Program 01
Organization Building & Institutionalization
Uniting isolated and hardcore-poor households into groups and federations that save together, learn together and negotiate together.
Rural Unfortunates' Safety Talisman Illumination Cottage
People of the delta are not waiting for change. They are building it.
For over three decades, RUSTIC has stood beside the poorest communities of coastal Bangladesh — women, children, marginal farmers and climate-hit families — turning local resources and their own will into education, food security, clean energy and a voice in how they are governed.
Since 1988
Khulna, Bagerhat & Satkhira
Registered NGO · Govt. of Bangladesh
35+
Years working on the ground, since 1988
2,50,000+
People reached across the south-west coast
0
Rural villages and 6 urban communities
0
Core programs under one integrated vision
Why we exist
Born out of a storm-worn coast, kept alive by its people
The south-west of Bangladesh has endured at least five major cyclones in fifteen years — Sidr, Aila, Amphan and more. Embankments built to hold back the sea have flooded farmland; rising salinity has turned fields barren; and the distance from Dhaka has left the region short of schools, hospitals and jobs.
In 1988 a group of social activists decided that solutions would have to come from inside the region, not from far away. RUSTIC grew out of that decision — a voluntary organization of and for the people of the delta, working so that the poorest, irrespective of race, caste or creed, can stand financially, socially and culturally on their own.
- People first — groups of the poor lead their own development
- Local resources, local solutions, lasting institutions
- Dignity before charity — assistance that builds capacity
"Poverty alleviation is well-known to the poor — only assistance is required. Our vision is an equitable and just society, where dignity and opportunity make no distinction of race, colour or creed."
— Moral Noor Mohammad, Executive Director & Ashoka Fellow
What we do
Five programs, one purpose
Every project RUSTIC runs supports the same cross-cutting commitments: women's rights, child's rights, a safe environment, and poverty reduction.
Program 02
Education & Human Resource Development
Non-formal education and vocational training for girls, slum dwellers and child labourers — turning dropouts into earners and leaders.
Program 03
Food Security & Economic Self-Reliance
Organic farming, aquaculture, livestock and micro-entrepreneurship that let families feed themselves and earn an income on land others had written off.
Program 04
Climate Resilience & Environment Protection
Turning the region's biggest threats into assets — waste into compost, dung into gas, smoke into clean stoves, and bare land into forest.
Program 05
Rights Protection & Healthcare
Protecting the rights of children, women and the elderly, and delivering primary healthcare, safe water and hygiene where the state cannot reach.
In depth
See how each program works
Case studies, numbers and photographs from the field — from 4,580 group members to 720 child labourers back in school.
Latest milestone · July 2024
A compost plant that turns market waste into farmers' gold
At Shahpur Bazar, Dumuria, RUSTIC opened a new compost production plant that collects organic market waste and turns it into high-quality, eco-friendly compost for the farmers of Khulna, Bagerhat and Satkhira.
The plant does three things at once: it keeps thousands of tons of waste out of landfills, it gives farmers an affordable alternative to chemical fertilizer, and it creates income-generating work for young and underprivileged people of the area.
- Reduces landfill waste and greenhouse gas emissions
- Builds soil health and cuts reliance on synthetic fertilizer
- Creates local jobs and supports a circular economy
How we work
Four commitments woven into everything
These are not separate projects. Every group, every school, every stove and every loan serves one or more of these cross-cutting issues.
Women's rights
Gender equality, economic self-reliance for poor women, and a congenial atmosphere for women in family, society and state.
Child's rights
Four basic principles: the right to live, to development and education, to safety, and to participation.
Safe environment
Every sphere of life and livelihood reduced against climate risk, less carbon, and stronger local adaptation capacity.
Poverty reduction
Minimum standards of basic human rights — food, shelter, treatment, education and recreation — and the skills to go beyond them.
Who stands with us
Partners, donors & networks
Bangladesh NGO Foundation
Seven Hills Global Outreach
Khulna City Corporation
GIZ & UNDP
Ministry of Forest & Environment
CARE Bangladesh
Winrock International
PROSHIKA
USAID
Ashoka Innovators
HSBC
ADAB
Change begins with a single group, a single girl, a single tree.
Your support reaches the ground directly — through RUSTIC's own field teams in Khulna, Bagerhat and Satkhira.