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Dear Friends of Friendship,

As we come to the end of 2019, and greet the beginning of a new year and a new decade, we in Friendship can look back at the year and our achievements with pride. We could not have done this without you, our friends, our partners, well-wishers and the incredible support of colleagues, both nationally and internationally.

Thank you all for your support; for it is only together that we can embark upon our mission to help improve the lives of the millions who are left behind. Even as the world moves toward new technological and financial horizons, millions are still living on the fringes, unable to access basic human needs or lead a life of dignity. We need your continuous help as we strive towards a more equitable world!

This year, our Health services have been expanded by 9 new districts. We have given primary and secondary health services to over 20 million people. We served 6% of the population and provide continuous access to healthcare to 20% of the population of Bangladesh. 100% of our beneficiaries are the migratory populace in remote inaccessible areas, from the climate impacted communities. With the 5 new hospital ships due to be inaugurated in the 1st quarter of 2020, we hope to bring a new modality of working through public-private partnership with the Government of Bangladesh and its bilateral donors, to reach dependable healthcare to the migratory climate refugees for the coming future.

In the Rohingya camps, our 3 -tier healthcare system has expanded to becoming the second largest national health care provider. For health, in the camps, we are serving over 150,000 people per month.

What touches us deeply also, is the commitment of the children and adults in our 100 academic centres who are part of our Education Sector. Here, men and women from the local communities who have barely passed grade 8 or 9 are trained as teachers by Friendship. In areas which provide no geographical or climate stability, whose economic status hardly allow 3 meals a day, our students are outperforming their peers with a 100% pass rate in the national primary exam, with 99.79% achieving A grade and above. Our schools, all of which are formal schools, from primary - high school, are competing with children from all over Bangladesh. We have proudly received 100% of the merit-based Government Scholarships of the Unions. Our adult education students who couldn’t hold a pencil when they started our courses, today, can write letters of information and demands to Government authorities!

Moreover, we have partnered with UNICEF to build and operate 100 schools in the Rohingya camps, where Friendship’s programs on environment and Code of Ethics are taught as part of the curriculum.

Our Climate Resilience sector initiative has strengthened further. Besides our cooperation with the Government by partnering with the Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE), we are continuing to provide safe drinking water through 6 desalination water plants along the coastal belt, for the people impacted by the climate effects of salination of the water bodies. Our preparedness programs continue to impact (internally Displaced People) IDPs all along the river Jumna (Brahmaputra) and the coastal belt of the Bay of Bengal.

Our mangrove afforestation initiative is continuing annually, bringing another 70 hectares under it this year. Friendship mangrove nurseries are the largest source of mangrove seedlings in Bangladesh today.

Besides the installation of Watsan, we have partnered with the Government to install a laboratory for testing potable water in the Rohingya camps.

We have also worked with the Government of Luxembourg to setup Transitional Funding for those IDPs or the climate impacted migratory population who need help to stand back on their feet before approaching loan financing.

Our Sustainable Economic Development introduced crab farming for fishermen in Satkhira district as an alternate means of income to empower them with better economic opportunities even in the off-season. Our sister concern Nodi Ltd, has also set up its first outlet in Dhaka and a popup store off Grand Rue in Luxembourg.

A team of legal professionals from the Luxembourg Bar Association paid a visit to our Inclusive Citizenship interventions in the field that help marginalized people claim their legal and economic rights. They shared their experience and expertise with 125 lawyers of the Dhaka Bar Association. Our Char Theatres are now being held in different districts, privately and publicly and invited to perform at Government awareness programs.

To teach the children the importance of our culture, it’s legacy and roots, we organized an exhibition at the International School, Dhaka displaying our 3,000 years of boat building heritage through our Cultural Preservation sector.

I cannot end this letter in December 2019 to all of you without mentioning the deep loss for Bangladesh and all of us personally who have suffered at the passing of our beloved Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, Founder of BRAC. His contribution to the people of Bangladesh will never be forgotten, for he has been a beacon for the generations of social entrepreneurs of today all over the world. May he rest in peace.

We’ve made great strides this year and we are grateful to our partners for these achievements. As we enter the new decade, I’m confident that with all of your support we can bring even greater accomplishments in 2020 and beyond.

Wishing you a Happy New Year! And wishing that the dream of solidarity becomes a strive for the coming decade – Bringing Dignity, Opportunity and Hope for all.

With Kind Regards, 

Runa Khan

Founder & Executive Director
Friendship
Tel: +88 02 881 48 23 - 24 / +8802 986 00 47
P: +8801711594728 (National telephone, whatsapp/viber),
P: +352 621 324 269 (whatsapp)
F: +88 02 8417732
Web: www.friendship.ngo

Friendship

K-14/2A, Baridhara North Road (Kalachandpur), Dhaka
Bangladesh

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