International NGO Journal Vol. 6 (3), pp. 086-090, March 2011 Available online at http:// www.academicjournals.org/INGOJ ISSN 1993-8225 ©2011 Academic Journals Article Shonglap: An innovation to break conservativeness and agent of change in rural Bangladesh Mohammed Mamun Rashid House No- 47/H, Road No-1, Ispahani Park, South Khulshi, Chittagong, Bangladesh. E-mail: rashidmamuns@yahoo.com. Tel: 0088-01818148670. Accepted December 29, 2010 Shonglap means dialogue. It is a one year program to develop lives and livelihoods of adolescent girls. Shonglap program increased education, life skills, and income generation activities of adolescent girls of Ukhiya and Teknaf sub-districts, religiously conservative communities, in Bangladesh. It improved knowledge about personal cleanliness, menstruation management, HIV/AIDS, water-borne diseases and provided information to reduce health risks, especially in the areas of reproductive health. Adolescent girls advocated with parents, community leaders, and duty bearers should stop early marriage, dowry and protect and promote rights issue. The program increased their employment, mobility and linkage with service providing institutions. Shonglap program was new in these communities. Religious leaders were gateway along with other stakeholders to drive the program. Efforts of adolescent girls gradually break conservativeness. But it is difficult to work out the sustainability of their actions due to only one year project interventions. Such Shonglap program should be continued in these communities for bright and promising future. Key words: CODEC, conservativeness, empowerment, Shonglap, well-beings. INTRODUCTION The overview of this article is based on project interventions of “Improvement of Human Security in the Communities of Ukhiya and Teknaf sub-districts, Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh” funded by Austcare. Based on the primary research done by the author, this article explores potential role of adolescent girls to break conservative- ness through Shonglap and its challenges. It highlights how such innovative approach has effects on their empowerment and well-beings. This article also insights on major learning, community mobilization process, management practices, and sustainability of project, which can be useful information for others to work in future in such community. Ukhiya and Teknaf sub-districts Ukhiya and Teknaf are sub-districts of Cox’s Bazar district. The total area of Cox’s Bazar district is 2,492 km 2 . It is a famous tourist spot in the world for long and unbroken sea beach. The literacy rate of the district is about 31% and among them female literacy rate is 25%, whereas the national statistics is both Sex-47.5 Male- 53.9, Female-40.8 (BBS, 2001). Ukhiya and Teknaf sub-districts are adjoined with Myanmar border. Myanmar refugees, popularly known as Rohinga, are large community in Ukhiya and Teknaf who fled due to racial and religious discrimination in Myanmar’s Northern Rakhine state in 1991. Till now, they are coming and live in two official registered camps and other places with unregistered status. The migration has various impacts in their livelihood and social consequences for both the local and Rohinga communities. The children, adolescent and women are very much vulnerable in this area due to illiteracy, smuggling of arms and drugs, fundamentalists, lack of awareness, very little occupational scope and mental and physical disabilities. Violence, early marriage, dowry, child labor, abuse, sexual harassment and exploitation occurred frequently among children and adolescent.