Integrated Environment Development Society (IEDS) has completed its eleven years of development journey to empower the poor, marginal and unprivileged people especially in the Netrakona, Mymensingh & Sunamganj District of Bangladesh. Integrated Environment Development Society (IEDS) was established as a voluntary organization. In 2006, a group of professionals got convinced that social development is only possible if the problems and crisis of the common people are met. They felt that only voluntary attitude and dedication at micro–level might uplift the standard of life. At the very outset, IEDS begun their work at community level and focused their concentration on education, livelihoods and health care.

In the backdrop of above scenario, Integrated Environment Development Society (IEDS) a non-governmental, non-profitable and non-political, rights based development organization was funded in 2006 at the initiatives of a group of concerned citizens. This group is comprised of benevolent people from different professions.

It grew steadily and was accepted by the local people and project beneficiaries rapidly during the past few years. The people have oriented programs for poverty alleviation with the resources it has at his disposal. It is working with two major goals:

◊ Poverty alleviation
◊ Mainstreaming Gender development and right.
With these goals in mind, IEDS has set the following strategies:
a. Community Based Organization at grass-roots level;
b. Creation of leadership
c. Facilitation promotion of Self employment and Income Generation Activities;
d. Ensuring access to acceptable technologies;
e. Advocacy and awareness building on Human, Women, Child and Civil rights ;
f. Participatory Management;

Having achieved significant results in different programs, Bangladesh Government and donor agencies have been turning their attention to crop diversification and intensification, vegetable and poultry production. Since 2006 IEDS is implementing different project in the field of horticulture, aquaculture, homestead vegetable gardening, education, health and sanitation, advocacy on right issues and credit distribution which are very close to the interest of the rural and urban poor. Accordingly, Bangladesh Government and donors have set the areas as priority for intervention in their poverty alleviation, income generation and mainstreaming gender development.

VISION: IEDS aims at brining social Justice for women and working children elimination discrimination against them and empowerment of rural poor providing development opportunities and welfare services.

MISSION: To undertaken integrated social development programs and increase mass-awareness to the target people of the society by self-employment, self-finance, self-dependent for enlistment of living standard of the poor particularly women and children.

OBJECTIVES:

IEDS aims at bringing social and environmental justice for women and working children eliminating discrimination against them and empowerment of rural poor providing development opportunities and welfare services. To above-mentioned goals, IEDS has undertaking multifarious development program in the field for rural women organizing them in small groups and mobilizing their resources. However specific objectives of IEDS are stated as below:
a. To enhance socio-economic condition of the poor and under-privileged especially women and children
b. To provide small credit so that families may engage themselves in agro-based or other income-generation activities.
c. To promote IGAs so that families have a sustainable livelihood all the round.
d. to help rural poor in building and strengthening organizational and resource mobilization capacity.
e. To educate for awareness building among people on environmental issues for local and global benefits.
f. To campaign and mobilize public opinion against women oppression, child labor and drug abuses.
g. To confer primary & adult education in innovative ways with special emphasis to enhance overall literacy rate of the country.

Although Bangladesh has seen a reduction in the HIV prevalence rate over the years, the country is still among those most affected in the world, with a prevalence rate of 14.3 percent in the 15-49 year age group. Bangladesh has a population of just over 165 million, with over 50 percent under the age of 18.
Durgapur upazila is the Hilly area of Netrokona district in Bangladesh where many tribal community specially Garo and Hajong live in there. Durgapur upazila were the project will be implemented has the largest population in the district. Due to the geographical and cultural nature of the district, access to information by the youth and vulnerable groups in the district has been a serious issue. Most information on sexual and reproductive health and rights is not readily available. This situation is also partly caused by wilful denial of information to youth and vulnerable groups by parents and other stakeholders that they are risky and unstable group. In a generation driven by luck of access to information, the exclusion of vulnerable people from vital information means that they are further pushed into frustration, poverty, destitution and contraction of HIV and STIs.

Adolescent girls and boys face a lot of problems as they transcend to adulthood. Most of these are related to their sexual and reproductive health. Adolescent girls and boys are recognized as one of the underserved categories and their sexual, reproductive health and rights (SRHR) related issues exist without concrete action plan in our district and the nation at large. There is marked absence of reliable data and information, which is indicative of the priority given to this age group in most societies. Young people’s knowledge regarding SRHR is limited. There is therefore an urgent need to provide proper services for contraceptives, HIV testing, Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) treatment, condoms etc for young people to meet their SRHR needs.