March 18, 2003
The World Bank today approved a US$18.2 million credit for a project to help poor and vulnerable groups in Bangladesh increase their inclusion in and ownership of local development initiatives. The project will support the efforts of the Government of Bangladesh and non-governmental organizations, who are working to amplify the voice and support the ideas of those who are typically excluded from development decisions, in particular the poorest of the poor and women.
The credit will finance a Social Investment Program Project to be implemented by Bangladesh's Social Development Foundation (SDF), a not-for-profit company, established by the Government in 2001, and comprising representatives from both civil society and the Government. The project work will be concentrated in two districts: Jamalpur and Gaibandha, which rank among the highest in poverty incidence in Bangladesh, in terms of both income and human development.
Over an initial four-year period, the project will help strengthen the SDF's capacity to deliver key messages and information about the project at the national level and to assist with community mobilization and local level planning. It will also assist the SDF in its efforts to analyze results from project implementation in order to subsequently scale up and institutionalize successful approaches to community-driven development.
The project will also support institutional development at the local level to help create awareness and motivate poor people in rural areas to develop village organizations. It will support them in developing Community Action Plans (CAPs) which will help prioritize communities' needs for small-scale infrastructure and social assistance based on informed choices. The communities will be expected to show ownership by contributing at least 15 percent of the expenditures of approved infrastructure initiatives while the project will finance the remaining balance.
"The concept for this project originated in a remote area in Bangladesh where poor people talked about the non-income dimensions of poverty," said Wahida Huq, a World Bank Senior Operations Officer and Task Team Leader of the project. "They spoke about powerlessness, gender inequalities, poor local governance, and their exclusion from basic services, such as health and education, and from participation in development processes. The pilot project will encourage innovative approaches to address these aspects of poverty and particularly to reach out to nearly half a million poor and vulnerable people."
She added that the pilot project will also help strengthen local governance by empowering community organizations, promoting participatory planning processes, and creating functional spaces for participatory local governance.
The social assistance program will focus on typically excluded people and will support inclusion of disabled people in development processes, increasing awareness about health and nutrition issues, development of livelihood skills, programs to assist pregnant women, legal assistance for the poorest and most vulnerable groups, implementation of tribal development plans, and financial support for emergency relief to the victims of natural disasters.
The project will also support private financing, on a pilot basis, of community utilities. It will test new approaches which will leverage participation and financing from various service providers of basic utilities, such as piped water supply and off-grid electricity, anywhere in the country where opportunities exist.
Overall, the project is aimed at helping the country develop an inclusive process which will identify demand and address social development needs in a manner which will contribute to improved local institutional development. It is designed to help demonstrate cost-effective and participatory means for implementing small-scale rural infrastructure and social assistance projects. It is also intended to help Bangladesh, at the national level, to identify emerging successful procedures and to replicate good practice throughout the country.
The no-interest credit from the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank's concessional lending arm, is to be repaid with a 0.75 percent service charge over a period of 40 years after a 10 year grace period.
More Information on NGOs
More Information on NGOs and the Bretton Woods Institutions
More Information on the World Bank
More Information on Social and Economic Policy
FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Global Policy Forum distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
