The Report On Internship (Microfinance and SME Programme) Name of the Organization:-Muslim Aid-UK, Bangladesh Field Office

Submitted To MD. Sazzad Hossain Lecturer and student adviser Dept. of International Relations University of Dhaka

Submitted By Ariful Isla Roll no.:-FR-70 2nd Batch, 8 Semester Dept of International Relations University of Dhaka

Date of Submission:- 16th November, 2011

Contents
1. 2. Introduction Overview of the organization
2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 A Short History of Muslim Aid Nature of the organization Number of employees Head of the organization HR, recruitment and general policy Political-Economy aspects of the organization

3.

Organizational Structure
3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Main offices Organogram Mission and vision Main activities

4.

Tasks assigned as an intern

4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.9 Process and structure of my assignment Major duties and responsibilities Duration Activities engaged Works completed

5.

Critical analysis: Linking theoretical knowledge with practical

5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Findings/learning from the assigned activities Valuation to the socio-economic settings of the country Major competitors of the organization Future prospect of the organization

experience

6.

Experience as Student Intern

6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 New Knowledge Problems encountered How internship experience affects my carrier Acknowledgement during internship

7.

Conclusion & recommendations for improvement

Introduction Muslim Aid is a UK-based international relief and development agency, and has been working for over 25 years to help save and improve the lives of millions in over 70 of the worlds poorest countries. Muslim Aid, also a premier British Muslim relief and development agency, guided by the teachings of Islam, endeavours to tackle poverty and its causes by developing innovative and sustainable solutions that enable individuals and their communities to live with dignity and by supporting initiatives that promote economic and social justice. Muslim Aids vision is the alleviation of poverty, education for all, and the provision of basic amenities for those in need; in order to create a world where charity and compassion. After registering with the NGO Affairs Bureau, Government of Bangladesh, Muslim Aid Bangladesh Field Office, started operating in Bangladesh in 1991. It is also registered with Ministry of Social Welfare, Microcredit Regulatory Authority and Income Tax and VAT authorities. Muslim Aid is a signatory of the IFRC Code of Conduct of NGO in Disaster Relief, a member of British NGOs for Overseas Development (BOND), Credit and Development Forum, Bangladesh, South Asia Network for Women's Empowerment and Development (SANWED), and Emergency Education Cluster, Bangladesh. Muslim Aid works in partnership while achieving its mission and goals and currently major partners in Bangladesh include European Commission

Humanitarian Aid Organization (ECHO), UN-FAO, World Food Programme (WFP), UNICEF, United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), USA, Educational, Charitable and Humanitarian Organization (ECHO)-USA, Save the Children-UK, Reach Out To Asia (ROTA), a Qatar based charity, Islamic Development Bank (IDB), Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre (ADPC), Bangkok, Thailand and Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC), Dhaka. A Short History Muslim Aid Bangladesh has been started its journey in 1991 immediate after the cyclone in the southern part of the country. In its 20 years of work in Bangladesh Muslim Aid in Bangladesh has supported 1.5 million people by helping during and after disasters as well as implementing development programs in education, health, income generating activities, water and sanitation, and capacity building for the grassroots level of the partners. Muslim Aid started its Microfinance program in 1993 with a noble vision to help the poorest section in the community to reduce the poverty line of the country. Later it extended the operation by starting Small and Medium Enterprise, agro based microfinance and special Microfinance project for the hardcore poor. Muslim Aid made partnership with Islamic Development bank, Shah Jalal Islamic Bank, Institute of Microfinance, Credit Development Forum and got registration of Microfinance Regularity Authority of Bangladesh Government. Plitical-Economic Aspects of the Organization Muslim Aid receives financial support from various international organizations to contribute to development initiatives in Bangladesh. The organizations are _ Muslim Aid Headquarters, London; _ Islamic Development Bank (IDB); _ World Food Programme (WFP); _ UN-FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization); _ UNICEF; _ Save the Children UK; _ European Commission Humanitarian Aid (ECHO); _ Reach Out To Asia (ROTA), a Qatar based charity; _ UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief); USA; _ Muslim Aid Australia; _ Educational Charitable and Humanitarian Organization (ECHO)-USA. HR, Recruitment and General Policy In order to ensure transparency, fairness and justice Muslim Aids activities are guided by various policies and manuals and they include: equal opportunity and

diversity policy, anti-bullying and harassment policy, conflict of interest in code of conduct policy, email & internet policy, grievance policy, fraud and corruption policy, procurement policy and logistic policies and HR policy/staff manual. Muslim Aid Bangladesh Field Office is run by a Management Committee consisting of 7 senior executives of the organization. The Management Committee takes all policy decisions, while the department heads implement the decisions. Muslim Aid preserves all records and documents, bill and vouchers, books of accounts properly as per standard financial manual. The expenditures are audited annually by reputed firms. After the completion of programmes/projects Muslim Aid submit reports to relevant authorities. The organization is guided by the following major policies, developed over the period of time of its operation _ Equal opportunity and diversity policy _ Bullying and harassment policy _ Conflict of interest in code of conduct policy _ Email & Internet policy _ Grievance policy _ Fraud and Corruption policy _ Procurement policy and logistic policies _ HR policy/Staff manual Muslim Aid preserves all records and documents, bill and vouchers, books of accounts properly as per following its standard financial manual and are being audited annually by the reputed firms.

Mission and Vision Of The Organization

Mission:
Muslim Aid, a premier British Muslim relief and development agency, guided by the teachings of Islam, endeavours to tackle poverty and its causes by developing innovative and sustainable solutions that enable individuals and their communities to live with dignity and by supporting initiatives that promote economic and social justice.

Vision:
The vision of the organization is the alleviation of poverty, education for all, and the provision of basic amenities for those in need; in order to create a world where charity and compassion produce justice, self reliance and human development.

Values:
Justice, Accountability, Compassion, Empowerment

Main Activities
Disaster Management and Climate Change:
In 2010 Disaster Management, Climate Change, WASH and Special Programmes department implemented as many as eighteen projects on emergency relief and rehabilitation, disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation, food security and school feeding, livelihoods, health, nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene. Many of the projects were in the flood and cyclone prone areas spreading over the entire southern coastal region, northeastern haor region, southern and south eastern Islands and char lands. MAB provided support to around 100 Upazillas of 45 districts covering crosssectional beneficiaries including farmers, schools teachers, students and school management committees, orphanages, unregistered Rohingya refugees and resource scarce households and on the top the disaster prone communities. Muslim Aid implemented the projects with financial and technical support from various national, international and UN agencies including ECHO, UNFAO, WFP, UMCOR, UNICEF through Save the Children, UNESCO, Muslim Aid Australia (MAA), Educational, Charitable and Humanitarian Organization (ECHO)-USA along with its own funds from Muslim Aid Headquarters (MAHQ) in London. While the projects incurred expenditure around BDT 400 million, European Commission Humanitarian Aid shared major cost. Muslim Aid implemented the projects in coordination with different government departments at district and upazilla level. The districts that received majority of the services were Satkhira, Cox's Bazar, Bhola, Patuakhali, Sunamgonj, Bagerhat,

Gopalgonj, Pirojpur, Kurigram and Netrokona. The services included humanitarian operations for refugees, emergency relief and recovery, DRR and climate change, food security and nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene and some religious dues with gifts and food aid but major portion of the fund was spent for emergency relief and recovery. The programme directly benefitted around 337,947 households and 232,796 individuals.

FOOD SECURITY AND NUTRITION

(Nutrition Support Project for the Vulnerable Communities in Coxs Bazar) The project is supported by the World Food Programme (WFP) and European Commission Humanitarian Aid Organization (ECHO). Initially Muslim Aid started supporting the poor vulnerable ommunities through its livelihood component in 2008 ut eventually expanded in the field of humanitarian assistance, health, security and nutrition. The current project has two components undertaken for the unregistered Rohingya refugees at Lada site in Teknaf of Coxs Bazaar district mainly related to Health and Nutrition to provide them with humanitarian assistance. Nutrition Project conducted a survey and it was translated into a program plan. And accordingly, supplementary feeding, therapeutic feeding through nutritional rehabilitation unit, nutritional survey, homestead gardening, training and awareness provided to 2,592 households and around 1,100 individuals. Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Muslim Aid Bangladesh Field Offices WASH component is dedicated to create access to safe, reliable and sustainable drinking water as well as sanitation for poor people. It aims to initiate a holistic approach incorporating hygiene promotion and education to rural people, ensuring access to sanitation services and providing safe water services for poor and hardcore poor and particularly for women. It also works to ensure proper maintenance and management of the existing water supplies by the community. Muslim Aid has been working on WASH since 1991 in Bangladesh through installation of tube well and sanitary latrines to the community suffering from lack of safe drinking water and sanitation facilities. Over the period it installed thousands of tube wells and sanitary latrines in the country mostly located in Pabna, Lalmonirhat, Gaibandha, Kurigram and Coxs Bazaar districts. In 2010 it concentrated mostly in Teknaf and Moheskhali Upazillas of Coxs Bazar district with its water, sanitation and hygiene facility and

awareness development initiatives. School sanitation and water treatment activities also were implemented in six primary schools in Dhaka city located in the less developed areas of Mohammadpur and Mirpur.

MICROFINANCE AND SME Muslim Aids microfinance programme is based on Islamic principles that emphasize equitable and justifiable resource distribution and social development. The programme is purely a social mission geared to empower the underprivileged and marginalized people in developing countries. The Islamic microfinance products that Muslim Aid has launched so far are: Qard-hasana, Murabaha, Bimuajjal and Musharaka. Muslim Aids poverty reduction programme through microfinance has gained huge popularity among the target groups and stakeholders. Within a short span of time Muslim Aid model reached the point of success. The success of the approach is because of three major elements: the simplicity in the process, cost effectiveness and the special commitment of Muslim Aid staff to build rapport. The approach has relieved its beneficiaries from group guarantee obligation which is by nature a burden putting extra stress on them. This unique nature of the MAB microfinance programme is a revolutionary step that led the organization towards new horizon of success and rewards. The Muslim Aid Approach To run this programme, Muslim Aid follow a specific approach. According to this approach, small groups in a samity to provide beneficiaries status of previous loan. A samity generally consists of 20-30 members and a group consists of 5 member. Organization enables them to share views, gather information that affects their lives. It makes them self confident and proactive. Members sit together on weekly basis and are facilitated with capacity building and awareness raising programmes on life and livelihood. MAB provides collateral free loan to its members. There are groups who are taking reliability in MABs credit programmes. Members have to wait for 30 days after their registration to get the first loan. In practice, the repayment is made through weekly or monthly installments; while the first installment needs to be repaid in the second week of the loan disbursed. The service charge is calculated flatly on the principal of the loan.

Education Programme;-(Women and Children)

Human resource development is at the heart of Bangladesh's development efforts and access to quality education is critical to poverty reduction and economic development. Bangladesh's commitment to education has been clearly stated in its Constitution. Education sector allocations are currently about 2.3 percent of GDP and 14 percent of total government expenditure while government declared its commitment to achieving Education for All (EFA) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Overall there are more than 17 million students at the primary level, and over 8.0 million at the secondary level. Enrolments at the tertiary level are relatively small but growing very rapidly. Bangladesh has made significant improvements, especially with regard to increasing access and gender equity, both at primary and secondary levels. Gross primary enrolment rates rose from 90 percent in the late 1990s to 98 percent in 2003, while a corresponding increase in enrolment rates at the secondary level rise to 44 percent. Having all success there is yet a big challenge to achieve MDG and 100% literacy for all by 2014. In order to achieve the goal as well as raising the quality and costeffectiveness of service delivery, government seeks cooperation from its development partners and NGOs. Muslim Aid is one of the trusted implementing agencies of different core programmes including education. MABFO plays important role in government policy making forum and bodies by giving its intellectual and logistic support through its programme. HEALTH SERVICE (Community & Maternal Health and AIDS Programme) Community & maternal health and AIDS & nutrition Programme is one of the core programs of Muslim Aid Bangladesh Field Office. Up until now, Muslim Aid Bangladesh Field Office has established four (4) community based hospitals in Mirpur of Dhaka, Pabna, Pirojpur and Kulaura of Moulavibazar. Muslim Aid hospitals ensure Outpatient and inpatient services, Normal delivery, Caesarean and general surgery within the range of clients in the community. Hospital services include: minor surgery and emergency outdoor services; diagnostic lab; ECG; USG; X-ray: ambulance & related emergency services; and household and community visit with IEC materials. Health Project for the Vulnerable Communities in Coxs Bazar Initially Muslim Aid started supporting the poor vulnerable communities through its livelihood component in 2008 but eventually expanded in the field of humanitarian assistance, health, security and nutrition. The current project has two components undertaken for the unregistered Rohingya refugees at Lada site in

Teknaf of Coxs Bazaar district mainly related to Health and Nutrition to provide them with humanitarian assistance. The Health and Protection Project provided support to around 25,000 patients. Major services provided include - health consultation, pathological test, medicines, reproductive health care, PWDs resource center and care, diarrhea treatment, referral and emergency care, promotional activities on health, hygiene, disaster risk reduction, women and child protection. Additionally, the HIS (Health Information System) has been introduced to keep updated data.

SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOOD (Support to Landless, Marginal and Small Farmers to Overcome Soaring Input and Food Prices in Impoverished Areas of Bangladesh) After implementation of series of projects in cyclone Sidr affected areas with cooperation from UNFAO with the funds of SDC in the sectors of Agriculture (crops, livestock and fisheries) the interventions were mostly concentrated on input distribution after receiving from FAO and monitoring of its effectiveness. Around one hundred thousand households (100,000) received various items on the three sub-sectors. Farmers training and capacity building initiatives were also one of the major areas of interventions since 2008. The project was started in August 2010 and will continue until June 2011, later extended to July 2011. The overall objective of the project is to enhance food security and support to marginal and small farmers to overcome volatility in prices for agricultural inputs and food prices in areas at risk of natural disaster in Bangladesh. Project activities are being implemented in close collaboration with DAE, DLS and DOF under the direct supervision of FAO in two Upazillas:- Kotalipara and Tungipara in Gopalgonj district. The project is supporting a total of 7,880 beneficiaries from 51 villages in the form of providing training and input support in crop, fisheries and livestock subsectors. By the end of 2010 approximately 90 % of the project work has been accomplished.

TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT

Training and development is the field concerned with organizational activity aimed at bettering the performance of individuals and groups in organizational settings. It encompasses three main activities: training, education, and development. It helps (i) in optimizing the utilization of human resource that further helps the employee to achieve the organizational goals as well as their individual goals; (ii) to provide an opportunity and broad structure for the development of human resourcestechnical and behavioral skills in an organization. It also helps the employees in attaining personal growth; and (iii) in increasing the job knowledge and skills of employees at each level. It helps to expand the horizons of human intellect and an overall personality of the employees. Besides, training and development helps in increasing employee productivity and team spirit; improving organizational culture, healthy work environment, health and safety, employee morale and corporate image; developing leadership skills, motivation, loyalty, and better attitudes. Having recognized the foregoing importance MAB kept provisions for its staff members a variety of training and development activities throughout the year.

Organizational Profile
Name:- Muslim Aid UK Bangladesh Field Office; Abbreviation:- MABFO Registration Number (or equivalent):- NGOAB-552 Date of Registration:- November 10, 1991 Place of Registration:- Dhaka Official address of Registration:- House 13 (4th & 5th floor), Road 27, Block J, Banani, Dhaka 1213, Bangladesh Country of Registration Nationality:- Bangladesh E-mail address of the Organisation:-info@muslimaidbd.org; obaid@muslimaidbd.org

Telephone number:- Country code + city code + number Tel: +88-02-8836221, 8836421 Fax number:- Country code + city code + number +88-02-8821368 Website of the Organisation:- www.muslimaid.org; www.muslimaidbd.org Bank Information:- Muslim Aid-UK Bangladesh Field Office MSA-20919 Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited (IBBL) Local Office, Motijheel, Dhaka, Bangladesh