Search

Increasing the feasibility of easy loan repayment is one of the objectives of providing microcredits for income generating activities requiring relatively small loans in the developing countries. However, evidence in the developing countries suggests that microcredits are often used by households for non-income generating expenditures needed to deal with shocks such as health shocks. Health shocks in particular have severe financial implications due to the absence of health insurance programs in the developing countries and also because they reduce income generating capabilities. The objective of this paper is to examine, using a survey data from Bangladesh, whether there is an association between the health shocks and the loan repayments performance of the borrowers of microfinance institutions. When issues involving mixed distribution of the outcome variable and endogeneity of health shocks are taken care of with IV Tobit and Two-part models, the results show that the health shocks lower both the probability and the amount of repayments. In addition, since a significant portion of the households in Bangladesh represents migrant households, this hints at important policy implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The legal realm translates between litigants’ plain-language claims and efficient solutions. In postcolonial courtrooms, there are also some literal translations between vernaculars and formal legal English. Other translations, less literally, involve putting violence and violation into the language of compromise. Through an ethnographic analysis of two Family Courts in Kolkata and Dhaka where litigants directly present their cases to judges, this article argues that the postcolonial (sexed) body is constructed through such translations, while signifying an excess that cannot be captured by legal categories. Sexual consummation and sexual violence appear particularly resistant to seamless translation, and evoke other registers of compensation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An examination of women's experience on public transport in Bangladesh and Cambodia found that victimization does reduce perceived safety or transport use. In a cultural context where women are socialized to fear and avoid public spaces, experiencing victimization may confirm rather than change previous beliefs. Moreover, it is possible that the participants' use of public transport was driven by necessity rather than choice and that they were unable to change travel patterns in response to victimization. These findings underscore the importance of targeting public violence toward women and the broader societal norms that limit their participation in public life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the role of diverse climatic vulnerabilities and socio- economic variables in explaining Bangladeshi rural households' livelihood choices and the synergies that exist across the choices. We develop a multivariate probit model for analysing a dataset of 5,604 households that is representative of rural Bangladesh. The findings reveal a landscape where agriculture-based strategies predominate, with households strategically combining various approaches. Households complement agriculture-based strategies, while substituting beyond agriculture-based strategies. Climate stressors such as flood, salinity, river erosion, drought, storms and cyclones induce notable shifts in livelihood choices. Among these, the most prominent is the substantial influence of storm and cyclone vulnerability. Migration is more prevalent in areas susceptible to salinity, storms and cyclones, while casual labour prevails in drought-prone and flood-vulnerable regions. Households residing in the economically marginalized and environmentally vulnerable feed-the-future (FtF) zone make distinct decisions regarding income strategies compared to their counterparts in other rural areas across the country. Households in this zone exhibit a higher likelihood of opting for specific agriculture-based income sources and casual labour, while self-employment, migration and salaried jobs are less favoured. Furthermore, we elucidate the pivotal role of infrastructure, information access and institutional factors in shaping income sources. Households in different divisions make distinct livelihood choices, especially in agriculture. Ultimately, the findings advocate for precise interventions tailored to climate vulnerabilities. This includes enhancements in road connectivity, the utilization of mobile banking and the provision of extension services, with a specific focus on geographically marginalized and climate-vulnerable regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study investigates the factors behind growing communal violence in Bangladesh that is mostly perpetrated against non-Muslim communities by examining three different cases. The qualitative study has been undertaken with the help of available secondary resources and in-depth interviews of experts as primary sources. The findings confirm that the ongoing communal violence in Bangladesh is not spontaneous but rather comprises deliberate and well-orchestrated incidents. It has been noted that apart from communal identity or ideological discord, other factors have played a pivotal role in these constant attacks. All these attacks are primarily intertwined with local politics and power relations as there is evidence of local political leaders' and members' involvement in the assaults. Besides, the entrenchment of extremist elements and growing intolerance at the mass level have a formidable impact on the gradual alienation of non-Muslim communities. The inaction of the state agencies and a culture of impunity have been largely responsible for the deterioration of communal harmony in Bangladesh. Due to these factors, no organised cultural campaign or resistant mechanism could gain a strong foothold against communal violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of transformational leadership on employees' change championing behaviour, and the mediating roles of employees' trust in leadership and employees' work engagement in the relationship between transformational leadership and employees' change championing behaviour. The research was conducted among 379 employees in the banking sector of Bangladesh. The findings revealed a significant and positive impact of transformational leadership on employees' change championing behaviour. Furthermore, the study identified that employees' trust in leadership and work engagement play important mediating roles, individually and sequentially, in the relationship between transformational leadership and employees' change championing behaviour during change management in the Bangladesh banking sector. This study contributes to our understanding of how transformational leadership promotes employees' change championing behaviour and underscores the effectiveness of transformational leadership in fostering employees' trust in leadership and work engagement. Additionally, this study emphasises the importance of employees' trust in leadership and work engagement in the context of organisational change implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, around a million Rohingya refugees live in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. Displacement from homelands and restrictions on movement in the refugee camps may exacerbate intimate partner abuse (IPA) against refugee women and their abilities to reject husbands' advances to unwanted sex. This study examines Rohingya refugee women's attitudes toward and experience of intimate partner abuse (IPA) and their impact on the abilities to reject husbands' advances to unwanted sex. A survey was conducted among Rohingya refugee women in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. Women's attitudes toward IPA, and experience of IPA were the exposure variables. Women's abilities to say "no" to husbands' advances to unwanted sexual intercourse was the outcome variable. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to examine the relationships. Participants' median age was 22 years (range: 13-41). Most women perceived hitting/beatings by their husbands in certain situations as justifiable, 72% had experienced such abuse and 56.5% had to engage in unwanted sexual intercourse with their husbands. Women with increasing leniency towards hitting/beatings and those who had experienced such abuse were less likely to be able to say "no" to husbands' advances to unwanted sexual intercourse. Rohingya women's attitudes toward and experience of IPA are associated with their abilities to say "no" to husbands' advances to unwanted sex. Intervention is needed to denormalize the current practice of IPA, create awareness against IPA, and ensure formal education for girls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Dhaka, three urban poor networks play a central role in advocating for the rights and entitlements of low-income settlement residents. Despite their numerous achievements, this article outlines how attempts to scale participation via these networks are limited by three overlapping state–civil society processes: (1) the politicization and increased monitoring of non-governmental organizations (NGOs); (2) shifting donor preferences towards service delivery and the creation of new community-based organizations (CBOs); and (3) the ongoing dominance and paternalism of NGOs towards low-income settlement residents. By situating these findings within existing understandings of in/formal governance and political participation, it can be argued that attempts to scale may struggle to evade or transform deep structures of dependency, patronage and intermediation. Recognizing that scaling can and does occur under these conditions, the article outlines opportunities to support the city-wide networks and alternative forms of organizing, to address pressing needs and priorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the culture-centered approach, we examine the meanings of health and negotiations of health care structures among low socioeconomic status (SES) Bangladeshi male migrant workers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). We engage in coconstructive problem definition and strategizing through 44 semistructured in-depth interviews/focus groups about health, migration, and well-being. Our analysis of the participants' narratives elucidates the intersectionality of health as a lived experience of migrant labor within neoliberal structures focused on labor extraction, highlighting health not as a static or purely epidemiological construct, but as a combination of the physical, mental, spiritual, and socioeconomic material realities within which they are located. These include a recognition of the importance of interconnectedness of physical and mental well-being, drawing upon one's cultural and familial roles and responsibilities, as well as locating health within structurally exploitative practices. Specifically, the participants articulate the absence of substantive health and labor protections that result in poor health outcomes for them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We sought to investigate the magnitude, clinical features, treatment, and outcome of children suffering from hypernatremic diarrhea and to identify risk factors for fatal outcome among them. We reviewed 2 data sets of children <15 years admitted to the in-patient ward of the Dhaka Hospital of International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr, b) with diarrhea and hypernatremia (serum sodium ≥150 mmol/L): (a) March 2001 to March 2002 (n = 371) and (b) March 2009 to August 2011 (n = 360). We reviewed their records and collected relevant information for analyses. The prevalence of hypernatremia was 5.1% (371/7212) and 2.4% (360/15 219), case fatality rate was 15% and 19%, respectively. In logistic regression analysis, the risk for death significantly increased in association with serum sodium ≥170 mmol/L, nutritional edema, hypoglycemia, respiratory distress, and absent peripheral pulses and reduced with the sole use of oral rehydration salts (ORS) or ORS following intravenous fluid, if indicated (for all, P < .05). Thus, managing children with hypernatremia using only ORS or ORS following intravenous fluid may help reduce the number of deaths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents the fuel properties and elemental composition of Nyctanthes arbortristis Linn wood, obtained from seven different areas of Bangladesh. It was evaluated to determine its potential utilisation as a biomass fuel; its elemental components were evaluated to determine the wood's value as a soil improver when used as ash or allowed to decompose in soil. Results indicated the varying suitability of Seuli as firewood and it is concluded that the samples from Khulna Division were most suitable. The results showed the order of major element concentrations to be Ca>K>Si. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arsenic has been used for millenia. Although it has been known for many years that arsenic is soon fatal when ingested at high doses, the effects of low dosages became apparent in the 1980s. The full societal implications are only now becoming clear. It is now known to pose the highest calculated risk of any substance regulated by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); high concentrations have been found in drinking water in many countries. In Bangladesh, in particular, the number of people suffering from over exposure vastly exceeds the number affected by the catastrophic accident at Chernobyl. This article shows the development of the human understanding about chronic arsenic poisoning with Bangladesh as a particular example. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nationwide surveillance of HIV/AIDS from 1989 through 1996 in Bangladesh included several risk groups such as professional blood donors, patients with sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), pregnant women at antenatal clinics, commercial sex workers (CSWs), patients with tuberculosis, long-distance truck drivers, sailors, and non-residents. The population was enrolled by convenience sampling after taking informed consent. Among 70,676 persons tested, 80 (1.13 per 1000) were HIV positive. The prevalence rate was steady until 1994, and then increased rapidly. The rate among male heterosexuals was significantly higher than that in females (3.40 per 1000 versus 0.29 per 1000; odds ratio (OR) 11.60; 95% confidence intervals (CI) 6.45 to 21.16; P < 0.0001). Twelve per cent of patients with STDs had HIV. The HIV cases concentrated in 2 districts, Sylhet (25/72) and Chittagong (20/72), that border India and Myanmar (formerly Burma), respectively. Frequent movement of people of Bangladesh to India, Pakistan, Myanmar and Thailand, where HIV rates are higher, is one of the possible sources of spread of the cases. Bangladesh has the potential to avert epidemic spread of HIV at its early stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]