Sustainability of community-based organizations of the rural poor: Learning from Concern's rural development projects, Bangladesh

Based on two decades of grassroots experiences, Concern Bangladeshhas developed a federation structure to ensure the sustainabilityof community-based organizations (CBO). Despite capacity-buildinginputs to all federations, only a few of them have been ableto operate without substantial external aid. This lack of progressrelates to a ‘one size fits all’ capacity-buildingstrategy and other sociopolitical issues such as the alienationof federations from the wider community and to political manipulation.Successful federations demonstrate that a committed leader whoensures participation, respects transparency and accountability,and promotes second line leadership can contribute positivelyto sustainability, even in an adverse sociopolitical context,and with limited capacity-building support.