Finance adviser, donors work out 'multi-donor trust fund' today

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Finance adviser will sit with two major donors today (Wednesday) in Dhaka to work out the nature of the proposed "multi-donor trust fund", which will be utilised in managing natural disasters in Bangladesh, a official said Tuesday.

"The adviser will discuss with the donors -- World Bank and DFID - and with the concerned government agencies about the nature of the proposed trust fund," a senior economic relations division (ERD) official said.

The fund is expected to be launched in the upcoming international conference on climate change in London.

The Bangladesh government with the support of the United Kingdom (UK) and its donor agency Department for International Development (DFID) will organise the conference in London on September 10 this year aiming to attract the attention of the world community about the affect of the global warming to the country.

The ERD official Tuesday said: "The finance adviser Mirza Azizul Islam will discuss about the progress of holding the upcoming international conference. Some important issues like nature of the trust fund and fund mobilisation and donors' contribution are expected to be discussed.

Bangladesh is one of the worst affected country of the global warming. Within July -November, 2007, the country faced twin floods and one devastating cyclone Sidr, which damaged properties worth $2.8 billion. Besides, about 4000 people died and hundreds were missing due to the series of disasters.

A government-donor joint assessment on the damage and losses for the devastating cyclone Sidr in November 15 suggested that a multi-donor trust fund should be formed for protecting and managing future natural calamities in Bangladesh as the country is under threat of the climate change.

The assessment showed US$4.0 billion fund will be required for long-term disaster management in Bangladesh.