Work together for dev, poverty alleviation

The government, civil society members and international development partners should work together to support development, pro-poor growth and poverty alleviation.
This was recommended in a three-day workshop that was held in the capital from May 12 to 14.
The workshop brought together officials of different ministries, development agencies and civil society members who focused on the upcoming Second National Strategy for Accelerated Poverty Reduction (NSAPR), according to a press release issued by the Royal Danish Embassy in Dhaka on May 15.
The workshop identified three crucial actions that include ensuring wide dissemination, strengthening monitoring system, and clarification of the roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders involved in the delivery of the NSAPR II.
The NSAPR II will be the key document to guide the interim government's development and poverty reduction policies and programmes while the country moves towards the general elections.
It will also be a crucial document for the new government in 2009 and beyond, said the release.
The document is also crucially important for donor strategies in Bangladesh and will help identify priorities and influences crucial budgetary decisions.
“As such, it is the starting point for what is going to happen, when, where and for whom,” it added.
Recognising the importance of the second NSAPR and the inherent challenges of encouraging international development partners to work in close collaboration with the government, the workshop sought to build a shared understanding.
It observed that despite many successes in economic development, health, education, birthrate and women empowerment, reducing inequality between social groups and different areas of the country remains as challenges.
The workshop identified problems that include lower adult women's literacy rate, increase in poverty of female-headed households, slow growth of formal sector, child labour, poor infrastructure and landlessness of many people.
Discussions were led by Dane Rogers of ITAD Ltd, UK, and Kate Bird of Overseas Development Institute, UK.