Institutions · Delivery outside the state

The NGO Sector

Civil-society organisations by focus, regulator, founding era, and chief executive, with financial fields left absent when the tracker has no current official figure.

Source: BDPolicyLab NGO Watch, NGO Affairs Bureau, and Microcredit Regulatory AuthorityAs of latest verified tracker refresh

Organisations tracked

Source: NGO Watch

Microfinance bodies

Source: NGO Watch

MRA-licensed

Source: NGO Watch and MRA

Primary sources

150

Source: NGO Watch source lists

organisations tracked

microfinance bodies

MRA-licensed

1949

oldest founded

150

primary sources

By focus

What the sector does

Microfinance

Multi-sector development

Humanitarian

Rural development

Human rights

Health

Research

Environment

Oversight

Who regulates them

NGO Affairs Bureau

Multiple regulators

Microcredit Regulatory Authority

Other

Registrar of Joint Stock Companies

When the sector was built

Organisations by founding era

More than half of those tracked date to the 1972 to 1990 post-independence wave.

Pre-1972

1972 to 1990

1991 to 2005

Since 2006

Every organisation tracked

The complete validated NGO Watch roster. Missing leadership or founding details remain unrecorded.

Organisation	Focus	Chief executive	Founded
ActionAid Bangladesh	Human rights	Farah Kabir	1983
Ain o Salish Kendra	Human rights	Faruq Faisel (Executive Director)	1986
Association for Social Advancement	Microfinance	not recorded	1978
BRAC	Multi-sector development	Asif Saleh	1972
BRAC Institute of Governance and Development	Research	Imran Matin	2013
BRAC International (Stichting BRAC International)	Multi-sector development	Shameran Abed (Executive Director)	2009
BURO Bangladesh	Microfinance	Zakir Hossain	1990
Bandhu Social Welfare Society	Health	Shale Ahmed (Executive Director)	1996
CARE Bangladesh	Humanitarian	Ram Das	1949
COAST Foundation	Rural development	Rezaul Karim Chowdhury	1998
Caritas Bangladesh	Humanitarian	Francis Atul Sarker (Executive Director)	1967
Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed	Health	Mohammad Sohrab Hossain (Executive Director)	1979
Development Initiative for Social Advancement	Microfinance	Md. Shahid Ullah	1993
Dhaka Ahsania Mission	Multi-sector development	KM Zahiduzzaman	1958
Eco-Social Development Organization	Multi-sector development	Muhammad Shahid Uz Zaman	1988
Friendship	Multi-sector development	Runa Khan (Founder and Executive Director)	2002
Gana Unnayan Kendra	Rural development	M. Abdus Salam	1985
Gonoshasthaya Kendra	Health	Abul Kashem Chowdhury (acting chairperson)	1972
Grameen Bank	Microfinance	Sarder Akhter Hamed	1983
Integrated Development Foundation	Microfinance	Zahirul Alam	1992
International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh	Research	Tahmeed Ahmed (Executive Director)	1978
Islamic Relief Bangladesh	Humanitarian	Talha Jamal	1991
Jagorani Chakra Foundation	Microfinance	not recorded	1975
Manusher Jonno Foundation	Human rights	Shaheen Anam (Executive Director)	2002
Mukti Cox's Bazar	Rural development	Bimal Chandra Dey Sarker	1996
Nijera Kori	Human rights	Khushi Kabir (Coordinator)	1980
Oxfam in Bangladesh	Humanitarian	Ashish Damle	1970
Padakhep Manabik Unnayan Kendra	Microfinance	not recorded	1986
Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation	Microfinance	Md Fazlul Kader	1990
People's Oriented Program Implementation	Microfinance	Murshed Alam Sarkar	1986
Plan International Bangladesh	Humanitarian	Kabita Bose	1994
Proshika Centre for Human Development	Multi-sector development	not recorded	1976
RDRS Bangladesh	Rural development	Manik Murmu	1972
Resource Integration Centre	Rural development	not recorded	1981
SAJIDA Foundation	Multi-sector development	Zahida Fizza Kabir	1993
Save the Children in Bangladesh	Humanitarian	Shumon Sengupta	1970
Shakti Foundation for Disadvantaged Women	Microfinance	Humaira Islam	1992
Sightsavers Bangladesh	Health	Amrita Rejina Rozario	1973
Society for Social Service	Microfinance	Abdul Hamid Bhuiyan	1986
Thengamara Mohila Sabuj Sangha	Multi-sector development	Hosne Ara Begum	1980
Transparency International Bangladesh	Human rights	Iftekharuzzaman (Executive Director)	1996
United Development Initiatives for Programmed Actions	Microfinance	Md. Emranul Huq Chowdhury	1984
WAVE Foundation	Rural development	Mohsin Ali	1990
WaterAid Bangladesh	Environment	Hasin Jahan	1986
World Vision Bangladesh	Humanitarian	Suresh Bartlett	1970

Method and sources

Source: the BDPolicyLab NGO Watch tracker, 45 organisations compiled from each body's official site and governance pages, the NGO Affairs Bureau and Microcredit Regulatory Authority registers, and reported profiles, each record carrying its own source list (150 sources in total). 15 hold a Microcredit Regulatory Authority licence; a chief executive is recorded for 40 of 45. 39 are headquartered in Dhaka, a concentration typical of the sector's national bodies. Loan-portfolio and expenditure figures are held only at the record level where an official number exists and are not totalled here, because the tracker leaves dated or unverified financials blank rather than carry a stale figure. For every organisation, see NGO Watch.

Source: Official NGO governance pages, NGO Affairs Bureau, MRA registers, and record-level source listsAs of latest verified tracker refresh