The United States (US) wants to see Bangladesh as a more inclusive, democratic and prosperous country, and a resilient Indo-Pacific partner, reports UNB.
The USAID re-evaluated its Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) for Bangladesh and amended the plan to address evolving needs through 2027.
According to the USAID, this CDCS was originally developed and finalized in 2020. Following the Covid-19 pandemic, USAID re-evaluated the strategy in 2023.
The CDCS goal is for Bangladesh to be a “more inclusive, democratic, prosperous, and resilient Indo-Pacific partner.”
It reflects the Mission’s approach to working with a more mature government of Bangladesh, according to USAID.
Through this strategy, USAID builds on past work in economic growth, education, health, energy, environment, climate change, food security, disaster preparedness, democracy, human rights, and good governance using programming approaches that capitalize on the interdependence of development sectors.
The CDCS focuses on inclusive and integrated development efforts to drive greater impact across four development objectives.
These are strengthening democracy for an inclusive society, fostering sustainable economic growth, advancing human capital development and strengthening resilience to climate change and other shocks.
Bangladesh’s Country Development Cooperation Strategy 2020-2027 presents USAID’s approach to furthering the country’s development.
The strategy acknowledges Bangladesh’s challenges and leverages its assets as an important and longstanding development partner.
According to the 27-page document published this month, Bangladesh is a strategically important country in South Asia and the Indo-Pacific region due to its geographic location connecting South and Southeast Asia, substantive security and development ties with the United States, and decades of consistent economic growth.
The country is one of the world’s most densely populated countries with major challenges in poverty, governance, inclusive development, and institutional and civil society capacity, it mentioned.
Bangladesh is also home to one of the largest and fastest-growing youth populations, with nearly 30 percent of its population of 165 million between the ages of 15 and 29.
It hosts one-fifth of the world’s refugee population, primarily consisting of the displaced Rohingya population, and has the largest refugee camp in the world.
The USAID said the war in Ukraine has also impacted Bangladesh’s economy, food security, and poverty levels, while at the same time revealing some of the underlying vulnerabilities in the country’s fiscal and financial systems.
In response, it said, the government of Bangladesh has implemented a number of measures aimed at preserving food security and retaining fiscal space, including dramatically increasing the subsidy on fertilizers and restructuring its fuel subsidy.
With rising non-performing loans and poor financial sector governance, banks have been poorly positioned to help the country weather the crisis, said the USAID document.
Overall, the fallout from the Russia-Ukraine war has underscored the need to reform Bangladesh’s weak tax collection system, costly subsidies, and financial sector governance, it mentioned.
USAID activities support the Bangladesh government’s efforts to strengthen and streamline policies and regulations for better compliance with international standards in the areas of trade and business processes, it said.
Bd-pratidin English/Golam Rosul
