Development Organisation of the Rural Poor-DORP a national Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) has been working in the development field for more than 2 decades in Bangladesh . The experience of the organisation is not confined in a limited field. The pioneer and founder of the organisation is the first generation development activist in the country, along-with his companion who have also long experience in different areas of development.

In 1970, just before the liberation war of Bangladesh , a devastating cyclone caused havoc and about 1 million people died in the coastal area. During that time some youths of Ramgati Thana under Laksmipur district (one of the severelycyclone affected areas) were organised to help the victims through relief and rehabilitation program. After completion of the works, it was realised that only relief could only solve the immediate problems of the affected people but to sustain as human beings much more is needed. Based on this realization, they started a cooperative movement ensuring the participation of the affected people under the name of Ramgati Central Cooperative Asociation. After starting the work, a new concept about rehabilitation was drawn in the minds of the organisers in the frame of creation and development of Cluster Village . The World Bank Christmas Party Fund supported the program under the name of Bishaw Gram and that was the ever first Cluster Village in the country set up at Ramgati, during 1970-71.

Thus, the present Secretary General and Founder of DORP, AHM Nouman was directly involved in relief and rehabilitation program and Bishaw Gram project as a pioneer and architect. Later on, realizing the importance and indispensability of self-help and self-reliance in promoting the sustainable development, he along with a few other pioneers, established the well-known Swanirvar Bangladesh , one of the leading self-reliance spirit holding organisations of the country. Working with this mission for a long time, they realised the change of social and economic situation of the country and felt to form a new horizon in development sector through bottom-up approach , while people from rural areas of the country was the focal group of development. Eventually, in 1987, AHM Nouman with other like-minded professional workers on rural development established DORP for achieving sustainable development through self-reliance.

Thus, DORP became an organisation of a set of social workers with adequate educational and technical expertise including grass root people, with local level experiences in the areas of integrated development. Its participatory approach has been , in practice from the very beginning of the organisation. In DORP's evolution process,it has experimented out various approaches and undertaken some action- oriented research to identify direction of its programs with active participation of people specially the poor, women and riverine belt inhabitants as program partners.

Design & updated by DORP