The United Kingdom will provide Bangladesh with a grant of 65 million pound (equivalent to Tk 884 crore) for implementation of a project under the Rural Development and Cooperative Division.
The British government will provide the grant through its Department for International Development (DFID) for implementation of the project tiled “Economic empowerment of the Poorest (EEP): Challenge Fund.”
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to this effect was signed between the government of Bangladesh and DFID at the Economic Relations Division (ERD) in the city yesterday.
ERD Secretary Md Aminul Islam Bhuiyan and DFID Country Representative to Bangladesh Chris Austin signed the MoU on behalf of their respective sides.
The project, taken in line with the Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) of the country, aims to help one million people to lift themselves out of extreme poverty and achieve sustainable livelihood by 2015, said an ERD release.
Under the project, a 'Challenge Fund' will be set up from which small capitals and assets (like cattle) will be given to the target groups to for their self-employment. The Challenge Fund will finance NGOs to implement specific projects.
The project will be implemented in flood-prone areas and basins ('haors'), cyclone-prone coastal regions, “monga' areas, and urban slums.