The SETU project was designed as a seven-year intervention to sustainably graduate 45,000 extreme poor households out of poverty.
Description
CARE’s Social and Economic Transformation of the Ultra-Poor (SETU) project in Bangladesh worked with Union Parishads (local governments) and extremely poor communities and facilitated opportunities for the two groups to engage in dialogue and negotiate. During this process, natural leaders emerged from among the poor who were able to mobilize communities to negotiate with landlords or with employers for fairer wages, and to represent community needs to Union Parishads. SETU also helped reestablish local budget planning meetings, which enabled the most marginalized people to advocate for spending decisions that benefited their communities. The project ensured consultations and social audits were held with local decision makers and marginalized groups of women, to make certain poor women’s perspectives were taken into account.
SETU was implemented in four districts in northwestern Bangladesh that are severely affected by seasonal food insecurity.