Organizational Revenue Generation

YWCA of Bangladesh has been initiating innovative revenue generating projects to enhance job creation and business development with a view to improving the beneficiaries’ livelihood and bolstering organizational income generations. Thus, it is contributing to address objectives of easing social problems such as tendencies toward financial dependency and chronic unemployment in urban and rural areas.

YWCA of Bangladesh has held to the belief that creating common but potential platform owned by the beneficiaries themselves is a crucial precondition for making them count in the development process. This kind of platform like centre for income generation or livelihood development may play a significant role as the link between target beneficiaries and YWCA of Bangladesh.

So, YWCA’s revenue generating projects are to increase in the standard of living of community people with sustained growth from a simple and low-income economy to a modern and even high-income economy. If the local quality of life could be improved, economic development would be enhanced. Internalizing this economic development perception into its own policies, economic development projects of YWCA of Bangladesh are making the scopes in including the holistic process by which community people are able to improve their economic and social well-being as a whole. These projects are well-equipped with such twine key objectives as creating income opportunities for the community people and at the same time initiating income

generation projects for the local YWCAs’ self-sustenance. Through structured teamwork and constructive organizing capacity, several efforts have been made by the local YWCAs over the years in the name of economic development projects. Capitalizing on the local skills and competences along with the existing ability of the branches, these efforts are diversified with nature and extent. Some of the major projects are:

Short courses

The YWCAs are conducting short courses to provide various skills to women and young girls. The courses offered are; English conversation course, sewing and cutting, cookery, computer operating, beauty therapy, art, music etc.

Home craft center

The home craft center of Dhaka- YWCA produces various bakery and food items like; cake, light snacks, rice cake, pickles etc. It mainly meets the needs of the students of Dhaka YWCA School.

Beauty parlor

Dhaka YWCA runs a beauty parlor. The parlor offers services like, hair care, skin care, beauty therapy, party make-up, bridal make-up etc.

Embroidery center

With an aim mainly to create income opportunities for underprivileged women YWCA-Comilla and Birisiri are running embroidery centers where 47 women are working. The items produced in these centers are; table cloth, napkins, pillowcases, sarees etc.

Jute craft

The YWCA of Dhaka runs jute craft centers. At present 264 women are working in this program. The average income of a worker is around TK. 2700 per month. Concurrently under this program, the workers are receiving regular services as to health checkup, savings & loan scheme as well as welfare fund.

Sales centers

As an effort of income generation Dhaka, Barisal, Comilla, Birisiri, Chandpur, Barisal opened shops where they sell various items produced by the beneficiaries and goods as per customers demand.

Agriculture

To develop alternative earning skills and create income opportunities for underprivileged women, the YWCA of Khagrachari runs a agriculture project on about 50 acres leased land in the hill slides various fruits and timper trees. It also did rubber tree plantation on 10 acers of land.

Monjima - sales center

The Monjima, sales center of National YWCA was launched in 1999 with an objective to create a market for handicrafts produced by the reference women groups at national and international level. Besides own products, Monjima also collects and sells exclusives items from local craftsmen, especially, items like; sarees, children garments, potteries etc.

Training center & guest house

YWCA operates two guest houses cum training centers. One is located at the National Office Building, situated in Mohammadpur and another one is in Birisiri, Mymensingh. The centers have the following facilities conference hall, mini workshop room and a guest rooms both Ac and Non AC and VIP suites. YWCA uses the center for its in-house training / workshops and also rent out to outside organizations. Those centers have good reputation both nationally and internationally. Annually, they extend services to around 100 organizations and more around1100 individuals.

Special Programs

Senior Citizens' Home

The YWCA of Dhaka runs a Home for senior citizens of 65 years of age and over at Savar. It has a capacity to accommodate 40 boarders in this Home, but presently houses 13 boarders. The objective of this centre is to provide reliable shelter and care with comfort for senior citizens deprived of family ambience.

Youth hostel

In order to meeting the objective of providing safe accommodation for young women coming form different parts of Bangladesh to Dhaka City for the purpose of study or work, Dhaka YWCA started ladies hostel at its own campus in 1970 with 03 boarders.

At present, the hostel is housing about 120 boarders.

Day care

Considering the needs and priority of cosmopolitan life style the Dhaka YWCA initiated Day Care Center. Children of working parents from 2-7 years are enrolled there. There is an increasing demand for this service, however, because of space limitation and also keeping quality services the centre only accommodates 22 children at a time.