PRISM Bangladesh Foundation is a non-profit voluntary development organization established in 1989 in the name of PRISM Bangladesh. It has started to work with socio-economic development for the rural community in different areas of Bangladesh with the assistance and support of UN organizations such as UNDP, UNICEF, UNDRO and UNCDF. Currently, PRISM Bangladesh Foundation is working with 38000 direct partner beneficiaries in these areas for reduction of poverty and enhancing their socio-economic condition. The program beneficiaries are mainly belongs to vulnerable landless, marginal, deprived individuals and communities particularly women. PRISM Bangladesh Foundation has also implemented a wide range of development programs and projects in multi-layer sectors such as aquaculture, rural water supply and sanitation, arsenic free water supply, socio-economic development, rural enterprise formation and capital development, relief and rehabilitation, disaster preparedness and management, income generation and self employment, sustainable environmental development and management.

PRISM Bangladesh Foundation (back then PRISM Bangladesh) started its initial activities at Kumudini Hospital Complex (KHC) area at Mirzapur, in collaboration with Kumudini Welfare Trust. PRISM promoted duckweed and duckweed based pisciculture under agro sanitation project in KHC financed by PRISM (Inc.) USA. In the context of environmental management, PRISM has also been working in the Capital City Dhaka, and Jessore Town in developing the urban environment and risk minimization through hazardous ‘Medical Waste Management’ since 2005. The program has been undertaken with the financial support of CIDA, WSP, WHO, the Embassy of Japan and UNDP with the collaboration of Dhaka City Corporation, Jessore and Savar Pourashova. PRISM conducted a wide range of research activities and implemented a numbers of programmes and projects in development sectors.

Objectives

They believe “we are for you wherever or whenever you are”. Their objectives are;

• To reduce poverty through integrated development process by active participation of the community.
• To promote hygiene and sanitation in urban and rural areas through community participation.
• Gender empowerment through educational development, nutritional and maternal health balance, income generation and skilled resource development.
• To enhance environmental health friendly social development.
• Disaster risk reduction and mitigation.

Strategy

The strategies to implement the development programmes and projects of PRISM are as follow;

• Development of rural organization, enterprise and entrepreneurship, and capital formation at the grassroots level of the target people.
• Research conduction on powerful ideas and develops them into innovative opportunities to increase productivity.
• To build up a partnership management structure, sustainability to patronize the target people self-reliant.
• Enhancing community people as a main strength through participatory way and implement the program where community would be the owner.

Management

An ‘Executive Committee’ consisting of seven members according to its constitution governs PRISM. The Executive Committee makes organizational and financial policies of the organization and the Executive Director, on behalf of the Executive Committee, ensures the management of the organization efficiently.