Brussels, 14/01/2000 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission recently approved several payments for aid to development projects in Bangladesh.
- EUR 70 million, over four years, towards the financing of a "health and population" programme (health and population sector programme) of a total cost of EUR 2.7 billion. The General objective of this programme is to help the Bangladeshi government to define and to implement health and family planning policies as well as to further co-ordinate the donors' aid. The European aid will be paid in function of results of institutional reform carried out by the government.
- EUR 40 million, over five years, for the financing of a project fighting poverty that is carried out by one of Bangladesh's largest NGOs, "Proshika Manobik Unnayan Kendra". The aim of the "towards a society without poverty" project is to help 2 million poor households to pass above the poverty line through methods that give responsibility to the poor through the: creation of public organisations, training, improving skills, the creation of a saving collective, etc.
- EUR 14 million, over one year, are made to a microcredit programme destined to the populations that were affected by the 1998 floods. This subsidy will be paid to three NGO credit funds: Brac, Proshika and RDS and will finance loans to some 135,000 households.
- EUR 1.8 million will be allocated to support projects "for democratisation, civil society and the promotion of human rights." These projects, spread over 2 to 4 years, concern the fight against women and children trafficking, aid to the victims of violence, aid to street children, civic education for the electorate, training of Parliamentarians as well as audit missions.
