Institution’s Name:: Initiatives for Research & Development (IRD)

IRD’s Vision: A hunger free society while maintaining social, economic and environmental integrity.

IRD’s Mission:

• To create skilled manpower and building institutional capacity through innovative research and training;
• To contribute alleviation of poverty of disadvantage groups and halt discrimination in the society through research and development intervention;
• To support informed decision making to the duty bearers for social, economic and environmental sustainability including biodiversity conservation and enhancing ecosystem services through sustainable forest management practices.

Sectoral Focus:

• Environmental research & development
• Socioeconomic research & Development
• Agricultural research & development
• Institutional capacity
• Education, health & public health research & development
• Marketing research
• Entrepreneurs’ motivation
• Publications

 Legal Status:

• Trade/profession license number: 12794
• License ID: 08-045-12794
• Rangamati Pourosova

E-TIN Number: 336467663402

Website: www.irdbd.org

Head Office: 39/3, West Tribal Adam, Banarupa, P.O 4500, District: Rangamati, Bangladesh.

Branch Office: R.P. 657, Food Godown Area, Tabalchari, P.O. 4500, Rangamati, Bangladesh.

Contact Person:

 Expertise:

IRD is being consisted by 5 “Founder Members”[1] and 2 lifelong “Honorary Members”[2]. Of them, 5 founder members of the research and consultancy firm holds the Directors position. This group members of the firm are considered as “Board of Directors”. Through a democratic process, the “Chairman” is to be elected while the elected Chairman proposes the name of “Managing Director”-M.D. However, any kind of Veto against the proposal by any of the Director results to call for an election to elect the Managing Director. Being a new established firm, the institution is just taking initiatives for undertaking research and capacity building interventions. As well, it’s just the stage to resource mobilizing. However, the founder members are post graduated from the reputed public Universities of Bangladesh with the academic background of Micro biology, Economics, Sociology, Social Works and Political Science. All of 5 founder members are engaged in development sectors more than 15 years in different arena especially environmental, public health, reproductive health, Water and Sanitation, forestry, education, livelihood, agriculture, disaster risk reduction as well in post disaster response, climate change, economic and social empowerment, gender promotion, community based legal services, entrepreneurs’ motivation and so on. In respect of designation, the team members have been engaged in many forms of positions especially in research, monitoring & evaluation, capacity building unit, project planning & designing.

The lifelong honorary members of the institution are international scholars who have been awarded Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) from Dhaka University, Bangladesh and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Medical Science from Tohoku University, Japan respectively.

Apart from these, the firm has a set of “External Consultants” who will regularly be engaged in mentoring the institution’s in performing day to day assignments. The “External Consultants” are expert in gender, project designing, training facilitating and guiding research works. The External group have more than 30 years of experience in working with government and non-government department and organizations. However, a glimpse of experiencing multi-dimensional sectors by the Founder Members, Honorary Members and External Consultants have been shortened in the below:

• Environmental issues
• Biochemistry and Molecular biology
• Rodent species
• Medicinal plants
• Poverty
• Agriculture
• Disaster
• Public health
• Reproductive health care
• Water, sanitation and hygiene
• Education

 Current Research Work:

• ‘Socioeconomic and environmental impact of introduction of hill agriculture technology in the Chittagong Hill Tracts: A qualitative inquiry” to be published on May 2022.
• “Water quality assessment of Kaptai Lake, Rangamati” to be published on October 2022.
• “Nutritional analysis of medicinal plants and traditional foods from Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHTs)” is under process.

Publication web links of members:

Please visit the website to read the publication: www.irdbd.org

[1] Founder Member: Eligible to enjoy salary and other benefits as per constitution of the IRD.

[2] Honorary Member: who will not receive salary and other benefits as per constitution of the IRD