UN Wing mainly coordinates with three UN ExCom agencies (UNDP, UNICEF and UNFP A) and technical agencies of the United Nations namely F AO, ILO, UNIDO, UNIFEM, UNEP and UNCDF etc for their technical assistance in Bangladesh. It also keeps liaison with the Permanent Missions of Bangladesh to the United Nations at New York and Geneva, Economic Wing of Bangladesh Missions in abroad, UN Resident Coordinator's Office at Dhaka for the matters relating to the Executives Boards, Headquarters and country level offices of these organizations. Moreover, it also looks after the activities carrying out by Trust Funds attached to the UN Organizations, for example Global Environment Facility(GEF), Global Fund to Fight against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GF A TM) etc. All UNorganizations provide technical assistance in the form of grant only.

UN Organizations in Bangladesh have been providing support to the Government of Bangladesh in the following areas:

UNDP (i) Democratic governance and human rights (ii) Sustainable environment management (iii) Economic growth and poverty alleviation (iv) Reduction of social and economic vulnerability (v) Gender equality and the advancement of women

UNICEF:(i) Health and nutrition (ii) Water and environmental sanitation (iii) Education (iv) Child protection (v) Policy, advocacy and partnership

UNFPA:(i) Reproductive health (ii) Gender (iii) Population and development

FAO:(i) Agriculture (ii) Food security

ILO: Child labour

UNESCO: (i) Education (ii) Conservation of culture and heritage

GFATM: (i) HIV / AIDS (ii) Tuberculosis (iii) Malaria.

Branch: UN-I
UN-I Branch deals with two UN ExCom agencies namely UNDP and UNFPA. In addition, Coordination with Resident Coordinator’s office is also the responsibility of this branch. It consists of three sections 1) UN-1 responsible for activities related to General policy issues relating to the UN system and UNDP (activities under poverty and governance thematic area), 2) UN-2 responsible for UNFPA and 3) UN-3 responsible for UNDP, GEF and UNIFEM.
 
A brief description of section-wise activities is given below:

Section: UN–1
General policy issues relating to the UN system, particularly UNDP, UNITAR, Inter UN agency policy issues and coordination, Pledge/contribution to UN Bodies, matters relating to UNDP-UNFPA Executive Board, management of UNDP including monitoring delivery position, monitoring implementation status of  UNDP-supported programmes and projects, annual & mid term review of UNDP supported programmes and projects, processing of the cases for short training courses, seminars and conferences sponsored by the UNDP.
 
Section: UN–2
Policy, programming, projects and other issues relating to UNFPA, UNCDF, UNAIDS, Inter-

country/regional programme and projects executed by above agencies.
 
Section: UN–3
Management of UN technical assistance programmes co-financed with other development partners, policy, programming, projects and issues relating to Global Environment Facility (GEF), Montreal Protocol, Persistent Organic Pollutant Convention (POP), United Nations Development fund for Women (UNIFEM), national execution of UNDP-supported programmes and projects, Processing UNDP-supported programmes and projects in environment, crisis prevention and women’s advancement sectors, including cost-sharing with other development partners.
 
UNDP Assistance in Bangladesh
UNDP’s activities in Bangladesh are guided by the Standard Basic Assistance Agreement (SBAA) signed on 25 November 1986. UNDP provides funding for technical assistance to develop and enhance the national capacities. Under the Country Cooperation Framework (CCF), 2001-2005, UNDP and its partners achieved key results in the areas of decentralized governance for poverty reduction, sustainable environment, economic empowerment of vulnerable groups, gender mainstreaming at the local and national level disaster risk reduction, and HIV/AIDs awareness and prevention. UNDP and Government of Bangladesh already signed a US$ 266 million Country Programme Action Plan (CPAP). Regular resource allocation (TRAC) for the CPAP 2006-10 is US$ 53.63 million.UNDP will mobilize an additional US$ 212.42 million from the Global Environment Facility, bilateral and multi-lateral funding institutions, global trust funds and the private sector subject to interest by funding partners. Under the CPAP different UNDP assisted projects and programmes will be implemented from 2006 to 2010. The UNDP CPAP 2006-10 will contribute in five major programme areas:
 
Democratic governance and human rights
Sustainable environment and energy management
Economic growth and poverty alleviation
Reduction of social and economic vulnerability
Gender equality and advancement of women

Goals, key results and strategies of the current Country Programme:
The CPAP will contribute to development results in areas where national priorities and United Nations

Development Framework (UNDAF) outcomes coincide with the UNDP mandate and comparative

advantage. The UNDP CPAP 2006-10 aims to achieve the following outputs:
Enhancing democratic practices through strengthening the working of the Parliament, its infrastructure,

capacity and knowledge management.
Improving the working of the Election Commission and strengthening the electoral process towards free

and fair election.
Establishment of institutional framework for protection of human rights and dissemination of HR status

particularly of the disadvantaged;  Reforming Bangladesh Police and developing capacity for

improvement of law and order.
Improved access to public information by bringing in legal changes through participatory process and

technology applications.
Strengthened capacity of civil services by way of designing and implementing a comprehensive plan for

improved organizational performance, including ICT applications; merit-based recruitment; citizen-

oriented training and aid governance.
Institution built in CHT for improved and inclusive development with community participation and self

reliance in an environment of enhanced security.
National capacity enhanced through institutionalization and mainstreaming of sustainable environmental

management and governance and implemented in select areas; agricultural biodiversity and

environmental agreements compliance promoted.
Phase out of Ozone Depleting Substances and reducing pollution in select industries, preparation and

implementation of PoPs.
Capacity enhanced for MDG/PRS monitoring and results published.
Basic service delivery capacities and participatory governance practices of local government enhanced

to the benefit of the poor.
Improved capacity for effective local economic development planning at urban communities and elected

local governments for urban poverty reduction and employment-generating export-led economic

growth.
National policies and plans aligned with changed focus on risk reduction and institutional capacities

strengthened at national,  local and community levels including emergency preparedness.
Adaptation measures to the impact of climate change, especially in agricultural sector strengthened.
Identification of mechanism for regional cooperation for coordinated response to disasters.
Public awareness of HIV/AIDS raised and HIV/AIDS related data management established.
Increased women’s voice and presence in the politics and administration at national local levels;

increased generation, availability, and use of gender-disaggregated data; Increased support for women’s

empowerment and transformation in societal attitudes to women and gender.
Harmonized mainstreaming and Access to Gender Justice.
Gender concerns and issues, including HIV/AIDS and environment, addressed though macro planning.

 

Resource Plan for the Country Programme Action Plan (2006-10):

                                                                                                                                               (In US$ )

Programme Areas	Regular Resources (core Resources)	Other Resources (non-core resources)	Total
Democratic governance and human rights	20,000,000	67,435,000	87,435,000
Sustainable environment and energy management	9,136,000	51,071,000	60,207,000
Economic growth and poverty alleviation	13,300,000	74,000,000	87,300,000
Reduction of social and economic vulnerability	7,700,000	14,914,000	22,614,000
Gender equality and advancement of women	3,500,000	5,000,000	8,500,000
Total	53,635,000	212,420,000	266,056,000

 

 On-going UNDP Assisted Programmes and Projects

 

Sl. #	Title of the Project	Implementing Partner /Ministry/Division	Duration	UNDP Allocation (In million US$)
1.	Preparatory Assistance (PA) Project for Promoting Pro-Poor Trade	UNDP, GoB	2066-2007	0.996
2.	Capacity Building for Management of Foreign Aid in Bangladesh (UNCTAD)	UNCTAD, M/O. Finance	Sept.2006-Fab-2009	0.950
3.	Photo Image ID card	Bangladesh Election Commission.	1 Jul-2007-30 Jun-2010	47.283
4.	Strengthening ICT capacity of PMO	Prime Minister’s Office	1 Apr-2004-31 Jul, 2007	0.838
5.	Bangladesh Police Reform Programme	Ministry of Home Affairs	Sep 2004- Jun 2009	16.67
6.	Access to Information (A2I) Programme	Chief Adviser’s Office	Oct-2006-30 Sep 2009	88.64
7.	Support to SICT project	M/O. Planning	Jun 2005-May-2008	2.371
8.	Strengthening of the Parliamentary Democracy	Parliament Secretariat	1997-2007	7.396
9.	PA for promoting Pro poor Trade	UNDP/ERD		0.997
10	Initiative to promote PRSP inspired Employment for Women and Youth	M/O. Youth and Sports	01 Oct- 2006-30 Sep 2011	3.82
11.	Support to Monitoring Poverty Reduction and MDG(GED)	Planning Division Ministry of Planning	23 Nov 2005-22 Nov 2010	5.001
12.	Promoting Access to Justice & Human Right in Bangladesh	M/O. Justice Law and Parliamentary Affairs	Jul 2007- Jun 2010	3. 000
13.	Urban  partnerships for Poverty Reduction Project (UPPRP)	Local Government Engineering Department	2007-2015	120
14.	Developing Civil Service Capacity for 21st  Century Administration (BPATC)	Ministry of Establishment	01 Aug 2005 -Mar 2007	5.132
15	Promotion of Development and Confidence Building in the CHTA	M/O. Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs	15 Apr 2003-30 Sep 2009	16.866
16	Local Government Support Project-Learning and Innovation component (UNCDF)	Local Government Division	Apr 2007-Dec 2011	18.11
17.	Institutional Strengthening of ODS phase out -IV	Ministry of Environment	Jul 2005-Jun 2008	0.140
18.	National ODS Phase Out Plan	Ministry of Environmemt	Jul 2005 -Jun 2012	1.116
19	Coastal Wetland and Biodiversity management at Cox’s Bazar Hakaluky	Department of Environment	Jul 2000- Jun 2007	5.52
20	Comprehensive Disaster Management Programme (CDMP)	Disaster Management Bureau	Jan 2003 -Dec 2007	26.24

 

 

Contact Address of UNDP-Bangladesh:
UNDP Bangladesh
IDB Bhaban
Sher-e-Bangla Nagar
G.P.O. Box 224, Dhaka-1000
Bangladesh
Tel: (880-2) 8118600
Fax: (880-2) 8113196
website: www.undp.org.bd
 

 
UNFPA Assistance in Global Context
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) began its programme assistance operations in 1969 and grew rapidly during the 1980s to become the world’s largest multilateral source of population funding. The main focus areas of UNFPA’s work are to help ensure universal access to Reproductive Health (RH) including family planning and sexual health; to support population and development strategies that enable capacity building in population programming; to promote awareness of population and development issues and to advocate for the mobilization of resources and political will necessary to accomplish these.
 
 
UNFPA Assistance in Bangladesh
UNFPA has been associated with the government of Bangladesh in the field of population since 1974.

Bangladesh has been the second largest recipient of the UNFPA assistance and so far has received US

$ 146.00 million in the form of grant assistance during the period 1974-2005. The country benefits on a

priority basis from UNFPA’s allocation of country programme funding.
 
The major areas of UNFPA support are:
To have universal access to reproductive health and family planning
Advocacy/Information, Education and Communication (IEC)
To promote Programme Development Strategies (PDS) that enable capacity building for

population programme.

An overview of UNFPA’s resource flows to Bangladesh is given below:
Programme Cycle                    Period            Flow of UNFPA resources

First Country Programme          1974-79        US$ 10.00 million
Second Country Programme     1980-85        US$ 25.00 million
Third Country Programme        1985-90        US$ 20.00 million
Fourth Country Programme      1991-97        US$ 38.00 million
Fifth Country Programme         1998-02        US$ 35.00 million
Sixth Country Programme        2003-05        US$ 18.00 million
7th Country Programme           2006-10        US$ 40.50 million (Committed)
 Total: US$ 186.50 million                                                                     
 
 
Current UNFPA Activities in Bangladesh: 1.         Seventh Country Programme (2006-2010):
UNFPA’s 7th Country Programme Action Plan (CPAP) for Bangladesh (2006-2010) was approved by

the UNDP/UNFPA Executive Board with a total amount of US$ 40.50 million. To implement this

Country Programme, ERD signed an agreement with UNFPA titled “Country Programme Action Plan-

CPAP (2006-2010)” in December 2005. It contains three components, these are:
Reproductive Health
Gender
Population and development
 
The overall goal of the 7th CPAP is to contribute to improving the reproductive health status of the

population of Bangladesh, leading to sustainable social development and reduction of poverty. The main

purposes of the programme are:
To improve quality of RH services
To improve gender equity and equality and contribute to the reduction of gender  based

violence
To foster positive behavior changes in Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) To increase

national technical capacity in RH and population policies and programmes.
 
The Present Country Programme reflects the International Conference on population and Development

(ICPD) agenda, UNDAF priorities. It adopts a rights-based approach, which views reproductive rights

of women and men as part of universal human rights. it addresses the MDGs and PRSP goals.
 
The priority areas to be addressed in 7th CP are:
Safe Motherhood
Family Planning
Sexual and Reproductive Health Information and sevices for adeolescents and youth.
STI/HIV/AIDS
Promoting Gender equality and equity.

Output of the three Components under 7th Country Programme:
(a)        Reproductive Health Component:
Increased access to improved sexual and reproductive health information and services.
Increased demand especially among poor and vulnerable for sexual and reproductive health

services.
Sexual reproductive Health needs and education of young people addressed.
Improved awareness and prevention about RTI/STI/HIV/AIDS among young people and

high-risk groups.
 
(b)        Gender Component:
Rights of women and girls promoted and gender equity enhanced.
Population and Development Component:
Population and gender concerns integrated into national and sectoral plans. Improved

analysis and utilization of data disaggregated by age, sex, economic status and location.

2.         Current Activities Outside the 7th Country Programme:
Besides the 6th Country Prograqmme, UNFPA manages funds from other development partners and

undertakes projects/programmes in the field of population and health in Bangladesh. Presently UNFPA

has endeavoured to undertake the following projects:

==== 2

 

Sl. #	Project Title	Foreign Assistance (in million)	Source of Fund
01.	Better Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) in Urban and Peri-urban Areas of Bangladesh (RHIYA)	US$ 2.40	EU
02.	Establishment of Fistual Center at DMC Hospital and training Institute for Skilled Birth Attendants (SBA).	US$ 2.50	IDB
	Total	US$ 4.90

 

On-going UNFPA Assisted Programme and Projects:

 

Sl. #	Title of the Project	Implementing  Partner/Ministry/Division	Duration	UNFPA Allocation (in US$)
1.	Youth Empowerment Through Life Skills Education and Livelihood Opportunities	Department of Youth Development, Ministry of Youth & Sports	2006-2010	955,100
2.	Capacity Building Initiative for Law Enforcing Agencies to Promote Reproductive Health, Reproductive Right and Prevent Gender Based Violence & HIV/AIDS	Ministry of Home Affairs	2006-2010	382,650
3.	Promotion of Reproductive Health Reproductive Right, Gender Equality and Prevention of HIV/AIDS in Tea Communities.	Directorate of Labour, Ministry of Labour & Employment	2006-2010	650,615
4.	Advocacy on Reproductive Health and Gender Issue Through Department of Mass Communication (3rd Phase)	Department of Mass Communication, Ministry of Information	2006-2010	641,636
5.	Strengthening the Department of Population Sciences at the University of Dhaka.	Department of Population Sciences, University of Dhaka, Ministry of Education	2006-2010	634,000
6.	Strengthening Capacity of BBS in Data Collection and Analysis Using GIS Maps.	Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), Ministry of Planning	2006-2010	1,371,900
7.	Integration of Population and Gender into National and Sectoral Planning (IPGNSP)	Planning Division, Ministry of Planning	2006-2010	614,050
8.	Involvement of Parliamentarians Integration of Reproductive Health, Reproductive Right and Gender Issue with Development Activities.	Bangladesh Parliament Secretariat	2006-2010	361,500
9.	Life Skill Based Reproductive Health Education for In-school Youth & Adolescents Through Peer Approach.	Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE), Ministry of Education	2006-2010	858,000
10.	Involvement of Religious Leaders in Human Resource Development Program (3rd Phase).	Ministry of Religious Affairs	2006-2010	1,335,332
11.	Promotion of Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment	Department of Women Affairs, Ministry of Women and Children Affairs	2006-2010	1,610,779
12.	Support for Policy Planning and Program Implementation Research for Population and Development.	Department of Health, Population and Family Welfare, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare	2006-2010	603,000
13.	Promotion of Reproductive Health, Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in the Garment Sectors.	Ministry of Labour and Employment	2006-2010	631,150

 

 

Contact Address of UNFPA Bangladesh:
UNFPA Bangladesh
IDB Bhaban(15th Floor)
E/8-A Begum Rokeya Sharani
Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka-1207
Bangladesh
Phone: +88(02)8111061, 8110836, 8123265
Fax: +88(02) 9131236,
website: www.unfpa-bangladesh.org
 

Negotiation Process for all UN ExCom Agencies: Negotiation process for all four UN ExCom agencies

(including UNICEF and WFP) is identical. As part of UN System reformation, the UN ExCom

agencies have adopted Country Programme Action Plan (CPAP) for the same timeframe i.e. 2006-

2010 in Bangladesh. On behalf of the Government of Bangladesh, Economic Relations Division (ERD)

signs the CPAP with concerned UN agencies. The Country Programme Action Plan identifies the

programme areas for the projects to be undertaken with an estimated budget. The negotiation process

for CPAP is shown below:   
Step-1: CCA The Common Country Assessment (CCA) is a joint exercise by UN agencies working in

Bangladesh to asses the development situation of the country and identify gaps and priorities that merit

new or continued focus by the UN agencies. CCA document is prepared with close consultation with

the Government including ERD and line ministries. The CCA forms the basis of the Bangladesh

UNDAF.   
Step-2:UNDAF United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) is a strategic planning

and collaborative programming framework that is designed to bring greater coherence, collaboration

and effectiveness to UN development efforts in the field by identifying and prioritizing common

challenges, common responses, common resource frameworks, and potential partnerships. UNDAF

document approved and formally signed among ERD and UN Organizations.   
Step-3: CPD Based on the UNDAF priorities and mandates of UN ExCom agencies, each UN

ExCom agency prepares Country Programme Document (CPD) which needs to be cleared by the

Government of Bangladesh and approved by the Executive Board of the respective organization at the

headquarters level.