ABOUT LUSTRE

BACKGROUND

LUSTRE is a local women-led development NGO. It was established in 1996 with the initiation of a group of educated likeminded women social workers. under the guidance of Laila Arzumand Banu, a renowned woman social activist, and has been dedicated for the welfare of the poor women, disables and children and with an aim to promote the socio-economic and cultural status of the rural poor and vulnerable women and children through conscientization, capacity building, institution building, capital formation, and imparting felt-need based problem solving program adopting modern scientific technologies. LUSTRE believes in non-directive, bottom up, participatory and integrated development frameworks and acts as a catalyst with its beneficiaries.

LUSTRE mainly works in the North-western part of Bangladesh and is currently one of the pioneer woman-led divisional level NGO’s in Bangladesh.

It has been initiating programs with people possessing prior field experience and owing to the specific background it inherited a broad and comprehensive outlook encompassing a multidimensional socio-economic, environmental and health development perspective. In 1996 LUSTRE started its activities initially taking the women enterprise development issues of the poor, marginal, disadvantaged, underprivileged and vulnerable women, women’s and child rights through a rights-based approach in the both Rural and Urban areas. These approaches were upheld by the organization in its later programs.

LUSTRE has similar beliefs to those for which it was initially founded. These include issues related to women enterprise development, women empowerment, improved reproductive health status of adolescents and mothers, child and women rights, childhood development and education, livelihood development, food security, climate vulnerability, injustice and exploitation.

It is LUSTRE’s perception that poverty is created by many interconnected and interdependent problems. LUSTRE believes that the bonds between these problems can only be broken and development made truly sustainable by addressing many of the issues simultaneously. Most NGO’s have chosen to specify their expertise in one or two areas but LUSTRE has retained its emphasis on the holistic approach. LUSTRE believes it must work in all sectors of the development context as shown in the table to be effective and sustainable. Furthermore, LUSTRE believes that the community will only truly develop if they themselves identify their needs and lead the process of change. LUSTRE takes a very strong stand against corruption and bribery. It is not open to either giving or receiving bribes. LUSTRE’s stand in this area is now widely recognized in the community. LUSTRE encourages other organizations to follow its lead.

VISION

Ensuring development of poor and marginalized people through creating equal opportunity, lasting livelihood options and justice.

OBJECTIVES

LUSTRE is working with an objective of reducing the poverty level of the marginalized community and main thrust is to improve their livelihood.

Develop projects that benefit marginal farmers and underprivileged people;
Provide financial services to landless and small-scale farmers though organizing group;
Attempt to create and environment for self-help people among the disadvantages group;
Mobilize local and national resources available to the disadvantaged, distressed people;

Achieve social, economic and cultural empowerment of the community;
Protect and Promote rights and dignity for all irrespective of caste creed and religion;
Employment opportunity by reducing poverty;
Increase level of awareness of masses on health, water, sanitation and environment;
Advocacy to create influence on policy issues;
Skill development and technology transfer for sustainable development;
Develop a strategy to address Thalassemia and provide necessary treatment support to the Thalassemia patients;
Prompt practice, participation, and research on art, culture, and heritage.

MISSION

To develop the poor and marginalized through ensuring support, information, capacity and technical skills. Mobilizing resources from GO-NGO and Private sectors and bridging the gaps between supply and demand side actors in a participatory and interactive process.

Observing the despair socio-economic and health condition of the people in Natore district, Laila Arzumand Banu a dedicated social activist took the pioneering initiative to form an organization in 1996 for providing need based assistance to the people in distress and disadvantage. She was started her effort through establishing blood bank at Natore and afterwards priority given to serve the Thalassemia patient.

Thalassemia is a genetic disorder and prevalent among children and treatment is costly as well as hard to reach at the specialized doctor and physicians for poor classes of people. Thus the journey with development activities of LUSTRE began. All the activities and efforts of LUSTRE demand based of the community. LUSTRE brought attention, recognition and appreciation from all stratums of people at the same time officials of GO/NGOs level.