SHIFT Asia

Supporting Humanitarian Initiatives for Feminist Transformation in Asia

Basic Information:

Working area:

Funded by: Gates Foundation and OXFAM
Partner/s: BWHP & WCLP Members
Total Budget: BDT 14,846,268
Total Expenditure:
Project duration: 01 September 2025 – 30 June 2027

Climate vulnerable area in the Bangladesh

Project Participants Number (Primary & Secondary):

Direct participants: 1,700 people (1,200 female, 500 male)
Indirect participants: 8,500 people (6,000 female, 2,500 male)

Manpower (Staff):

Female: 01, Male: 02, Total: 03

Project Goal:

Enhanced women local humanitarian leadership and a more gender-transformative humanitarian system in Bangladesh.

Project Objectives:

Objective 1: A robust knowledge hub and collaborative initiative on women’s leadership in humanitarian efforts are promoted.
Objective 2: Strong collective actions among WLHL platforms to influence humanitarian systems.
Objective 3: Gender Transformative measures are incorporated in Humanitarian policies and implemented effectively, leading to inclusive humanitarian actions benefiting all groups.

The Project Addresses 3 Core Problems:

Resource Gap — Acute shortage of humanitarian support in Asia’s high-risk disaster regions
Insufficient Recognition of Gender Inequalities — Failure to account for gender-based violence, reproductive health needs, and women’s exclusion from decision-making during emergencies
Lack of Support for Women’s Organizations — The international humanitarian system overlooks and underfunds women-led organizations

Short Description of the Project:

SHIFT Asia is a strategic humanitarian initiative implemented by the Association of Voluntary Actions for Society (AVAS), in collaboration with Oxfam and with the support of the Gates Foundation. The project is operational from 01 September 2025 to 30 June 2027, targeting climate-vulnerable communities across Bangladesh.

The project is designed to address three critical gaps in the existing humanitarian system: the resource deficit in humanitarian support, the insufficient recognition of gender inequalities during emergencies, and the systemic underrepresentation and underfunding of women’s organizations in humanitarian coordination mechanisms.

Through the strengthening of the Bangladesh Women Humanitarian Platform (BWHP) and the Women Community Leadership Platform (WCLP), SHIFT Asia endeavors to build institutional capacity, promote evidence-based advocacy, and facilitate the integration of gender-transformative measures into local and national humanitarian policies.

The initiative is projected to directly benefit 1,700 individuals and indirectly reach 8,500 people, with a particular emphasis on women, persons with disabilities, ethnic minorities, and other marginalized groups residing in climate-vulnerable areas of Bangladesh.

Major Activities:

Output 1.1.1: Strengthening BWHP and WCLP Platforms

Conduct workshops to orient five AGMs, develop strategic plans and action plans to strengthen the BWHP platform
Hold quarterly/half-yearly meetings of BWHP members (online)
Revitalize and reactivate the Women Community Leadership Platform (WCLP) through one-to-one communication and reactivation meetings

Output 1.1.2: Knowledge Management & Best Practices

Organize knowledge management training for BWHP and WCLP members (2 trainings over 2 years, 2 days each, 40 participants)

Output 1.2.1: Documentation of Best Practices

Conduct social mapping to identify community-based impactful knowledge and best practices
Harvest, capture and document best practices through case studies, Most Significant Change (MSC), articles, and storytelling
Validate collected best practices and community-driven models

Output 1.2.2: Showcasing Best Practices

Organize best practices sharing workshops at local and national levels
Conduct exchange learning visits at regional/international level to replicate best practices

Output 2.1.1: Humanitarian Leadership Skills Development

Conduct research on disaster-related issues and advocate with humanitarian actors
Conduct need assessment for safeguarding of BWHP member organizations and develop safeguarding policies
Conduct organizational development and institutional capacity assessments of BWHP and implement findings

Output 2.1.2: Resource Mobilization Capacity

Organize resource mobilization mapping workshops and develop strategic/action plans
Conduct rapport building, linkage events and advocacy with donors and humanitarian organizations

NETWORKS/PLATFORMS HOASTED UNDER THIS PRROJECT

AVAS's Engagement with BWHP & WCLP

Building Platforms for Feminist Humanitarian Leadership in Bangladesh

The Bangladesh Women Humanitarian Platform (BWHP) and the Women Community Leadership Platform (WCLP) are two key women-led networks at the heart of the SHIFT Asia project. AVAS plays a central and facilitative role in operationalizing, strengthening and sustaining these platforms to promote gender-transformative humanitarian leadership across Bangladesh.

AVAS Role with BWHP

AVAS’s Role with BWHP

Bangladesh Women Humanitarian Platform — Key Engagement Areas

Platform Governance & Strategic Leadership

AVAS facilitates and organizes Annual General Meetings (AGMs) of BWHP to ensure democratic governance and strategic direction
Supports the development of strategic plans and action plans to guide the platform’s humanitarian agenda
Facilitates quarterly and half-yearly online meetings to ensure regular coordination and communication among BWHP member organizations

Capacity Strengthening

AVAS conducts knowledge management training for BWHP members to enhance their skills in documentation, capturing and sharing best practices
Facilitates need assessments for organizational development and institutional capacity building of BWHP member organizations
Supports the development of safeguarding policies for BWHP member organizations through dedicated need assessments
Provides humanitarian leadership training to strengthen the technical and strategic capabilities of BWHP members

Resource Mobilization Support

AVAS organizes resource mobilization mapping workshops to identify funding opportunities for BWHP
Facilitates linkage and rapport-building events with donors and humanitarian organizations to strengthen BWHP’s financial sustainability
Supports the development of fundraising strategies to ensure the long-term sustainability of the platform

Collective Action & Community Mobilization

AVAS mobilizes communities, CBOs and humanitarian actors through BWHP to promote and scale up women-led humanitarian action
Facilitates awareness raising campaigns and cultural events including theatre, gomvira, and pot songs to mobilize communities around women’s leadership
Supports BWHP in engaging local and national stakeholders including academia, NGOs, influencers, and policymakers

Policy Advocacy

AVAS supports BWHP in organizing multi-stakeholder workshops, dialogues and seminars to advocate for gender-transformative humanitarian policies
Facilitates evidence-based advocacy using documented best practices and community-driven models
Supports BWHP in developing and disseminating knowledge products including case studies, toolkits, and policy briefs

AVAS Role with WCLP

AVAS's Role with WCLP

Women Community Leadership Platform — Key Engagement Areas

Reactivation & Revitalization

AVAS leads the revitalization and reactivation of the Women Community Leadership Platform (WCLP) through one-to-one communication and dedicated reactivation meetings
Works to ensure WCLP becomes a fully functional and active platform for women's community leadership in humanitarian contexts

Knowledge Sharing & Learning

AVAS facilitates knowledge management training for WCLP members alongside BWHP members
Supports WCLP members in capturing, documenting and sharing community-driven best practices and impactful models
Facilitates cross-learning workshops and inter-organizational mentorship between BWHP and WCLP to promote peer learning

Community-Driven Models

AVAS supports WCLP in conducting social mapping to identify community-based impactful knowledge and best practices
Facilitates the validation and showcasing of community-driven models at local, national, and regional levels
Organizes exchange learning visits at regional and international levels to replicate and scale best practices

Intersectional Inclusion

AVAS ensures that WCLP platforms are inclusive and representative of diverse groups including women with disabilities, transgender women, and ethnic minorities
Develops accessible materials in multiple formats and local languages to promote inclusive participation of all community members

Long-Term Vision for BWHP & WCLP

AVAS envisions a future where both BWHP and WCLP operate independently and sustainably beyond the project period. To achieve this, AVAS is committed to:

Gradually transferring ownership and responsibilities to local women-led platforms
Equipping both platforms with leadership, technical and resource mobilization capacities
Embedding platform outcomes into existing local and national humanitarian systems and policies
Institutionalizing a centralized knowledge hub to sustain learning and best practice sharing
Supporting the development of sustainability and fundraising plans for each platform

Through its engagement with BWHP and WCLP, AVAS is committed to building a more inclusive, equitable, and gender-transformative humanitarian system in Bangladesh-one where women’s voices lead, and no one is left behind.