USAID-Bangladesh Partnership

Over the last decade, Bangladesh has achieved marked progress in its development. Robust economic growth – complemented by the Bangladeshi government’s widely acknowledged commitment to the Millennium Development Goals – has reduced poverty in the country by nearly a third. Bangladesh is one of only 16 countries that have been recognized by the United Nations for its achievements in reducing child mortality. But despite recent advancements in the country’s development, nearly a third of Bangladeshis still live in extreme poverty. According to the U.N. Development Program, out of 52 MDG targets set by the Bangladeshi government, the country is on track to achieve only 19 of them. Hunger and poverty reduction, employment generation, education, and health are some of the areas where progress towards the MDGs remains lacking. In its fiscal 2011-2016 country development cooperation strategy for Bangladesh, the U.S. Agency for International Development has pledged to continue its longstanding partnership with the South Asian nation. In line with the Government of Bangladesh’s national development plans, including the Sixth Five-Year Plan for 2011–2015, the overall strategic goal of USAID programming in Bangladesh is to support Dhaka’s ambitious vision of becoming a middle income country by 2021. According to USAID, its mission in Bangladesh is one of the agency’s largest in terms of both funding and staff size. Funding levels For fiscal 2013, U.S. President Barack Obama has requested $199.5 million in U.S. foreign assistance to Bangladesh, roughly flat from current levels. From fiscal 2009 to fiscal 2012, U.S. foreign aid to Bangladesh averaged $181.4 million annually. USAID delivers the vast majority of U.S. foreign assistance to Bangladesh. In 2010, 84 percent of U.S. official development assistance to Bangladesh flowed through USAID programming. Funding priorities (fiscal 2013 request) For fiscal 2013, over 75 percent of U.S. foreign assistance to Bangladesh is expected to support programming in the health and agriculture sectors. Bangladesh is a focus country for the Global Health Initiative as well as Feed the Future, the U.S. global hunger and food security initiative. For fiscal 2013, the health sector is slated to garner 44 percent ($88.4 million) of the Obama administration’s proposed aid budget for Bangladesh. Through fiscal 2016, USAID health programming in Bangladesh will focus on meeting unmet family planning needs, as well as reducing both child and maternal mortality. Over the next four years, USAID will also work closely with local and international firms to accelerate implementation of two health initiatives: - Mobiles for Health: a health information service utilizing mobile phones to improve maternal and neonatal health outcomes - Helping Babies Breathe: an evidence-based educational program to teach neonatal resuscitation techniques in resource-limited areas Meanwhile, the Obama administration has allocated 31 percent ($62.5 million) of its proposed aid budget for Bangladesh in fiscal 2013 to the agriculture sector. Through fiscal 2016, USAID’s food security strategy for Bangladesh will incorporate integrated and multi-sector interventions designed to increase diversification to more nutritious and high value crops. A fifth of U.S. funding for the agriculture sector in Bangladesh supports food aid programming. USAID’s fiscal 2011-2016 country development cooperation strategy for Bangladesh, however, suggests that the agency is looking to diversify its programming in the country. The strategy states that democracy and governance and climate change, in addition to health and agriculture, are also priority sectors for USAID in Bangladesh. On a visit to Dhaka in May 2012, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that USAID would provide $13 million over four years to support climate change resilience in Bangladesh. Bangladesh is among over 40 countries selected by the Obama administration to participate in its Global Climate Change Initiative. Devex analysis USAID’s partnership with Bangladesh is anchored on enduring and strategic ties between Washington and Dhaka. Considered by the U.S. as an important moderate voice in the Islamic world, Bangladesh has received more than $5 billion in U.S. foreign assistance since 1971. In May 2012, shortly before signing the U.S.-Bangladesh Partnership Dialogue with her Bangladeshi counterpart in Dhaka, Clinton emphasized that the South Asian country “represents one of the largest development assistance commitments” by the Obama administration. In 2010, the United States was the third largest bilateral donor to Bangladesh. On the other hand, Clinton also raised several human rights concerns with the Bangladeshi government during her visit to Dhaka. The U.S. has given its public backing to microcredit pioneer Mohammed Yunus, who was controversially removed by the Bangladesh central bank as head of the Grameen Bank last year. In recent years, U.S. reservations over Dhaka’s commitment to democracy and human rights have had little impact on U.S. aid spending in Bangladesh. The U.S. kept its aid budget for Bangladesh intact while the South Asian country was under military-backed emergency rule from 2007 to 2008. But amid budgetary pressures as well as growing, bipartisan interest in expanding the use of the Millennium Challenge Corporation’s performance-based aid model, democracy and human rights issues may figure more prominently as the U.S. continues to reevaluate funding for USAID programming worldwide, including in Bangladesh. The country’s next general election, due in early 2014, will be a key test of Dhaka’s fledgling democratic institutions. Contact: USAID Bangladesh Madani Avenue, Dhaka, Bangladesh Tel.: (880-2) 885-5500 Fax: (880-2) 882-3648 Email: idhaka@usaid.gov