The project was designed to promote entrepreneurship for sustainable income growth of the poor and marginalised farming households around the Chevron-operated gas field areas in greater Sylhet region, said a press release.
A launching ceremony of the phase-II of the Jibika project was held on July 4 in Dhaka which was attended by officials of various government agencies, Brac, Chevron, IDEA and village development organisations (VDOs).
Chevron said the phase-I of the Jibika project successfully established 110 Village Development Organisations, which later achieved registration from the Department of Cooperatives.
Starting with seed money of 3-5 lakh, each VDO now has an average operating capital of 6 lakh. Brac and its implementing partner IDEA have also facilitated intensive trainings on leadership, fund management, cattle and vegetable rearing for the communities, said the release.
From the year 2015-2019, about 20,000 people in the community have benefited from the Jibika project. Following the successful completion of phase-I, phase-II of the project is designed to further strengthen the governance and management of the Jibika cooperatives and help them achieve long-term sustainability by 2022.
Muhammed Ahsanul Jabbar, Additional Secretary of Energy and Mineral Resources Division; Ismail Chowdhury, Director, Corporate Affairs Chevron Bangladesh; Alexander Yelland, General Manager, Corporate Affairs of Chevron Asia South; and Anna Minj, Director, Community Empowerment, Gender Justice & Diversity, Integrated Development Programme, Brac, were present with Matiul Islam Nowshad, Senior Director, Operations and Strategic Initiatives of Brac, in the chair.
Chevron launches phase-II of Jibika project
Dhaka, July 7 (UNB) - Chevron Bangladesh in collaboration with Brac has launched the phase-II of Jibika project.