Two-day confce on social protection from today
Sunday, 9 October 2011
A high profile international conference focusing on the role of social protection in Bangladesh for promoting growth and protecting people against risks will begin in the city today (Sunday), reports BSS.
Prime Minister (PM) Sheikh Hasina is expected to inaugurate the two-day conference titled "Scaling up Social Protection in Bangladesh: Building Effective Social Ladders and Safety Nets" at the city's Hotel Ruposhi Bangla in the morning on the day.
With Planning Minister AK Khondaker in the chair, UN Resident Coordinator Neal Walker, Country Representative of DFID Ms Gwen Hines and member of General Economic Division (GED) Dr Shamsul Alam will make statements in the opening session.
The event will be jointly hosted by the Government of Bangladesh (GED) with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Food Programme (WFP), supported by UKAid from the Department for International Development (DFID) and the Australian Aid Programme.
The conference that brings key stakeholders together with academics and expert practitioners, policymakers, top civil bureaucrats and representatives of development partners will review the social protection strategies of Bangladesh with a vision to provide input to the Sixth Five-Year Plan of the government for attaining sustainable development.
"The policy makers, experts from home and abroad and other stakeholders will review social safety nets in Bangladesh to find out sustainable ways to improve livelihood of people through eradicating poverty as the country moves towards middle income status," UNDP Assistant Country Director KAM Morshed said.
Mr Morshed said the objective of the conference is to provide inputs to strengthen the social safety nets and incorporate those in the five-year development strategy of the government with a view to reducing number of people living under poverty line to turn Bangladesh into a middle income country by 2021.
"Now nearly 40 per cent people in Bangladesh are living under poverty line and the government has allocated Tk 21 billion in its social safety net programme in the current fiscal. This programme needs to be strengthened and policy strategy should be incorporated in the Six-Five Year Plan," he said.
Planning Minister AK Khondaker, Food and Disaster Management Minister Dr M Abdur Razzaque, PM's Economic Adviser Dr Mashiur Rahman, former adviser to the Caretaker Government Dr AB Mirza Azizul Islam, Prof Wahiduddin Mahmud and Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Atiur Rahman will preside over the different sessions.
Besides, Finance Minister AMA Muhith, Food and Disaster Management Minister Dr Abdur Razzaque, State Minister for Women and Children Affairs Dr Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury, UNDP Country Director Stefan Priesner, GED Member Dr Shamsul Alam, Ms Rachel Payne of AusAid will address the closing ceremony of the two-day conference tomorrow (Monday).