The government and 14 development partners signed a Joint Cooperation Arrangement (JCA), first of its kind, Sunday to support third round of Health, Population and Nutrition Sector Development Programme (HPNSDP) of Bangladesh for 2016-2020 period.
The signing ceremony was held at Economic Relations Division (ERD). ERD senior secretary Mohammad Mejbahuddin and WB Country Director for Bangladesh and Nepal Johannes Zutt signed the document on behalf of their respective parties.
Health secretary Syed Manjurul Islam and representatives of the development partners were also present, among others, on the occasion.
The 14 Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development of Canada, EKN, Department for International Development of UK, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH (German Federal Enterprise for International Cooperation) or GIZ, The KfW, a German government-owned development bank, based in Frankfurt, the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), Swedish National Export Credits Guarantee Board (Exportkreditnämnden, EKN), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), International Development Association (IDA) of World Bank, World Health Organisation (WHO), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS).
In his comment on the agreement, WHO representative in Bangladesh Dr N Paranietharan said though the document was not legally binding it is symbolic of the development partners' continuous best partnership with the government.It also shows that the development partners are going to have more collaborations to improve the Bangladesh health system, he added.
He said Bangladesh has achieved much in reaching millennium development goals (MDGs) in health sector, especially reduction in the under- five mortality rate and others. Health system of Bangladesh needs to evolve and grow into a middle-income country level status system if the country wants to achieve the target of becoming a middle-income country by 2021.
"We hope to work very closely with the government under the next health sector development plan under the five-year plan after 2016 as well to achieve the goal of universal health coverage for all Bangladeshi citizens and improve the health system equal to any other middle-income country level status," said Mr Paraneitharan.
The JCA sets forth the joint provisions and procedures for support to HPNSDP and serves as a coordination framework for consultation among the signatories. It is not an international treaty or international arrangement and is not legally binding under international law rather it is an administrative arrangement.
Health Ministry has been implementing the Health Population and Nutrition Sector Development Programme (HPNSDP) for a period of five years from July 2011 to June 2016 with a view to accelerating progress in the health, population and nutrition (HPN) sector and addressing the challenges. After HPSP (1998-2003) and HNPSP (2003-2011), the HPNSDP is the third sector-wide programme for overall improvement of health, population and nutrition sub-sectors. The priority of the programme is to stimulate demand and improve access to and utilisation of HPN services in order to reduce morbidity and mortality; reduce population growth rate and improve nutritional status, especially of women and children.
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