DHAKA, May 31, 2006 —As part of the strategy to promote civic engagement, the World Bank today awarded funds to seven Bangladesh NGOs and civil society organizations under its Small Grants Program. The World Bank Office Dhaka provides grants annually to Bangladesh NGOs. This year NGOs were selected for their innovative ideas regarding the promotion of youth voices in development.
Each year the World Bank Office Dhaka seeks proposals on certain themes. This year’s theme is “The Voice of Youth in Development Programs.” Final selection is made by Small Grant Committee, chaired by the Country Director. Globally, the Small Grants program provides $2.2 million to 64 countries and the Dhaka Office is able to fund only a very small percentage of the requests it receives.
World Bank Country Director Christine Wallich was present at the award ceremony and explained the links between the World Bank’s strategy and the significance of partnerships with NGOs and Civil Society. Referring to newly launched Country Assistance Strategy for Bangladesh, she said: “The World Bank values building partnerships with a range of ‘actors’ and many new programs will have a strong focus on community involvement to ensure maximum voice and participation.”
Urging awardees to use this opportunity to strengthen ties between World Bank staff and their organizations, Ms Wallich added: “These activities will increase coordination with NGOs and other civil society organizations, and efforts to forge a three-way dialogue between the private sector, NGOs and government”.
Florent Agueh, Operations Advisor and Nilufar Ahmad, Senior Social Scientist also spoke.
The World Bank’s annual flagship publication ‘The World Development Report 2007’ focuses on crucial capabilities and transitions in a young person's life: learning for life and work, staying healthy, working, forming families, and exercising citizenship. This will be released globally in September this year,
The awardees for this year are: News Network, Srijony Bangladesh, Mass-line Media Centre (MMC), Environment and Population Research Centre (EPRC), World-Literature Centre (Biswa Shahitya Kendra), Grassroots Health and Rural Organizations for Nutrition Initiatives (GHARONI), and Institute for Environment & Development (IED).
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Contacts:
Rezwan Alam (880-2) 8159001 Ext. 4242; salam3@worldbank.org;
Rehnuma Amin (880-2) 8159001, Ext. 4136, ramin1@worldbank.org
For more information on the Small Grants Program, please click here
For more information on the World Bank in Bangladesh, please visit:
www.worldbank.org.bd
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