepreneurship for sustainable income growth of the poor and marginalized farming households around the Chevron-operated gas fields in Sylhet, Moulavibazar and Habiganj districts. Jibika’s economic development activities are steered through 112 community-based organizations known as Village Development Organizations (VDO). IDEA, a Sylhet-based NGO has been working with BRAC as its implementing partner. In the three years, about 20,000 people have been benefitted since the implementation of Jibika three years ago.