The roles of NGOs (Non-Government Organizations) in Bangladesh are very important. With the Government initiatives, NGOs play vital role to achieve overall social development of the country. As a development practitioner, it is essential to know about NGOs and its activities. The main objective of the study is to see the activities performed by NGOs in Bangladesh, challenges faced by them and criticism against NGOs in Bangladesh. There are two opinions regarding NGOs activities in Bangladesh e.g. one group thinks that development of Bangladesh and NGOs are inseparable and other group thinks that the roles of NGOs for socioeconomic development are insignificant. Despite some criticism against NGOs, it is said that NGOs accelerate social development process as a whole.  

For preparing this paper, researcher critically reviews contemporary write ups from various sources e.g. printed books, journals, newspaper, magazine and internet. It is found that NGOs are working in various sectors in Bangladesh like microfinance & poverty alleviation, health & sanitation, education, skills development, HIV/AIDS, gender, violence against women, ageing, disability, child & mother health, social advocacy & awareness etc.

This study has been conducted based on secondary information by using content analysis method. The findings of the study have been drawn with the discussion of development professionals and direct observations. The limitations of the study are time constraint, appropriate funding and limited sample size.