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 Bangladesh has developed a federation structure to ensure the sustainability of community-based organizations (CBO). Despite capacity-building inputs to all federations, only a few of them have been able to operate without substantial external aid. This lack of progress relates to a ‘one size fits all’ capacity-building strategy and other sociopolitical issues such as the alienation of federations from the wider community and to political manipulation. Successful federations demonstrate that a committed leader who ensures participation, respects transparency and accountability, and promotes second line leadership can contribute positively to sustainability, even in an adverse sociopolitical context, and with limited capacity-building support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]