A new multi-sector program to improve access to financial services, healthcare, and education will digitally and socially integrate a floating fishing village in Bangladesh’s southern coastal region with mainstream services.
The “Manta Connect” initiative was formally introduced on Tuesday at a city hotel in Barishal. With assistance from JAAGO Foundation Trust and DocTime through The Asia Foundation’s Impact and Innovation Fund, it is being carried out by the youth-led organization YouthNet Global in collaboration with The Asia Foundation.
The initiative targets the Manta community, a traditionally mobile and boat-dwelling fishing population living on rivers in Bangladesh’s southern belt. Displaced over generations by river erosion, many Manta families continue to depend on fishing for their livelihoods while remaining outside formal systems of land ownership, civil registration, banking, and public services.
A large portion of Manta households lack formal identity documents and birth registration because to their itinerant lifestyle and restricted access to administrative systems, which creates obstacles to financial inclusion, healthcare access, and school enrollment. Families generally rely on unofficial systems for financial and health care, and children from the community often struggle to get an education.
Barishal City Corporation Administrator Advocate Bilkis Akhter Jahan Shireen stated during the launch that inclusive development must guarantee that no neighborhood is left behind. Only when development reaches the most marginalized groups does it gain significance. She urged local government, civic society, and development organizations to work together since “a society cannot progress by leaving anyone behind.”
The event was chaired by Sohanur Rahman, Executive Coordinator of YouthNet Global.
Special guests at the programme included Dr. S.M. Monzur-e-Elahi, Civil Surgeon of Barishal; Mocha: Farida Sultana, Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) of Barishal Sadar; Md. Anisuzzaman, Senior Assistant Director of the Department of Fisheries; Md. Shahabuddin Sardar, Deputy Director of the Department of Youth Development; A.K.M. Akhtaruzzaman Talukder, Deputy Director of the Department of Social Services; and Md. Mostafa Kamal, District Primary Education Officer of Barishal.
A.M. Sajjad Khan, Senior Project Manager of The Asia Foundation, was a special visitor from the development partner side.
Jasim Sardar, President of the Manta Development Committee, and Arifur Rahman (Shuvo), General Secretary of YouthNet Global, both gave introductory remarks to welcome the program.
Additional speakers at a panel discussion titled “Inclusive Development of the Manta Community: Livelihoods, Education, Health, Climate Challenges and Solutions” included Manta women leader Rabea Begum, Assistant Director of the Department of Social Services Sajjad Parvez, Chairperson of the Tungibaria Union Parishad Nadhira Jahan, and Chairperson of the Charbariya Union Parishad Shah Alam.
Panelists highlighted the need for coordinated action to improve access to education for children, expand women’s income-generating opportunities, and ensure accessible healthcare services for river-based communities.
Project organisers said Manta Connect will combine digital financial inclusion tools, education support services, and community-based healthcare access. The programme will also include awareness-building activities and skills development training aimed at strengthening community resilience and improving access to public services.
According to Sohanur Rahman, YouthNet Global Executive Coordinator, the intervention aims to overcome long-standing service gaps that have an impact on the community. He stated, “This program is intended to strengthen the Manta community’s capacity to participate in formal systems while connecting them with essential services they have been systematically excluded from.”
The effort will be executed gradually, according to the organizers, with the long-term goal of raising living standards and facilitating sustainable social and economic inclusion for one of Bangladesh’s most marginalized and climate-vulnerable populations.
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