$1.8b UN support to achieve MDGs
The United Nations is going to provide a grant of $1.8 billion in next five years to help Bangladesh achieve Millennium Development Goals by focusing on seven development challenges.
An agreement was signed between the government and a UN country team in this regard at the conference room of the finance ministry at the Secretariat yesterday.
The grant will be provided under the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) 2012-2016.
Under the programme 22 Resident and non-Resident UN agencies will provide technical and financial support for the seven areas, each led by one UN agency, as outlined in the UNDAF.
The areas are: Democratic Governance and Human Rights; Pro-poor Growth with Equity; Social Services for Human Development; Food Security and Nutrition; Climate Change, Environment, Disaster Risk Reduction and Response; Pro-poor Urban Development; Gender Equity and Women's Advancement.
Economic Relations Division Secretary Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan, UN Resident Coordinator of Bangladesh Neal Walker signed the agreement in presence of Finance Minister AMA Muhith.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Muhith said of the seven pillars mentioned in the UNDAF 2012-2016, food security and nutrition are the most important problem at this moment.
Two of them--democratic governance and pro-poor growth--are also important, he said.
The finance minister hoped that the coordination among the development partners would be much more effective towards implementing the programme.
Neal Walker mentioned that the UNDAF was elaborated on the basis of rigorous analysis of the challenges facing the country and in close collaboration with government partners.
It defines the areas where UN grant assistance will be able to support the achievement of concrete results for the most vulnerable citizens of the country, he said.
The executive summary of the programme document said, the specific targeting of 30 cities or towns, where three million of the poorest people live, is a strategy for reducing poverty and ensuring more equitable access by the urban poor to skills, income, resources, financial and social services, and social protection.
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