UN agricultural development agency co-hosts discussion of Bangladeshi projects

Seeking to build on a decade's worth of projects in Bangladesh aimed at helping the rural poor overcome poverty themselves, more than 100 development ministers and poverty reduction experts will gather in Dhaka next week to discuss the impact of the projects backed by the United Nations agricultural development agency.

The UN International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Bangladeshi Ministry of Finance have organized a two-day national roundtable and workshop, set for 24 and 25 July. The event will be co-chaired by IFAD Assistant President in the Project Management Department, James Carruthers, and the Director of the IFAD Evaluation Division, Luciano Lavizzari.

Since 1978, Bangladesh has received 22 loans from IFAD, more than any other IFAD member state. Nine of those projects have been evaluated and will be discussed at the workshop. IFAD-supported projects have focused on addressing the needs of the country's most vulnerable groups in rural areas.

Development practitioners and decision-makers from the Government working on rural poverty issues are expected to share the findings and recommendations drawn from a review of IFAD's work in Bangladesh from 1994 to 2004 and develop a common understanding on the building blocks of a new IFAD country strategy in Bangladesh.

The strategy, scheduled to be submitted to the IFAD Executive Board in early 2006, will be in line with the Bangladeshi Government's new National Strategy for Accelerated Poverty Reduction, also scheduled for release in 2006.

Workshop participants will debate topics raised by the evaluation, including relationships between non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the Government in development projects; the role of the private sector in reducing rural poverty; the importance of infrastructure for the rural poor; and the use of microfinance services for agricultural production.