Development cooperation

The social sector is the most substantial of the three priorities set out in the Country Strategy Paper, with an overall allocation of €185 million and with a particular emphasis on education. This decision will be reviewed at the mid-term of the National Indicative Programme (NIP) 2007 – 2010[1] to assess the need for a second sector-type programme in health or education.

The EC is working in joint sector programmes, in alliance with the Government of Bangladesh, for primary education and Health and Nutrition. The targets of both programmes are in line with the Millennium Development Goals and the needs of quality education and improved health and nutrition for human development, balanced economic growth and the eradication of poverty.

The central aim of the education strategy is to help the Government to establish a programme through which to mainstream primary, secondary and non formal education. The Primary Education Development Programme – II has been designed to create a high quality, inclusive, formal primary education system, catering to approximately 16 million students in Bangladesh. Education is a sector which demands greater attention because external funding is less readily available; it is paramount to the reduction of the equality divide and the empowerment of youths. Long-term commitment was made to the sector under the last Country Strategy Paper (2002 – 2006) through the pledging of €135 million, and will be given continuity under the new CSP.

As the current primary education sector programme runs until 2009, new emphasis will be placed on secondary education. This shift in education support to skills development and employability at the post-primary level is coherent with the EC's trade related activities where skills issues are equally addressed and warranted by the severe constraints in the secondary education system. Furthermore, the massive human resources potential created by the investments in primary education under PEDP – II will be lost or at least under-utilized if the bottlenecks in the secondary system are not addressed.

Building on the experience and success in the programme for the primary sector (PEDP – II), the EC will work towards a joint programming and financing approach with other development partners and, if possible, support the Government of Bangladesh in establishing a similar approach for the whole education sector.

The ongoing Health sector programme, again in alliance with the Government of Bangladesh, seeks to improve the health status of the population of Bangladesh, to increase access to health services (especially for poor and vulnerable groups) and to improve the quality and efficiency of those services. There is a particular focus on the Chittagong Hill Tracts and on improving Maternal and Child Health Care.

As a second priority, the EC, in line with the Government of Bangladesh, will address issues of good governance, which is broadly recognized as the central obstruction to social and economic development, and to the eradication of poverty. A large scale Governance programme of up to €100 million will be designed, with other donors, to support systemic reforms identified in Bangladesh’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP). This may include an overhaul of the public administration, decentralization and justice reform. History suggests that a prudent form of programming, (namely a Mid Term Review in 2008) is required to ensure that the objectives of the international donors and the Government are aligned and synchronized.

Good governance is pivotal not only for social and economic development but for the effective delivery of aid. The Government's PRSP locates the needs of the poor in the following areas: better service delivery, particularly in health and education; accountability; reduction of leakage, owing to corruption and poor delivery of pledges; access to justice; regulatory support, particularly to informal sectors of the economy, and reduction of the threat of income erosion. Above and beyond these are the basic requirements of increasing the state's efficiency and its commitment to democratic ideals and practices. The volume of EC aid engagement in this area strongly depends on the Government's readiness to proceed with reforms specified in the policy matrices of the PRSP. Particular emphasis will be placed on the protection and security of Human Rights.

The EC consolidated its human governance and human rights programme in Bangladesh in 2006 with the start up of a project to empower adolescent girls, three new financing decisions (the second tranche of funding for the UNDP Chittagong Hill Tracts Development Facility, Combating Trafficking of Women and Children through support for the Police Reform Programme) and further funding for UNHCR to support Rohingya refugees from Myanmar. The year also saw the first year of implementation of the EIDHR micro projects with six projects selected and the signing of a financing agreement with the government for a major project to build capacity in community based organizations. The EC is now the largest funder for combating trafficking and supporting the rights of indigenous people in Bangladesh. The programme is complemented by a strong portfolio of projects under the NGO co-financing and EIDHR macro-projects budget lines.

The environmental fragility and increasing vulnerability of Bangladesh to climate change justify the broadening of EC support to this sector as a non-focal area. The poor are the most at risk to extreme weather events. A maximum amount of €20 million will be used to assess climate change impacts and to address pro-poor environmental issues.

Disasters and the environment are economic issues in Bangladesh and, following the severe floods of 2004, the Government, in accord with civil society, is developing a strategy to improve disaster preparedness. Bangladesh may be experiencing the early effects of global warming and an increase in the frequency of extreme weather events, and this strategy includes improved disaster warning mechanisms to advance the coping actions of Bangladeshi people.

Meteorological advances now permit early forecasting of extreme weather conditions. The transfer of this capacity to Bangladesh will enable accurate advance prediction of river floods, cyclones and droughts, even allowing for adjustments to the agricultural calendar. The EC will support the development of these forecasting technologies.

The EC is a major partner in the focus on food security and prioritizes the alleviation of malnutrition by:

Supporting the Government of Bangladesh's safety nets, such as food supplementation for school pupils and provision of allowances and employment opportunities for vulnerable groups in rural Bangladesh,

Specific interventions both within and outside the Health Nutrition and Population Sector Programme, depending on effectiveness and opportunities,

Support to Governmental capacity building, both at central and local level, for an improved policy framework for food security and delivery of services at the local level to the most vulnerable.

[1] National Indicative Programme 2007-2010