Ethnic Community Development Organization (ECDO)

Über uns

Ethnic Community Development Organization (ECDO) is a voluntary development organization working for and with the indigenous people of Sylhet Division of North Eastern part of Bangladesh. ECDO was founded in 2002 and is a Local Non-Government and Non-profit organization established by some dedicated individuals from different ethnic communities in the Sylhet region.

ECDO envisages a society where empowered, educated, aware and culturally diverse indigenous groups are able to ensure their own human development free from discrimination, poverty and exploitation.
ECDO´s mission is to assist indigenous communities in working for a positive and sustainable change for those deprived of rights and opportunities by implementing both service delivery and rights based approaches. ECDO implements its activities in a fully participatory and bottom-up approach with an emphasis on empowerment from within the indigenous communities.

Strategic Focus Area
• Promoting quality education for indigenous children.
• Promoting a conscious and aware attitude to general Health and specifically HIV/AIDS issues.
• Ensuring safe drinking water and sanitary practices for all.
• Promoting democracy & human rights, particularly for ethnic minorities & indigenous peoples.

Objectives of Strategic Focus Areas
• To ensure all indigenous community children have access to their right to quality education.
• To ensure accessibility of sustainable health services for all indigenous communities.
• To ensure a sustainable change in hygienic and sanitary behavior and access to safe drinking water for all indigenous communities.
• To empower indigenous peoples to raise their voice and increase their capacity.
• To create awareness among indigenous communities so that they are able to practice their rights, culture and are united.

Today ECDO runs three main programs, which can be summarized as:
• Promoting education for all in indigenous communities through Education Support Centres, a Global Art Exchange with a primary school in the UK, and Education Materials Distribution.
• Ensuring access to health facilities through medical camps and raising awareness about HIV/AIDS. In addition ECDO raises awareness on reproductive health issues for mothers and their new-born children
• Water and sanitation programs which includes awareness raising workshops about sanitation and the delivery of five Rain Water Harvesting Plants to provide an arsenic and other bacteria-free source of water for the indigenous people.

ECDO also operates a Research and Publications wing and publishes annual Journals, Newsletters and IEC/BCC Materials.

Lakshmikanta Singh is the Executive Director of the Ethnic Community Development Organization (ECDO).

For other net participants we can offer an expert guidance through trained staff, give an expert opinion, procure expert information and establish new contacts in the field of our work.