Our history & milestones
From our founding in 2023 to a multi-programme foundation operating across fourteen districts — this is the story of how CHRSD grew into the work.
Founded to bridge evidence and community action
Year founded
Community-centred development from day one
Our milestones
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2023Foundation
CHRSD established in Dhaka
The Centre for Humanitarian Research and Social Development Foundation is registered under the Societies Registration Act (Reg. No. S-14480/2026). Founded by researchers and civil society leaders, CHRSD's mandate: produce evidence that marginalised communities can use to advocate for their own rights and partner with government on technology-driven development solutions.
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2023Research
Socio-economic research and human rights programmes launched
CHRSD launches its socio-economic research division — producing evidence on poverty, labour markets, and environmental change — alongside a human rights monitoring and legal aid programme offering free legal representation to victims of trafficking, domestic violence, and arbitrary detention.
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2024Climate
NSADMP submitted to MoEFCC
The National Smart Afforestation & Digital Monitoring Programme is formally submitted to and received by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. NSADMP deploys GIS tagging, Sentinel-2/Landsat-8 NDVI satellite monitoring, and the Nevronus Systems mobile platform to verify sapling survival at tree level across Bangladesh.
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2024Governance
SDAMSMP submitted to MoPME
The Smart Digital Attendance Management System & Monitoring Programme is submitted to the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education and the Directorate of Primary Education. The programme targets biometric-verified teacher attendance across 65,566+ government primary schools — covering 379,624 teachers nationally.
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2025Partnership
AI Vision Care Initiative — BGMEA acknowledgement
CHRSD, in partnership with Nevronus Systems and optical technology partner Lunera Eye Care, secures a signed acknowledgement from BGMEA for the AI Vision Care Initiative — deploying AI-assisted computer vision diagnostics to address uncorrected vision impairment among 1.2 million RMG garment workers.
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2026Milestone
Community tree planting drive — Sonaimuri 2026
CHRSD's first large-scale community plantation drive plants over 5,000 GPS-tagged saplings in Sonaimuri, directly supporting the Government of Bangladesh's national electoral pledge to plant 25 crore trees within five years under the "5 Bochore 25 Koti Brikkhyaropon" programme.
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2026Future
NSADMP Phase II and coastal expansion
CHRSD launches Phase II of NSADMP targeting coastal Bangladesh, where climate stress is most acute. The legal aid programme expands to three new districts and a multi-year evaluation of SDAMSMP begins — measuring whether attendance improvements translate into learning outcomes.
The next chapter
Read our Executive Director's annual message for a detailed account of this year's progress and CHRSD's priorities for the years ahead.