Continued Swiss Development Assistance to Bangladesh

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Swiss Agency for Development & Cooperation (SDC) is a long-standing development partner of Bangladesh since independence, supporting in its economic development towards poverty reduction, employment creation and self-sufficiency. Over the last decades, SDC has supported development projects in various sectors of rural development of Bangladesh. The projects have been implemented in collaboration with a variety of partners, including Government of Bangladesh, national and local NGOs, civil society organizations, research institutions, private sector etc.
SDC has recently confirmed its continued commitment for development assistance to Bangladesh for another 5 years (2008-2012). SDC's focus will be on 1) Employment & Income and 2) Local Governance.
In the area of Employment and Income, SDC aims at improving living conditions of the poor and poorest, in particular young people, by enhancing their potential, skills and capacities as well as their access to opportunities. The objectives are to increase employment and income, to make markets accessible and to improve local economic framework conditions favorable for the poor and poorest.
The second priority aims at contributing to effective and pro-poor local governance. The objectives are to enable poor and poorest groups to negotiate their interests and take their responsibilities as citizens and access public services. SDC will contribute also to improve capacity of the local government to deliver services in a responsive and accountable manner and support policy reform in this area focused on pro-poor issues.
During the last 5 years (2003-2007), SDC's main areas of cooperation were non-formal education, sustainable use of natural resources, micro and small enterprise promotion and local governance. Within these thematic areas, SDC supported initiatives and organizations to reach the socially and economically underprivileged people and contribute to their self sufficiency and better livelihood. For instance, through such cooperation, SDC was able to provide basic education or skills training to several million children and adults and contribute to enhance income of thousands of families in underserved regions of the country. At the national level, SDC contributed the policy dialogue on important issues such as non-formal education, integrating its learning and knowledge from the field experience.