UNDP's $25m grant for safe water

The United Nations Development Programme will provide $25 million to Bangladesh in grant to ensure safe water for about 8 lakh people in Satkhira and Khulna.

Monowar Ahmed, secretary of the Economic Relations Division (ERD), and Mahmuda Sharmeen Benu, additional secretary of the women and children affairs ministry, signed the project document at a programme yesterday.

The grant financing of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) of the UNDP will be used for building the adaptive capacities of women and adolescent girls, the ERD said in a statement.

The project will benefit about 719,229 people, of which 50.2 percent beneficiaries are women living in the southern districts, it said.

The ERD said this was the first of its kind project in Bangladesh where the GCF has contributed about $25 million and the women and children affairs ministry have provided $8 million as a co-financier. The funding will be used to implement a six-year project beginning January 1.

The project will provide assistance to 70,000 households in Satkhira and Khulna to adapt to resilient livelihoods and ensure safe drinking water through community-managed rain water harvesting solutions.

It will also seek to strengthen the participation of women in last-mile dissemination of gender-responsive early warnings and continued monitoring and adaption of livelihoods to evolving climate risks. The project will also enhance women's accessibility to market and finance.