SHISUK
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Flat # 2D, House # 15/11/2, Modhubag, Mogbazar
Dhaka 1217, Bangladesh

SHISUK Regional Office and Training center
College Road, Elliotgonj,
Daudkandi, Cumilla

SHISUK (Shikkha Shastha Unnayan Karzakram) stands for Education, Health, and Development Program. The organization has been at the forefront of community development and sustainable agriculture in Bangladesh since its establishment in 1994. SHISUK addresses sustainable development through a community approach involving the disadvantaged and influential classes together in the process of socioeconomic development offering more interaction and participation of stakeholders to create an enabling environment for good governance, innovative idea generation, initiation of community actions to foster replication of good practices and influencing policy changes. The lifelines of the Bangladesh economy and people’s livelihoods are agriculture, agriculture-based entrepreneurship, and overseas migration. Thus SHISUK has been concentrating on these areas in striving for positive change. SHISUK intends to demonstrate management of resources: human, knowledge, land, water and capital in partnership with the community to facilitate self-reliant sustainable development and equitable sharing of benefits.
An exemplary success story emerged from Daudkandi, where in 1997, SHISUK introduced the groundbreaking Community-Based Collective Enterprise Initiative on Floodplain Aquaculture, commonly referred to as the Daudkandi model. This initiative has garnered widespread recognition for pioneering community enterprise and sustainable development efforts. The Daudkandi model exemplifies SHISUK's commitment to fostering community-driven solutions. By uniting local communities and harnessing their collective potential, SHISUK transformed once-unproductive floodplains into flourishing aquaculture projects. This transformative approach generated economic opportunities, empowered communities, and revitalized the local agricultural landscape. The model's success was underscored by the National Gold Medal awarded by the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock in 1999, affirming SHISUK's status as a trailblazer in the field of community enterprise. It is also cited as a development approach in the 7th and 8th Five Years Plan of the Bangladesh Government.
Furthermore, the Daudkandi model's recognition as a SAARC Best Practice for livelihood development in 2007 solidified its reputation as an exemplary framework for sustainable development. SHISUK is a SEED Award winner in 2009 for innovative sustainable entrepreneurial initiative, key sponsors IUCN, UNDP, and UNEP
Through the CEA framework, community members transition into stakeholders, fostering a sense of ownership and mutual responsibility to revitalize local-level untapped common resources into thriving collective ventures. A striking exemplification of CEA's efficacy is evidenced in SHISUK's Community Enterprise Initiative, which empowered communities to collaboratively generate economic opportunities and sustainable food production. CEA impact transcends mere financial gains, acting as a conduit for technology diffusion, knowledge dissemination, and capacity augmentation. This comprehensive approach has yielded enhancements in food safety practices, sustainable agricultural practices, and a general upliftment in community well-being. With Bangladesh grappling with climate-induced perturbations and evolving socio-economic complexities, SHISUK's CEA emerges as an adaptable and sturdy model. CEA empowers communities to leverage indigenous resources, collective wisdom, and entrepreneurial zeal, enabling individuals to chart their unique development trajectories for resilient community building.

SHISUK has emerged with distinct mandates in the development field since its inception in 1994. Self-reliant sustainable community development is the motto of the SHISUK. The focus is on the worth of every human being and the solidarity to offer everyone a dignified peaceful existence, regardless of age, gender, origin, religion, or political conviction.

SHISUK believes in people's strengths and supports initiatives that come from people themselves. This is based on the principle of subsidiary: people must be allowed to work on their development without outside patronization.

SHISUK believes that the exchange of knowledge and people’s wisdom through the process of participation is the most cost-effective means to bring changes for sustainable development. It encourages partnership with the community to facilitate sustainable, equitable, and participatory management of existing resources, that is human, knowledge, land, water, and capital for self-reliant community development.
SHISHK supports ecological farming and promotes safe food and food security through stable and sustainable agricultural ecosystems. It upholds the spirit of working together with the community towards organic farming and moves against the unsafe use of agrochemicals that damage life, land, and the environment.
SHISUK also believes in establishing a safe migration process at all stages of migration for livelihood (pre-departure, post-departure, and reintegration) and upholds the ‘right to stay to ensure the right to move’ policy. It offers profound respect to the migrant workers and creates an enabling environment for them to reduce their personal and socio-economic vulnerability.
SHISUK intends to offer a sharing platform maximizing knowledge among different stakeholders, generation of innovative ideas and approaches, initiation of community actions through participatory research, and effective policy advocacy to foster replication of best practices and necessary policy changes for national, regional, and international communities.

Zillur Rahman
Director Program
01717181115
mzillurr@gmail.com