EC Country Strategy Paper for Bangladesh 2002-2006

HPSP. A number of other projects, including research and NGO co-financed projects in the
field of reproductive health and HIV/AIDS, have been initiated in this sector.
As the mid-term review of the HPSP in November 2000 concluded that significant progress
has been made in regard to the health sector reform, Bangladesh’s development partners
have already agreed to consider supporting a second phase of the sector-wide programme.
IV. Education Sector
The involvement of the EC in the education sector was initiated during the first cooperation
strategy 1993–96, A large number of NGO co-financed projects also involve interventions
in non-formal education. Overall, the focus of the EC intervention has been on
making primary education more accessible to the poorest children, improving the quality of
the education provided and girls' attendance and completion rate. A recent review of the
performance of the first year of BRAC NFPE III concluded that the project was successful
in the implementation of a full primary cycle up to grade five – in-line with the State sector
– and the improvement of quality through de-centralised management in BRAC's 34,000
non-formal primary schools.
V. Food Security
Since 1976, food aid, and more recently food security, has been a central area of intervention.
Whereas in the early 1990s, food security interventions focused on food availability
and agricultural production, the emphasis from the late 1990s was laid on access to food
and nutrition. This entailed a shift from food aid supported activities to cash based interventions
for the most vulnerable groups. The shift in focus is justified by recent developments
towards food self-sufficiency of Bangladesh.
The joint task force of the Government of Bangladesh and donor agencies has completed a
report on a comprehensive food security policy for Bangladesh. Among others, the report
highlights that – corroborated by findings of a number of studies of donors – most programmes
aiming at poverty reduction, including major NGO programmes, have predominantly
benefited the moderate poor, but failed to reach the poorest of the poor.
The EC Food Security Programme has accordingly set its overall long-term objective as its
contribution to the eradication of malnutrition in Bangladesh through ‘indirect nutrition activities’
targeted at the ultra-poor and specific programmes for small and marginal farmers.
The importance of this type of intervention, which are insufficiently covered by other rural
development programmes and therefore complementary to these, goes without saying in a
country where malnutrition rates are among the highest in the world.
VI. Decentralised Co-operation
EC co-operation with NGOs as implementing partners in providing poverty-alleviating
services has increased significantly over the past years. Presently, over 40% of the total
financial commitments have been directly allocated to projects and programmes implemented
by NGOs.
Over the past few years, the EC has pursued a policy in support of NGO’s activities. This
policy has focused on the following issues:
• Providing financial and technical assistance to selected and important NGO development
programmes. This assistance particularly benefited large and medium sized NGOs
through a donor consortium mechanism, which has ensured a close monitoring of these
programmes and the provision of technical assistance throughout the project cycle. This
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