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Photos credits:World Bank Photo Library Cover Design and Text layout: Duina Reyes COUNTRY SNAPSHOT Rapid growth has propelled Bangladesh garment exporter, making it unique among low- from low-income to low-middle-income income countries because of the high share of country (LMIC) status, as FY2014 per capita manufactured goods in its exports (90 percent gross national income of $1,080 crossed the compared with about 20 percent in other coun- threshold. Per capita income continued to in- tries at a similar level of development in 2015). crease in FY2016 to $1,409. Gross domestic product (GDP) grew well above the average for Progress on reducing extreme poverty and developing countries in recent years, averaging boosting shared prosperity through human 6.3 percent since 2010, with services and indus- development and employment generation try accounting for the bulk of the growth. While has continued. This needs to be further con- Bangladesh has achieved its ambition of enter- solidated in the near-term by sustaining GDP ing middle-income status well before 2021, and remittances growth, creating jobs, contain- the 50th anniversary of its independence, the ing inflation, and making progress on improv- challenge will be to further accelerate growth ing the quality of service delivery in health and so that it keeps moving past the threshold and education. Private investments need to increase further up the income range of middle income significantly to achieve the government’s 7.2 countries. percent growth target for FY2017. At the same time, the quality of public investment needs to Several factors underpin the resilience of be substantially enhanced to help alleviate in- Bangladesh’s economy, against the back- frastructure constraints on the private sector drop of a volatile global economy. Robust and expand service delivery. Over the medium macroeconomic fundamentals at the onset of term, it will be essential to: (i) complete the the financial crisis, strong growth of exports transition in the garment industry to higher and remittances, and relatively under devel- value added products exported to a wider range oped and insulated financial markets have of markets, (ii) finish critical transport projects, played an important role. Bangladesh’s exports (iii) implement the Public Private Partnership more than doubled their world market share (PPP) law to boost private participation in in- between 1995 and 2016. The ready-made gar- frastructure development, and (iv) implement ment (RMG) sector has been a key contributor, measures to facilitate the expansion of Special exceeding 80 percent of total exports in FY2016. Economic Zones (SEZs). Bangladesh is now the world’s second largest ECONOMIC OVERVIEW With the return of some degree of political stabil- ity since April 2015, domestic economic activity has picked up. The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics’ pre- liminary 7.05 percent gross GDP growth estimate BANGLADESH for FY2016 (July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016) shows 2016 stronger economic dynamism relative to FY2014 and FY2015 despite political uncertainty, modest ex- Population, million 162.9 port growth, decline in remittances, and continued GDP, current US$ billion 221.0 weakness in private sector credit growth. Agricul- tural production has been healthy and services have GDP per capita, current US$ 1409 recovered. Domestic demand has regained strength, Sources: World Bank Staff, and BBS propelled in part by a large increase in public sector wages. Bangladesh Country Snapshot 1 Income and REER elasticities of Contribution to Annual GDP Growth demand for export are low. Only 2.4 percent of exports go to Chi- 10.0 na. Bangladesh’s capital account 8.0 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 is largely closed, and the pres- 6.0 5.6 6.0 6.1 6.0 5.0 ence of non-resident investor in In Percent 4.0 Bangladesh’s financial market 2.0 is very limited. The recent re- 0.0 opening of Saudi Arabia and the 2011 2012 2015 2016 (P) 2008 2013 2014 2009 2010 -2.0 United Arab Emirates markets -4.0 to Bangladeshi labor may help Final consumption Gross Fixed Investment Net Export restore remittance growth mo- Statistical Discrepancy GDP Growth Rate mentum, although the decline in oil prices has weakened labor demand in these markets. Infla- tion risks remain substantial. Recent Developments The Medium-Term Macroeconomic Framework Macroeconomic stability was sustained. Bangla- presented with the FY2017 budget is achievable if desh was not affected by recent turmoil in emerg- structural reforms related to infrastructure man- ing markets and developed economies. Headline agement and business regulation are implemented. inflation decelerated to 5.9 percent in FY2016 from However, achieving the 7.2 percent GDP growth 6.4 percent the year before. However, non-food in- target while reducing inflation to 5.8 percent dur- flation has picked up to 7.5 percent in FY2016 from ing FY2017 will be challenging. All evidence sug- 6.0 percent in FY2015. The lending rates offered by gest Bangladesh’s potential GDP growth rate is commercial banks have declined, the nominal taka- no more than 6.5 percent given its demographics, USD exchange rate has been stable, and foreign re- feeble state of physical infrastructure, and linger- serves have crossed $30 billion. The trade weight- ing political uncertainties. Macroeconomic man- ed real effective exchange rate appreciated by 14.4 agement will have to include strong surveillance of percent in the 12 months ending August 2016, the economy’s proclivity to overheat if growth ex- despite a stable nominal taka-USD exchange rate, ceeds potential, and adjust the policy instruments because of a 15.9 percent appreciation of the taka- accordingly. euro nominal rate and higher domestic inflation relative to inflation in Bangladesh’s trading part- The FY2017 budget is expected to boost growth di- ner countries. The fiscal deficit was contained at rectly through consumption and indirectly by facil- around 4.6 percent of GDP in FY2016. The FY2017 itating exports and private investment. It provides budget targets 5 percent deficit with expenditures for a 19.5 percent increase in public pay and allow- rising by 28.7 percent and revenues increasing by ances, and prioritizes 10 fast-track mega projects an ambitious 36.8 percent compared with the re- this year. In education, health and social protection, vised budget of FY2016. Weaknesses in financial there is an increase in the level of spending rela- sector regulatory framework persists. tive to the total size of the FY2016 budget, which bodes well for human development and hastening Outlook the pace of poverty reduction. Central government bank borrowing requirements may exceed the bud- Supported by political stability in the near-term, get target due to a likely shortfall in revenue col- growth in FY2017 is projected at 6.8 percent, driven lection and aid disbursement targets. The budget by stronger consumption and export growth. Ban- deficit may rise in FY2017, but the debt level is cur- gladesh is not at significant risk from contagion re- rently at a low risk of distress. The monetary pro- lated to recent Brexit-induced volatility in interna- gram envisages accommodating the central gov- tional financial markets or slower growth in China. ernment bank borrowing without monetization. 2 2013 2014 2015 e 2016 f 2017 f Real GDP growth, at constant market prices 6.0 6.1 6.6 7.1 6.8 Private Consumption 5.1 4.0 5.8 5.3 4.6 Government Consumption 5.8 7.9 8.8 10.7 10.2 Gross Fixed Capital Investment 5.4 9.9 7.1 8.9 11.9 Exports, Goods and Services 2.5 3.2 -2.8 -0.3 14.0 Imports, Goods and Services 1.2 1.2 3.2 -8.9 15.4 Real GDP growth, at constant factor prices 6.1 6.1 6.5 7.1 6.8 Agriculture 2.5 4.4 3.3 2.6 2.9 Industry 9.6 8.2 9.7 10.1 9.3 Services 5.5 5.6 5.8 6.7 6.5 Prices Inflation (Consumer Price Index) 6.8 7.3 6.4 5.9 6.1 Inflation (Private Consumption Deflator) 6.8 7.3 6.4 5.1 6.3 Inflation (GDP Deflator) 7.2 5.7 5.9 6.6 6.9 Current Account Balance (% of GDP) 1.6 0.8 1.5 1.7 0.1 Fiscal Balance (% of GDP) -3.9 -3.5 -4.2 -4.6 -4.4 Sources: World Bank, Macroeconomics and Fiscal Management Global Practice, and Poverty Global Practice. Notes: e = estimate, f = forecast. Challenges RECENT SECTOR Bangladesh’s progress on structural reforms has DEVELOPMENTS remained slow. Structural reforms are particularly challenging in the following areas: Bangladesh has an impressive track record on growth, poverty reduction and human devel- • Financial. Nonperforming loans remain an is- opment, despite its vulnerability to climate sue as habitual defaulters continue their be- change and natural disasters. Since 2010, an- havior with impunity. Initiatives are needed to nual GDP growth has averaged 6 percent. GNI per hold defaulters accountable. capita increased from $100 in 1972 to $1,190 in • Energy. Bangladesh has not seized opportuni- 2015, crossing the World Bank’s threshold for ties provided by low international fuel prices lower middle-income country status. Based on to implement critical pricing reforms or to the International Comparison Program 2011 PPP build fiscal space, which would mitigate fiscal global poverty line of $1.90 per person per day, the risks if energy prices rebound, and enable ef- number of poor fell from 47.9 million in 1991 to fective counter-cyclical policy responses in the 28 million in 2010, helping Bangladesh meet the event of an economic slowdown. MDG1 target five years ahead of time. The poverty rate fell to 18.5 percent in 2010, and is projected to • Fiscal. Reforms to improve the effectiveness of be at 13.8 percent in 2015.1 Bangladesh’s poverty public expenditure and revenue administra- reduction has been accompanied by progress in tion are badly needed. • Administrative. Much of the reform agenda, in- cluding a broad-based reform of state-owned 1  These trends are corroborated by national survey based enterprises, remains to be implemented. trends and estimates. Bangladesh Country Snapshot 3 INFRASTRUCTURE QUALITY IN BANGLADESH LAGS BEHIND ITS REGIONAL COMPETITORS Overall Country Overall Country Roads Railroad Port Electricity Ranking Infrastructure score China 28.0 4.7 4.7 5.0 4.5 5.3 Thailand 32.0 4.6 4.4 2.4 4.5 5.2 India 55.0 3.7 4.1 4.1 4.2 3.7 Vietnam 56.0 3.8 3.3 3.2 3.9 4.1 Sri Lanka 68.0 4.2 5.2 3.9 4.3 4.9 Cambodia 90.0 3.2 3.3 1.6 3.7 3.1 Bangladesh 107 2.6 2.9 2.5 3.6 2.7 Pakistan 126 2.7 3.8 2.8 4.1 2.1 Myanmar 131 2.1 2.3 1.8 2.6 2.7 Source: World Economic Forum, Global Competitiveness Report 2015-16; Ranking out of 140 countries. Scores on a 1–7 scale, with 7 being the best human development and women’s empowerment. economic dynamism, slowing population growth, For example, the country achieved near universal and increases in the stock of Bangladeshis work- access to primary education, and gender equity in ing abroad and sending remittances contributed access to primary and secondary education. Gov- to robust gains in GNI per capita. Most recent re- ernment’s proactive approach to family planning search evidence reconfirms that remittances con- in the 1980s led to a dramatic reduction in fertil- tribute significantly to poverty reduction – directly ity rates from 6.4 to 2.2 births per woman between by augmenting the income of the receiving families 1980 and 2014, which is translating into the elevat- and indirectly by contributing to local level devel- ed working age share of the population currently opment.2 supporting growth. Consumption inequality in Bangladesh remains Infrastructure low and very stable. Consumption inequality as measured by the Gini index was estimated at 31 Boosting access to infrastructure services will percent and 30 percent in 2005 and 2010, respec- be essential to sustaining progress towards at- tively. Growth incidence curves in 2005-2010 re- taining middle income country status. To date, veal that consumption growth was pro-poor – that Bangladesh’s investment in infrastructure has been is, poorer households benefited from larger gains relatively low in quantity as well as lagging in qual- in per capita consumption than those at the top ity. Public investment in (hard) infrastructure was of the distribution. The per capita consumption less than 2 percent of GDP, and it lags behind its of the bottom 40 percent is likely to have contin- regional competitors in infrastructure quality. By ued to increase over the past year, responding to contrast, total investment in hard infrastructure the increase in rural wages, expansion in agricul- in China, Thailand, and Vietnam exceed 7 percent tural output, and reduction in food prices. Yet, dif- of GDP; these countries also invest another 7-8 ferences in agricultural wages of male and female percent of GDP in education, training, and health. agricultural workers remain very high. In January Unless infrastructure bottlenecks in Bangladesh 2016, the average wage for female workers in the are addressed in a timely manner, they risk be- divisions of Barisal, Khulna, and Rajshahi was only 288 Taka/day compared to 309 Taka/day for male workers. 2  Professor Tasneem Siddiqui and Dr. Raisul Awal Mahmud, Key Findings, Impact of Migration on Poverty and Local GNI per capita has grown rapidly. Continued Level Development, August 31, 2014. 4 coming increasingly binding constraints choking current end-user gas prices to parity with prices in future growth prospects. Its roads and highways, neighboring countries and regional benchmarks; railroads, waterways and ports, and electricity all and (iv) managing the increase in fuel oil use by rank very low in quality, while urban congestion rental power plants and independent power com- has become a major hindrance (especially in Dhaka panies that has resulted in a nearly three-fold in- and Chittagong). The World Bank Group (WBG) crease in the average cost of power supply. The estimates that in order to reach sustained 7.5-8 World Bank Group is actively engaged in the en- percent growth, investment needs to be raised at ergy sector through technical assistance in the gas least 33 percent of GDP, including an increase in in- sector as well as financing support for generation frastructure investments to around 10 percent of capacity, off-grid rural electrification through solar GDP per year. home systems, renewable energy investments, and rural transmission and distribution. Energy Inland Connectivity and Logistics Even though electricity generation capacity has doubled since 2009, Bangladesh continues to Improving connectivity is key for Bangladesh to face significant power shortages. While installed accelerate the social and economic transforma- capacity increased from 4,900 megawatts (MW) in tion of its rural areas. Rural roads in Bangladesh 2009 to 12,725 MW in 2016, available capacity is have enabled children in remote areas to access around 9,000 MW, which is inadequate to sustain education and their families to benefit from pri- middle- or high-level economic activity for a nation mary health. The roads have connected rural com- of almost 160 million people. At the same time, munities to markets, augmented income through only 72 percent of the population had access to higher wages, lowered input and transportation electricity in FY15, and per-capita electricity con- costs, raised output prices and reduced poverty sumption of 371 kilowatts (kWh) per year is one of significantly. Therefore, apart from physical con- the lowest in the world. As a result, the availability nectivity, the rural roads network in Bangladesh and reliability of power is a key concern for busi- ensures connectivity to education, health and live- nesses. In the 2015 Doing Business report, Bangla- lihood too. Considering that a significant portion of desh was also ranked the lowest out of 189 econo- this delta country is affected by extreme weather mies on the “getting electricity” indicator. There events that are anticipated with increasing fre- was a 22 percent shortfall in meeting peak capacity quency, strengthening the rural road network is a in FY13, and a 13 percent shortfall in meeting non- key part of climate resilience and adaptation. Ev- peak demand. At the same time, energy demand is ery few kilometer of a rural roads, there is a water- projected to rise nearly five-fold to over 190 ter- body, drainage channel, or river, and it is important rawatt (TW) hours by 2030. to rehabilitate, maintain and widen the bridges to ensure continuity of connectivity, especially during Gas is critical for the power sector in Bangla- monsoon. It is essential to ensure the rural roads desh, since it fuels 70 percent of generation. Ex- system is properly developed, maintained and fur- ploration of additional domestic gas is now a prior- ther integrated with the larger transport network, ity, particularly offshore. In the meantime, liquefied which remains an important public policy priority. natural gas (LNG) imports will likely be required Bangladesh needs to move away from the “build, soon to fuel existing gas-fired plants as well as neglect, rebuild” paradigm, and ensure a sustain- those under construction. Given Bangladesh’s over- able framework for road asset management. reliance on natural gas, power supply diversifica- tion is also a key need. Other issues facing the pow- Bangladesh can enhance its international com- er sector include: (i) the dual challenge of massive petitive edge by improving logistics. Chittagong investment in new capacity while simultaneously port, which handles nearly 85 percent of the coun- facing an increasing cost of supply; (ii) enhancing try’s merchandise trade, is constrained by labor private-sector investment (despite early success problems, poor management and lack of modern in attracting private investors, only one new large equipment. It is the only major port in South Asia independent power producer has started opera- that has not implemented the landlord port model. tion in Bangladesh in the last decade); (iii) raising Similarly, the less than optimal railway and road Bangladesh Country Snapshot 5 networks connecting the port with the hinterland attracting more FDI in the country would help up- led to elevated transport costs, low efficiency and grade technology and strengthen export market delays in the logistics chain, increasing trade costs linkages, improving upon an area where Bangla- and reducing the competitiveness of Bangladesh’s desh has had only limited success to-date. products. Air transport is also inefficient, due to congestion and lack of capacity at the air termi- Bangladesh needs an export-led strategy that nal. The Dhaka-Chittagong corridor is the most builds on existing labor-embedded exports and important economic corridor for Bangladesh, but focuses on diversifying products, skills, and it is extremely congested and consequently causes markets. Faster export growth will require both time and cost overruns for exporters and import- consolidating strengths in RMG by increasing vol- ers. However, being a riverine country, Bangla- umes and moving into higher-value garments, as desh has a large inland waterways sector, which if well as a gradual diversification into other manu- strengthened could support the logistics capacity facturing areas such as pharmaceutical products, of this largest trade corridor through a multimodal non-leather footwear, light-engineering goods, intervention. The WBG is trying to improve navi- ship-building, information technology, and IT-en- gability of 900 km of inland waterways along the abled services. The World Bank’s 2013 Diagnostic Chittagong-Dhaka-Ashuganj Corridor and connect- Trade Integration Study outlines a four-pronged ing routes (accounting for 80 percent of inland wa- strategy to enhance the integration of Bangladesh’s terway traffic), which will help reduce travel time economy with regional and global markets: (i) ex- and costs for cargo and passenger transport, boost- panding into new markets through better trade lo- ing national and regional trade. The project is part gistics and exploitation of regional trading oppor- of a Regional Connectivity and Integration Program tunities; (ii) breaking into new products through a supported by the WBG for the Bangladesh-Bhutan- more neutral and rational trade policy, concerted India-Nepal (BBIN) countries. One other project in efforts to spur private investment, and strategic preparation under the same Program has priori- development and promotion of services trade; (iii) tized facilitating the seamless cross-border move- improving worker and consumer welfare; and (iv) ment of cargo. building a more supportive environment for export growth, including strengthening the institutional Regional and Global Integration capacity for strategic policymaking aimed at in- creasing international competitiveness and bring- Export-led growth has served Bangladesh well, ing focus and coherence to the government’s re- and there is potential for further expansion in form efforts. Improving the business environment this crucial area. Bangladesh’s strong success in is an important priority in Bangladesh. The WBG exports has been centered on low-skill, low-wage- is providing an integrated package of financing and based competitiveness in garments, which domi- advisory support focused on trade policy, trade fa- nate the export basket. However, this strategy does cilitation and behind-the-border reforms, building not guarantee continued growth in exports, given on the 2013 trade study. This includes supporting the pressures of global competition and the pos- government efforts to develop economic zones and sible emergence of future competitors with a bet- last mile infrastructure using PPPs. ter wage-productivity combination. The example of Vietnam shows the benefits of accelerated export- Urbanization oriented development, moving in the space of 25 years from being one of the poorest countries in Bangladesh is already a highly-urbanized econ- the world to a lower-middle income one, with for- omy, even if its population is still predominant- eign direct investment (FDI) and trade playing a ly rural; 60 percent of national output is pro- dominant role in the economy. Vietnam’s exports duced by a few cities. Dhaka and Chittagong, the and imports each form 90 percent of GDP, with ex- country’s major cities and home to most export- ports more than seven times as much per capita as oriented garment firms, account for about half of in Bangladesh today. Bangladesh is well placed to the country’s GDP. Dhaka city remains the most expand manufacturing exports given its geograph- productive location in Bangladesh contributing 36 ic proximity to two of the world’s most populous percent of the GDP due to its better access to skilled countries and fast-growing economies. In addition, labor and power supply, suppliers, sub-contractors, 6 technicians and support. As cities are drivers of the ductive and diversified urban economy. The WBG’s Bangladesh economy, they are also magnets to mi- continued engagement in improving the competi- grants who come to the city for employment, high- tiveness of Bangladesh’s cities is highly valued by er education and medical facilities, as well as to the government. And support (planned and on- enjoy other amenities of life. Following accelerated going operations and ASA activities) is provided on urbanization between 1961 and 2011, the highest many fronts, including water and sanitation, trans- concentration of urban population (34.33 percent) port development, drainage improvement, urban is in Dhaka.3 Migration, coupled with high annual redevelopment (like open space development and urban population growth put tremendous stress on pedestrian facilities improvements), and resilience basic urban service delivery and affect the quality to disasters and climate change. Analytical pieces of city life. For example, Dhaka continues to rank in are being prepared to enhance urban local service the bottom five of global cities in terms of livabil- provision through reforms in inter-governmental ity (measured by the EIU using factors like access transfers, improving own source revenue genera- to healthcare, culture and environment, education tion, increasing autonomy and capacity of urban and infrastructure). The infrastructure gap is also local bodies to deliver urban services. Just-in-time a critical issue, manifested for instance by inad- advice is also being provided to progressive city equate public transportation. The economic costs mayors to help them prioritize, formulate and of Dhaka’s traffic congestion is estimated at $2.7 implement critical infrastructure. Technical assis- billion annually and accounts for 3.2 million lost tance is also provided to improve the quality of ur- business hours every day. ban poverty statistics. Urban poverty is also on the rise. The proportion Adaptive Delta Management of the urban poor to national poor increased from 10 percent in 1991 to 18 percent in 2010. During Bangladesh’s major rivers and its long shore- 1991-2001, the number of urban poor increased line on the Bay of Bengal have shaped its com- from 6 million to 8 million while the rural poor parative advantage and determined the loca- decreased from 55 m to 46 million. Some 2.23 mil- tion, nature, and pace of its development. The lion people live in urban slums all over the coun- rivers have conferred unquestionable benefits to try4 where living standards are worse than those transport, trade, agriculture, and livelihoods, but in poor rural areas. Poor living conditions and high also pose significant risk through recurrent floods, costs of living in the city have much greater negative erosion and water pollution. The associated risks impacts on the lower to middle income households. will increase with climate change, raising the fre- Only 40 percent of garment industry workers in quency and severity of extreme events. In 2014 Dhaka have access to piped water and regular gar- Bangladesh was ranked the most climate-vulnera- bage collection, compared to Dhaka’s overall rate of ble country in the world. For Bangladesh, growth 70 percent. Nevertheless, urbanization is a prom- will be sustainable only if it is accompanied by bet- ising pathway for Bangladesh to achieve the twin ter resource management, especially adaptive delta goals to accelerate shared growth and end extreme management. The threats to the Bangladesh delta, poverty. A large number of jobs that will be created which encompasses two-thirds of the country, are are likely to be in cities. Improving the livability in existential, particularly when they are exacerbated the cities will lead to enhanced attractiveness of ur- by climate change. Adaptive delta management ban centers for increased economic activity. A shift should be integrated into all aspects of planning from reactive and remedial measures to proactive and sector development—including agricultural urban planning and policies for improving connec- practices, water supply and sanitation, the place- tivity, both internally and with the global economy, ment of energy and transport infrastructure, and can enhance the capacity to innovate within a pro- the location of all public and private infrastructure. Although increased investment in infrastruc- 3  BBS Source: http://www.bbs.gov.bd/WebTestApplication/ ture for land and water management has re- userfiles/Image/PopMonographs/Volume-6_PDIM.pdf duced vulnerability in rural areas in recent 4  BBS Source: http://www.bbs.gov.bd/WebTestApplication/ years, strengthening and expanding existing userfiles/Image/Slum/Preli_Slum_Census.pdf delta infrastructure is needed to boost resil- Bangladesh Country Snapshot 7 ience. To this end, the Government has adopted likely remain connectivity and proximity to urban the Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100 (BDP2100), an in- areas. tegrated and holistic long-term plan to ensure safe living and sound economic development in Asia’s Financial Sector largest and the world’s most populous delta. A key aspect of this endeavor will be the implementa- The ability of financial institutions in Bangla- tion of an adaptive delta management approach to desh to deliver long-term financing, vital for enable robust decisions to be made that affect all sectors like energy and transport, remains aspects of life and livelihood development, based constrained. This has inhibited long-term invest- on a wide-range of future scenarios. Adaptive delta ments by households and the ability of firms to management will help limit over- or under- adapta- invest in capital up-grading and technology, and tion by ensuring investments in all sectors, antici- expand and grow businesses and jobs at a faster pating future constraints, how they will be affected pace. As a consequence, private investment in Ban- by climate change and socio-economic growth, and gladesh, at 21.8 percent of GDP, is lower than in how they will shape the future. The WBG, along India (at 23 percent of GDP) or East Asia. To devel- with the Government of Netherlands, is supporting op a long-term sustainable financing market will the government in developing the BDP2100. The require well-functioning insurance, pension, and WBG support is aligned with the Agriculture Devel- bond markets. In addition, the insurance sector’s opment Method principle, with activities focused weak regulatory and supervisory framework needs on boosting Bangladesh’s resilience to natural di- to be tackled to manage risks for a more diversified sasters, improving the management of water and financial system. Financing for other underserved natural resources and promoting climate-smart market segments also require attention. Funding agriculture. The WBG is also supporting the devel- for small and medium sized firms and for farmers opment of the Investment Plan for the BDP2100, which includes public and private sector invest- remains constrained due to lack of capacity, credit ment in infrastructure, institutional development, market infrastructure, information asymmetries policy and regulatory reforms, capacity building, and risk aversion. and knowledge-building projects and activities. A sound and stable financial sector is an impor- Since nearly half the labor force in Bangladesh tant prerequisite for Bangladesh to increase its continues to be employed in agriculture and financial intermediation in a sustainable man- much of that labor force is poor, delta manage- ner. State-owned commercial banks (SOCBs) today ment that supports higher land productivity, account for a quarter of the banking system’s as- crop diversification, and reduced vulnerabil- sets (compared with three-quarters 20 years ago). ity is essential to continued poverty reduction. Their sub-optimal performance adversely impacts Bangladesh has done well in agricultural produc- overall efficiency of the financial sector and leads tivity growth – largely on account of technical to fiscal costs for the government. The SOCBs are changes. Key drivers have been the liberalization constrained by weak corporate governance and of input markets, the adoption of modern varieties, poor asset quality, and have been the subject of loan an increasing use of machinery, greater access to scams and embezzlements. While they continue to markets and a price hike of agricultural products. enjoy high public confidence, these vulnerabilities An important priority for Bangladesh is to shift could lead to continued costs and inefficiencies. In away from a relatively narrow focus on staple crop addition to improving the SOCB’s corporate gover- productivity towards meeting the fast-growing de- nance and financial performance, measures to en- mand of Bangladeshis for a more diverse, sophis- hance internal controls, appraisal systems, and the ticated, and nutritious diet. There is significant overall regulatory and supervisory capacity of the potential to further increase productivity and in- banking sector will be vital for the sector’s stability. comes in agriculture while making it more climate- Through financing and advisory services, the WBG resilient and nutritious. In addition to increased ag- is supporting government efforts to strengthen the ricultural productivity and diversification, the main foundations of Bangladesh’s financial system and drivers of growth in the rural non-farm sector will increase financial intermediation. 8 mary, secondary, tertiary, and vocational training. Education In addition, the Bank will, for the first time, support colleges in the areas of quality, governance, and While Bangladesh achieved remarkable suc- management. cess in enhancing access and equity in educa- tion, striving to universalize access for the re- maining hard-to-reach children is an important Health policy imperative. Bangladesh is close to attain- Bangladesh has made remarkable progress on ing universal access to primary education, and at- most health outcomes, especially regarding ma- tained gender equity at the primary and second- ternal and child health, most likely achieving ary education levels well ahead of the Millennium the MDG goals 4 (reduce child mortality) and 5 Development Goal (MDG) target for 2015, reducing (improve maternal health). The maternal mor- repetition and dropout rates and achieving reason- tality ratio has declined by 40 percent since 2001, ably high levels of completion in primary educa- to 194 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2010. The tion. Still, gross enrollment rates of the poor lag under-5 child mortality rate has declined by 29 those of the non-poor. Out of 10 primary students percent since 2004, to 53 deaths per 1,000 live who enter school in Bangladesh, only about seven births in 2011. These achievements are the result or eight students reach grade 5, and only five of 10 of health policies related to immunization, oral students reach grade 10. Children living in urban rehydration salt therapy, and family planning, and slums in particular suffer from both demand and can also be attributed to non-health policies and in- supply-side constraints. terventions, such as the increase in female literacy, Improving skills and productivity are crucial access to microcredit, access to safe drinking water, to Bangladesh’s quest to accelerate economic and rural infrastructure development. growth and create more and better jobs in the However, health outcome gaps vary consider- formal sector for its expanding workforce. En- ably by income group, and the health system suring further improvements in the quality of edu- now faces new challenges due to rapid urban- cation can help propel the economy into the next ization, shifts in the burden of disease, and phase of higher productivity-led growth. Improve- climate change. For example, the percentage of ments in the quality of education has a significant children who are stunted among the poorest quin- impact on economic and social development. Yet tile (above 50 percent) is much higher than the learning achievements continue to be quite low national average. Moreover, health outcomes for in Bangladesh: a recent assessment of literacy the poor in Dhaka are worse than they are for the and numeracy in grade 5 indicates that only 25 rural poor, especially among those living in urban and 33 percent of grade 5 students master Bangla slums. Changing patterns of employment also pose and Mathematics competencies, respectively, with new challenges—for instance, the RMG work envi- students from poor households generally doing ronment exposes workers to health hazards that much worse. Learning inequities begin early, and may result in injuries, respiratory diseases and continue throughout students’ lifetimes. Nearly 90 other ailments. Communicable diseases such as re- percent of the labor force in Bangladesh is informal spiratory infections and tuberculosis were among and has low levels of education; less than 5 percent the predominant causes of death in the country in of the current workforce has tertiary education. 2010. However, Bangladesh is undergoing a rapid Due to lack of standards and limited partnerships demographic and epidemiological transition, with with employers, neither the higher education sys- an increasing adult and elderly population and tem nor the technical and training available are the associated increase in chronic or non-commu- adequately equipped to respond to changes in de- nicable diseases, including injuries. Against this mand and quality standards both in the domestic backdrop, total public and private health expendi- labor market and overseas where the vast majority ture, as a share of GDP, is one of the lowest in the of Bangladesh’s emigrant workers are employed in region. Bangladesh spent 3.5 percent of its GDP on low-skilled jobs. As the leading development finan- health in 2012, much lower than the average for cier in Bangladesh, the WBG is providing financing low-income countries (5 percent). Complemented across all the education sub-sectors, including pri- by strong donor support, the WBG is supporting a Bangladesh Country Snapshot 9 sector-wide approach (SWAp) in health, designed to strengthen the government’s health systems and WORLD BANK PROGRAM IN improve health services, particularly for the poor. BANGLADESH Gender and Inclusion Bangladesh joined the International Develop- ment Association (IDA) in 1972, one year after Despite high levels of poverty, political turmoil the country’s independence. IDA has consistent- and frequent natural disasters, Bangladesh ly been the most significant development partner stands out in South Asia with impressive gains in volume terms, providing almost $10 billion in in gender equality. One remarkable achieve- support for policy reforms and investment proj- ment has been in girls’ education—though gains in ects in Bangladesh and accounting for more than health have been equally impressive. Bangladesh one-quarter of all foreign aid to the country during dramatically lowered its fertility rates, from 6.1 in this period. Under the IDA 17 cycle, which spans 1971 to about 2.3 children per woman today.  The FY2015-2017, Bangladesh is the largest recipient gender gap in infant mortality has closed and over- of IDA resources, with an indicative total allocation all child mortality rates have rapidly come down, of about SDR 2.8 billion ($3.9 billion equivalent) or due to good immunization coverage, diarrhea con- 9.7 percent of all IDA 17 resources. trol and water and sanitation facilities. Bangladesh A new Country Partnership Framework (CPF) also shows progress in the more stubborn area was delivered in FY2016, which focuses WBG of maternal mortality. One of the most dramatic support on addressing key policy areas identi- transformations in the past decade has been wom- fied in the Systematic Country Diagnostic. It has en’s enhanced role in the economy. The female la- the primary objective of increasing engagement in bor force participation rate has increased rapidly the five transformational priorities that are critical since 2003 and is expected to rise further in the for accelerating Bangladesh’s progress towards the coming years due to ongoing socioeconomic trans- goals of reducing extreme poverty and promote formation at home and increased demand for labor shared prosperity - energy; inland connectivity and intensive goods from abroad. Female employment logistics; regional and global integration; urbaniza- has been particularly robust in some sectors, in- tion; and adaptive delta management. In addition, cluding in the garment industry and public service the WBG will build on the existing portfolio to focus sectors, such as teaching and health care.  Quotas on the foundational priorities, which are important that were established for women in local govern- prerequisites for sustained growth (macroeconom- ments in the 1990s have transformed power rela- ic stability; human development; and institutions tions at the local level, as female elected leaders and business environment). The CPF is aligned with the Government’s planning cycle and will sup- have grown in experience. port select national priorities identified in the 7th But a number of challenges remain: early mar- Five Year Plan for FY2016-2020. riage of young girls, especially among the poor, The current World Bank portfolio consists of poses a significant constraint to increasing fe- 41 projects, for a total commitment of $8.34 bil- male labor force participation. Early marriage lion (as of September 15, 2016). The portfolio in- also leads to early motherhood, resulting in a vi- cludes 38 IDA operations and 3 recipient-executed cious cycle of poor families having children with trust funds. In addition, there are 55 Advisory Ser- poor health and education outcomes, and contin- vices and Analytics activities amounting to $16.5 ued impoverishment. Where possible, the WBG is million. The top three sectors in the IDA portfolio integrating gender sensitive designs in its opera- are in social, rural, and urban; (22 percent), edu- tions to ensure women benefit from targeted in- cation (18 percent), and energy (17 percent). The terventions, particularly in public service delivery. top three sectors where advisory services and ana- In addition, a gender and social inclusion report lytical support are provided are governance (26 is under preparation that will survey the status of percent), social, urban, and rural (17 percent), and women and inform the design of future lending and trade and competitiveness (11 percent). knowledge activities. 10 INTERNATIONAL FINANCE 11 projects with a commitment value of $1. 3 billion were approved in FY2016. The projects focused on: strengthening financial institutions, expanding energy, improving transportation, pro- CORPORATION (IFC) moting higher education access and quality, pro- viding housing for low income communities, im- • The IFC in Bangladesh focuses on long term pri- proving weather monitoring, and strengthening vate sector development by providing financ- public procurement. ing to projects and companies, as well as ad- visory services in strategic areas. IFC has also The WBG is regarded as a source of high qual- significantly stepped up its engagement, with ity analysis on key development themes. Among annual long term finance investment commit- those being prepared is the ongoing multi-sectoral ments rising from $37 million in FY12 to $635 study on greater Dhaka urban development. This million in FY16, with the goal of increasing an- study is intended to help shape a vision for more nual commitments to $1 billion a year by 2019. sustainable urban and economic development, for The Advisory Services program, worth $13 million the growing Dhaka population, which at present is a year in funding, is provided by the UK Govern- about 17 million. The World Bank is also about to ment, the European Union, the Norwegian Agency complete a multi-sectoral analysis for the future for Development Cooperation, the Dutch and other management of the Bangladesh delta, taking into donor partners. IFC Advisory works in agriculture, account vulnerability to climate change. infrastructure, financial markets, investment, cli- IDA and the International Finance Corporation mate and energy efficiency. (IFC) are collaborating in both advisory ser- IFC Highlights in Bangladesh vices and investment finance. Joint advice has been concentrated on economic zones, export- • The committed portfolio has grown three-fold processing zones, banking- sector reforms and in past five years to approximately $1 billion in, tax modernization. IFC and IDA are also actively loans, equity and guarantees. engaged in supporting efforts to attract foreign in- vestors relocating from China, with the goal of • Financing has been provided for over 1,000 drawing 15 million jobs to Bangladesh. megawatts of base power supply. • Project development equity and financing for Excelerate LNG Terminal and for off- shore Floating Storage Regasification TOTAL IDA PORTFOLIO Unit and been provided to increase the country’s gas supply by 25-30%. Social, Urban, 17% Energy & • IFC has supported quality health- Rural & Resilience Extractives Global Practice care, providing $35 million to STS 22% Environment & Natural Resources Holdings for a 346 bed hospital in the 1% port city of Chittagong. 2% Water Trade & • Long term funding of $40 million 2% Competitiveness has been provided to local banks Social Protection for textile factory structural and fire 8% Finance & Labor 8% & Markets safety improvements. • IFC is partnering with GIZ to pro- vide access to cleaner and safer light- Agriculture ing options to 70 million off-grid us- 6% ers. Governance 3% 18% • Finance lines, direct investment, Education Health, Nutrition Better Work Bangladesh, and the & Population 8% 5% Transport & ICT Partnership for Cleaner Textiles are contributing towards increasing the Bangladesh Country Snapshot 11 competitiveness of the Ready Made Garments • IFC, IFC Emerging Asia Fund and EMA Power sector. have signed an agreement with Summit Group Energy and Infrastructure: to invest $175.5 million aimed at increasing Bangladesh’s power generation capacity. This IFC has been in the energy and infrastructure de- investment will enable Summit Group to in- velopment over the last 3 to 4 years. With two com- stall green-field electricity-generation plants, mitted gas-fired power projects (total 450 MW), including a 500 MW dual-fuel combined-cycle IFC is working on two more mandated gas-fired power plant and a 150 MW heavy fuel oil- power projects for an additional 595 MW. based power plant. In telecom, IFC has also been active having commit- To help Bangladesh meet domestic gas supply ted $345 million financing for Grameenphone in needs, IFC is supporting increased supply of natural 2012 and $99 million to Robi Axiata in 2016. gas to Bangladesh by promoting: (i) upstream gas companies; and (ii) liquefied natural gas (“LNG”) Expanding Trade and Finance: regasification infrastructure to supplement domes- tic gas supply with imported LNG. IFC is currently IFC provides debt, equity, and guarantee products working on two LNG regasification projects: (i) off- in financial institutions, infrastructure, agribusi- shore, with Excelerate Energy (agreement signed ness, and manufacturing, and in companies that in June 2015); and (ii) onshore, in collaboration generate employment, fuel growth, and spur inno- with the Power Division of the Ministry of Power, vation. Energy and Mineral Resources. It also promotes environmentally friendly financ- Each of these LNG projects, once completed, will ing and has helped financial institutions develop have the capacity to supply sufficient gas for 3,000 simple procedures to invest in SMEs. MW of power generation. IFC’s Global Trade Finance Program (GTFP) pro- Representative Projects: vides guarantees, taking political and commercial payment risk of international trade transactions • Bibiyana II Power: Senior Loan of US$75 mil- undertaken by Bangladeshi commercial Banks. lion was committed in April 2015. The project More than $1.3 billion of trade flows have been is a 341 MW gas-fired power generation proj- supported under GTFP in the last 10 years. ect. Shareholders are Summit Group (80%) and GE Energy (20%). Launched with three portfolio clients, BRAC Bank, • United Power: The Project, signed in May 2016, Eastern Bank and Southeast Bank, the Working is a 170MW gas based power generation proj- Capital Systemic Solution (WCSS), supported SMEs ect. Shareholders are United Group (79%) and with more than $350 million in the last five years. Ashuganj Power Station Company Ltd. (21%), and IFC has received its Board approval to pro- IFC-supported bKash, a joint venture of BRAC Bank vide $41 million in Senior Loan. of Bangladesh and Money in Motion of the USA, fo- cuses on ensuring access to a range of financial ser- • Sirajganj Power: IFC plans to invest $103 mil- vices for the unbanked people of Bangladesh. lion of debt financing for the construction of a Greenfield 414 MW dual-fuel (gas and high In two and a half years, bKash, now the third-larg- speed diesel) combined cycle power plant to est mobile payments operator in world, has attract- be located in Sirajganj, Bangladesh. Sharehold- ed 5.2 million users and is adding 11,000 users per ers are Sembcorp (71%) and North West Pow- day. er Generation Company Ltd. (29%). Improving the Business Environment: • Excelerate Off-shore LNG InfraVentures: Joint Development Agreement (“JDA”) was signed in IFC seeks to improve the investment climate for June 2015. Excelerate Energy L.P. and IFC will private sector investors and attract more FDI to co-develop a floating LNG storage and regasifi- Bangladesh, expanding opportunities for all inves- cation import terminal in off-shore south east- tors. The Bangladesh Investment Climate Fund fa- ern Bangladesh. 12 cilitated $427 million in private investment, 46,000 million people do not have access to clean water. new jobs and released $324 million that was tied- up through better contract enforcement. A long- Factory disasters that hit Bangladesh in 2012 and term partnership with UK DFID has supported 2013 prompted IFC to combine its advisory and investment climate advisory and will expand to a investment expertise to identify innovative ways further 5-year, $26 million advisory program to to further support the RMG sector and ramp up promote private investment in infrastructure and worker safety. In Bangladesh, the joint IFC-ILO Bet- serviced land for manufacturing, and boost trade ter Work program now reaches 100+ factories, em- competitiveness for export diversification. ploying over 200,000 workers. Better Work aims to reach 500 factories over the next few years to Making Agriculture Sustainable: improve social dialogue and working conditions, to increase competitiveness in the global market. To help ensure food security and climate change adaptation, IFC is working with partners and We partnered with international apparel brands farmers in the seeds sector, supporting climate- to roll out a new kind of supplier financing prod- resistant agriculture. In the poultry sector, we help uct, a $500 million Global Trade Supplier Finance farmers convert poultry waste to electricity and program. Partnering with global brands and buyers have trained farmers to increase their chances of like Levi’s, Puma, and Kik, the program offers lower getting funds. PRAN, a leading Bangladesh agricul- interest rates to suppliers that score better in labor, ture company, was the first in the private sector to health, safety, and environmental performance. IFC use the IFC-managed Global Agriculture and Food is also providing long-term funding totaling up to Security Program, GAFSP, aimed at improving rural $40 million to 4 local banks, to be exclusively used livelihoods and ensuring food security. The GAFSP for on-lending to RMG factories to strengthen safe- contributes to the achievement of the U.N. Millenni- ty infrastructure. um Development Goals to cut hunger and poverty in half by 2015. IFC has directly invested with 3 leading ready-made garment manufacturers (Ananta Apparels, DBL Safer and Cleaner Textile Factories: Color City, and Epyllion), who have demonstrated global good practices in standards, safety, working Bangladesh is the second largest exporter of appar- conditions and resource efficiency. el in the world with export sales of $26 billion and the sector accounts for 20 percent of the country’s GDP. There are more than 4,000 garment factories MULTILATERAL INVESTMENT which employ over 4.4 million people, of which 85 percent are women. The sector has a vision to be- GUARANTEE AGENCY (MIGA) come a $50 billion industry by 2021 and would re- MIGA’s current portfolio in Bangladesh con- quire significant improvements in labor standards, sists of one active project with a total guaran- productivity and reliable supply of energy and wa- tee amount of $251 million. It was approved ter to achieve these goals. in 2012 to support a financing package arranged IFC is promoting cleaner production and resource by HSBC of the United Kingdom to Ashuganj efficiency in the textiles and apparel sector. The Power Station Company Limited, a state-owned first phase of a cleaner production project with 18 utility. The financing is for the construction of factories in Bangladesh led to savings of $2 million the 450 MW combined-cycle gas-fired Ashuganj and 1.26 million cubic meters of water through re- South power plant, which is expected to provide source efficiency measures. Estimates show that if nearly 12,000 households with electricity. MIGA’s the industry’s 1,700 textile wet-processing units contribution will provide coverage against the adopt cleaner production measures, they can save risk that sovereign financial obligations will not up to $70 million and 10.5 billion liters of water a be honored, for a period of up to 13.5 years. year – a significant measure in a country where 31 Bangladesh Country Snapshot 13 BANGLADESH: CLEAN AIR AND SUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENT (CASE) PROJECT KEY DATA: Approved: May 12, 2009 Effective: Aug 19, 2009 Closing: Dec 15, 2016 FINANCING ($ MILLION) Financier Financing Disbursed Undisbursed IDA Credit 62.2 86.96% 13.04% GoB 9.05 Total cost 71.25 PROJECT BACKGROUND: Dhaka ranks high among the world’s major cities in terms of poor urban air quality. Substantially reducing air pollution could save up to 3,500 lives and avoid up to 230 million cases of respiratory diseases annually in Bangladesh. In economic terms, this is equivalent to around $500 million in health care costs and reduced productivity per annum . The Clean Air and Sustainable Environment project (CASE) is the first program of its kind to tackle pollution from two of the country’s biggest polluters, brickfields and urban transport, as well as ensure safe mobility for people in the capital. The project directly tackles pollution by encouraging the adoption of cleaner brick manufacturing technologies that require less energy. The project also encourages research into technology alternatives to bricks such as non-fired bricks. In addition the project provides technical support (i) to strengthen environmental laws that introduce stricter standards and stronger “polluter pays” principles for industrial pollution (ii) to the newly established Air Quality Wing (AQW) at the Department of Environment (DoE), that is responsible for air quality monitoring, data analysis and reporting and public information and overall management. In urban transport, the project is demonstrating safe pedestrian mobility in Dhaka by (i) rehabilitating and improving sidewalks (ii) constructing foot over bridges and (iii) traffic management measures by improving intersections, installing traffic signals and training the traffic police. BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The Clean Air and Sustainable Environment (CASE) Project aims to improve air quality and safe mobility in Dhaka through the implementation of demonstration initiatives in urban transport and brick-making. CASE components include: ■■ Encouraging the adoption of cleaner and more energy-efficient brick manufacturing technologies such as converting to improved kiln alternatives and launching 12 demonstration projects. The project also encourages research into alternatives to bricks such as micro-concrete, while helping the government strengthen environmental laws and providing support for the newly established Air Quality Management section responsible for air quality monitoring, data analysis, and reporting. ■■ Promoting safe pedestrian mobility in Dhaka by rehabilitating and improving sidewalks with drainage, constructing foot bridges; improving traffic management by upgrading intersections, installing traffic signals and training police in enforcing them; supporting studies for Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Line 3. KEY EXPECTED RESULTS AND ACHIEVEMENTS: ■■ Installation of 11 Continuous Air Quality Monitoring Stations (CAMS) in eight cities to monitor major air pollutants and generate real-time air quality data. ■■ Completion of eight clean and energy-efficient brick kiln pilots, with another two underway. ■■ Air Quality Index (AQI) regularly published in project website (www.case-moef.gov.bd). ■■ Brick Manufacturing and Kiln Construction Control Act approved in 2013 and the relevant rules at the final stage of preparation. ■■ Completion of 65 kilometers of sidewalk and road improvement, and 36 intersection improvements. ■■ Construction of 21 footbridges, with four others being built. ■■ Installation of 62 traffic signals connected with solar panel and battery. ■■ IMPLEMENTING AGENCY: ■■ Ministry of Environment and Forest, Department of Environment, Dhaka South and North City Corporations, and Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority. IMPLEMENTING AGENCY: Ministry of Environment and Forest, Department of Environment, Dhaka South and North City Corporations, and Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority. 14 BANGLADESH: CLIMATE CHANGE RESILIENCE FUND (BCCRF) KEY DATA: $184 MILLION MULTI-DONOR TRUST FUND Established May 31, 2010. End disbursement June 30, 2017 FINANCING Recipient executed projects (Active): Approval Closing Community Climate Change July 2012 Dec. 31, 2016 Solar Irrigation Sept, 2012 Dec. 31, 2016 Climate-Resilient Participatory Afforestation and Reforestation Feb. 2013 Dec. 31, 2016 BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Bangladesh is one of the countries most vulnerable to the potential impacts of climate change. To address this challenge, Bangladesh launched its Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan (BCCSAP) in 2009 to build a medium- to long-term program for enhancing resilience to climate shocks and facilitating low carbon and sustainable growth. To support implementation of the BCCSAP, seven development partners established the Bangladesh Climate Change Resilience Fund (BCCRF) in 2010, with the World Bank acting as trust fund administrator. The fund will close in June 2017. About $40 million of unprogrammed funds were refunded in 2016 following donor requests. The objective of the BCCRF is to support implementation of the BCCSAP, a 10 -year program (2009-2018) aimed at building the capacity and resilience of the country to meet the challenge of climate change. Sectoral ministries are implementing four investment projects: ■■ Cyclone shelters ($25 million); ■■ Solar irrigation ($10 million); ■■ Afforestation ($33.8 million); and ■■ Community climate change ($12.5 million). A number of studies on climate change have also been undertaken. ACHIEVEMENTS AND EXPECTED RESULTS: ■■ 61 new multipurpose cyclone shelters built in climate-vulnerable areas. These are now complete. ■■ 45,000 farmers provided with access to clean energy services for irrigation pumping. ■■ 17,000 hectares of land reforested or afforested. ■■ 40,000 climate vulnerable people receive resilient investments/advice to build climate adaptive capacity. IMPLEMENTING AGENCY: Local Government Engineering Department – Multipurpose Cyclone Shelter (activity completed). Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation – Community Climate Change Project Infrastructure Development Company Limited – Solar Irrigation Department of Forestry –Afforestation and Reforestation KEY PARTNERS: U.K. Department for International Development, European Union, Sweden, Australia, Denmark, Switzerland, United States. Bangladesh Country Snapshot 15 BANGLADESH: COASTAL EMBANKMENT IMPROVEMENT PROJECT-PHASE 1 KEY DATA: Approved: June 26, 2013 Effective: Nov 24, 2013 Closing: Dec 31, 2020 FINANCING ($ 400 MILLION): Financier Financing Disbursed Undisbursed IDA Credit 375 4.66% 95.34% GoB CIF 25 34.85% 65.15% Total cost 400 6.55% 93.45% PROJECT BACKGROUND: Bangladesh’s coastal zone spans over 580 kilometers and includes territory where 28 percent of the population resides. A higher percentage of the population lives below the absolute poverty line in the coastal area than in the rest of the country. A recent World Bank study on the cost of adapting to extreme weather estimated that eight million people are currently vulnerable to inundation depths greater than three meters due to cyclonic storm surges. This number will increase to 13.5 million people by 2050. There is an urgent need to rehabilitate and upgrade protection polders – areas of low-lying land - and enhance the resilience of coastal areas to cyclones, tidal and flood inundations, and salinity intrusion. Coastal embankments are an integral part of the disaster risk reduction program for Bangladesh. There is clear evidence that embankments provided an effective buffer during the tidal surge resulting from Cyclone Sidr in 2007, damages and losses were much lower and lives were saved in areas where effective embankments were present. BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: CEIP1 aims to: (i) increase the area protected in selected polders from tidal flooding and storm surges, which are expected to worsen due to climate change; (ii) improve agricultural production by reducing saline water intrusion in selected polders; and (iii) improve the government’s capacity to respond promptly and effectively to a crisis or emergency. The Project has the following five components: ■■ Rehabilitation and Improvement of Polders. ■■ Implementation of Social and Environmental Management Frameworks and Plans. ■■ Construction Supervision, Project Monitoring and Evaluation, and Coastal Zone Monitoring. ■■ Project Management, Technical Assistance, Training and Strategic Studies. ■■ Contingent Emergency Response. The project will rehabilitate 17 polders in six coastal districts. The rehabilitated polders will provide direct protection to the 760,000 people living within the polder boundaries and enhance the resilience of the coastal areas to cyclones, tidal and flood inundations, and salinity intrusion. This in turn will enhance people’s livelihoods through increased agricultural production during normal weather and reduced loss of life, assets, crops and livestock in the event of a disaster. KEY ACHIEVEMENTS AND EXPECTED RESULTS : ■■ Rehabilitation of 17 polders in six coastal districts: Bagerhat, Khulna, Satkhira, Barguna, Patuakhali, and Pirojpur ■■ 108,800 hectares to be protected ■■ Improved protection for 760,000 people living within polder boundaries. ■■ 623 km of embankment to be rehabilitated ■■ 794 km of drainage channel to be upgraded ■■ 129 drainage structures to be replaced or upgraded ■■ Poverty reduction and stimulated economic development from facilitating the growth of farm and non-farm activities in the coastal area. IMPLEMENTING AGENCY: Bangladesh Water Development Board, Ministry of Water Resources KEY PARTNERS: Pilot Program for Climate Resilience (PPCR, a fund within the Climate Investment Fund Framework). 16 BANGLADESH: CHITTAGONG WATER SUPPLY IMPROVEMENT AND SANITATION PROJECT KEY DATA: Approved: June 23, 2010 Effective: Oct 25, 2010 Closing: Dec 31, 2018 FINANCING ($ MILLION): Financier Financing Disbursed Undisbursed IDA Credit 144.9 45% 55% GoB 16.7 Total cost 161.6 *Project restructuring included cancellation of $14.5 million of IDA credit BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES : Chittagong, Bangladesh’s second-largest city, suffers from inadequate water production and sewerage systems. The port city’s water production capacity is only 40 percent of the estimated demand, and the pipe network is run down. A large percentage of the city continues to access water through shallow tube wells. The quality of this underground water is questionable, with high salt and iron levels posing health risks to the public. In addition, very little investment has been made into sanitation and storm water drainage since the late 1980s. Chittagong still does not have a water-borne sewage system or effective storm-water drainage service. The Chittagong Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (CWASA) lacks both the capacity and finance to establish these systems. The Bank helped CWASA develop its institutional capacity development program launched in June 2012. The Chittagong Water Supply Improvement and Sanitation Project was restructured in February 2014 following the mid-term review held in December 2013. This included a small cancellation and a reduction in the scope of investment activities. In June 2015, the project was restructured a second time to extend the closing date of the project to December 31, 2018. The project aims to increase access to safe water and improve CWASA’s institutional capacity and investment planning for sanitation and drainage in Chittagong. It supports major interventions in treated water production, transmission and distribution including the construction of a water treatment plant in CWASA’s development plan and the rehabilitation and extension of the water distribution system. The support includes studies to update the sewerage master plans and drainage master plans for Chittagong, as well as capacity building at operational levels to improve the efficiency of overall service delivery. Project performance is primarily driven by major works packages that account for about 80 percent of the restructured project. KEY EXPECTED RESULTS AND ACHIEVEMENTS: ■■ Construction of Modunaghat Water Treatment Plant and installation of distribution and transmission mains are ongoing according to work plan. ■■ Construction on Kalurghat Booster Station has been completed. ■■ Contracts for all key technical assistance activities, including for the sanitation and drainage master planning and for utility modernization, have been signed and are advancing well. ■■ 100 percent of all project funds are now committed. ■■ Water now available in five low-income communities. ■■ 150,000 people will be provided with access to improved water sources by project closing. ■■ CWASA has ensured 85 percent O&M cost coverage cost from direct water sales revenue. ■■ Project to prepare $150 million of priority sanitation and drainage investments for financing. IMPLEMENTING AGENCY: Chittagong Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (CWASA). KEY PARTNERS: CWASA. Bangladesh Country Snapshot 17 BANGLADESH: EMERGENCY 2007 CYCLONE RECOVERY AND RESTORATION PROJECT KEY DATA: Approved: November 06, 2008 Effective: December 24, 2008 Closing: December 31, 2017 FINANCING ($ MILLION): Financier Financing Disbursed Undisbursed IDA 305.78 81.52% 18.48% GoB 1.66 BCCRF 23.06 100.0% 100.0% GFDDR 3 100.0% 100.0% KfW Parallel Fin. 4.86 100.0% 100.0% Total Project Cost 338.36 BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: On November 15, 2007, Cyclone Sidr made landfall across the southern coast of Bangladesh, causing extensive damage to lives and property. Overall, around 30 districts and nine million people were affected by the storm. Total damage and losses were estimated at about $1.7 billion. The project will support government efforts to facilitate recovery from the damage to livelihoods and infrastructure caused by Cyclones Sidr in 2007 and Aila in 2009, and strengthen disaster risk reduction and management. The project has six components: (i) restoration of the agriculture sector in Sidr/Aila-affected areas; (ii) improvement of existing multipurpose shelters and construction of new shelters; (iii) rehabilitation of coastal embankments; (iv) strengthening the capacity of the government’s disaster risk reduction management; (v) monitoring and evaluation to ensure effective implementation of the sub-projects; and (vi) a project management component to support the government in coordinating all project-related activities, strategic studies for the preparation of future operations for the long-term disaster risk reduction program, and technical assistance and training, as well as providing emergency support for future disasters during implementation. ACHIEVEMENTS AND EXPECTED RESULTS: ■■ Activities to restore the agriculture sector (under the first component of the project) were completed successfully in 2014. The activities exceeded targets, with crops by 33 percent, livestock by 13 percent and fisheries by 30 percent. 38,000 households have been provided with livestock and 37,000 with aquaculture inputs. ■■ 104,700 farmers have been trained through farmers field schools (FFS) on various new and improved technologies. ■■ 63 new and improved technologies (crops – 36, fisheries – 15 and livestock – 12) have been introduc0ed. ■■ 230,000 households have been provided with field crops, irrigation and farm machinery ■■ 224 new disaster shelters have already been constructed. In total 353 new shelters will be constructed. ■■ Improvement of 389 existing multipurpose disaster shelters have been completed and 71 existing shelters is near to completion. 460 existing shelters will be improved by the end of the project. ■■ 387 km of embankment has been repaired and an additional 56 km is near to completion. In total 502 km of embankment will be rehabilitated by the end of the project. ■■ A Multi-hazard Risk and Vulnerability Assessment (MRVA) Report is near to finalization. ■■ The project also prepared feasibility reports for future investments. Of those, the Multipurpose Disaster Shelter Project, Coastal Embankment Improvement Proj- ect, and the Modern Food Storage Facilities Project are now under implementation. IMPLEMENTING AGENCY: Local Government Engineering Department (LGED), Ministry of Local Government Rural Development & Cooperatives; Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB), Ministry of Water Resources; Department of Disaster Management (DDM), Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief; Project Coordination and Monitoring Unit (PCMU), Programming Division, Ministry of Planning; Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) (FAO implemented on behalf of: Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), Ministry of Agriculture; Department of Livestock Services (DLS) and Department of Fisheries (DoF), Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock and the Ministry of Food). KEY PARTNERS: Bangladesh Climate Change Resilience Fund, Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery, and KfW. 18 BANGLADESH: HIGHER EDUCATION QUALITY ENHANCEMENT PROJECT KEY DATA: Approved: Mar 17, 2009 Effective: May 13, 2009 Closing date under Additional Financing (AF): December 31, 2018 PDO & IP ratings: MS, MS FINANCING: Financier Financing* Disbursed Undisbursed IDA Credit (Orig.) 81 99.7% 0.3% GoB 10.8 Total cost 91.8 IDA Credit (AF) 125 32% 68% GoB (AF) 21.3 Total Cost (AF) 146.3 Total (Orig. + AF) 238.1 74..0% 26.0% BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The Bangladesh government allocates about 2.2 percent of GDP to education, but just 0.2 percent is dedicated to tertiary education. With 85 percent of the tertiary education budget feeding into recurring expenditures, development programs for promoting and establishing research and innovation in higher education institutes (HEIs) remain under-funded. There is still no effective mechanism linking university research with industry and business at home or abroad. Low connectivity and inadequate information and communication technology further limit knowledge exchanges and collaboration among HEIs and their researchers with local and global research platforms. The Project’s objective is to improve the quality and relevance of the teaching and research environment in higher education institutions by encouraging innovation and accountability and by enhancing the technical and institutional capacity. It will do so by promoting academic innovation among eligible public and private universities through a competitive funding mechanism known as the Academic Innovation Fund (AIF). The AIF is granted through four windows: (i) improvement of teaching and learning; (ii) enhancement of research capabilities at the universities; (iii) university-wide innovations including establishment of Technology Transfer Office; and (iv) innovation and university-industry collaboration. The project also supports the establishment of quality assurance mechanisms at national and institutional levels for the tertiary education sector. In addition, the project has established the Bangladesh Research and Education Network (BdREN), which connects universities to high-speed data communications network, enabling teachers, researchers, and students to access the latest knowledge, inter-university video classes and engage in collaborative research. The University Grant Commission Digital Library has also been established and is operational with public and private universities. KEY EXPECTED RESULTS AND ACHIEVEMENTS: ■■ 345 academic innovation grants awarded to 27 public and 9 private universities through 3 rounds. 10 university-industry collaboration grants to spur innovation have been awarded under Window 4. The AIF grants have supported research and innovations including enhanced methods for breast cancer detection, vaccina- tion for farm animal disease, etc. as well as dissemination of new knowledge through production of 194 peer-reviewed academic journals. ■■ BdREN connectivity is fully functional at the University Grants Commission (UGC) and in 35 public and private universities. ■■ UGC Digital Library is fully operational, providing 42 member universities (33 public, 9 private) and 2 research institutions access to over 30,000 e-resources (research databases, e-journals, e-books). ■■ Quality assurance mechanism has been introduced through establishment of Institutional Quality Assurance Cells (IQACs) in 61 public and private universities, which are conducting around 800 self-assessments. IMPLEMENTING AGENCY: UGC, Ministry of Education Bangladesh Country Snapshot 19 BANGLADESH: HEALTH SECTOR DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM (HSDP) KEY DATA: Approved: May 26, 2011 Effective: Oct 23, 2011 Closing: Dec 31, 2016 FINANCING ($ MILLION): Financier Financing* Disbursed Undisbursed IDA Credit 508.06 70% 30% GoB 6,264 Cofinancing 1,246.94 Total Cost 8,011 BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Bangladesh has made remarkable progress in improving the health of the population, especially women and children. The country is on track to achieve child and maternal mortality Millennium Development Goals. Significant achievements have been made in the control of communicable diseases. The country conducted the world’s largest measles-rubella campaign earlier in 2014, covering 53 million children. The World Health Organization recently declared Bangladesh a polio-free zone. Still, considerable development challenges remain. Non-communicable diseases represent a growing share of the total burden of disease. In addition to increasing cardiovascular disease and injuries, figures for malnourished women and children, although in decline, are still very high. There is growing concern about the rise in overweight individuals. Public spending on health is low in comparison to other countries, with out of pocket expenditures at 63.35 percent of total health spending. Catastrophic health expenditures push people into poverty. The population is rapidly urbanizing -- creating new challenges for the delivery of social and health services, particularly to the poor. The health workforce is insufficient and inefficiently distributed, the provision of health services is fragmented, and the quality of health care needs improvement. The Health Sector Development Program (HSDP) aims to enable the Government of Bangladesh to strengthen health systems and improve services, particularly for the poor. It supports the government in providing essential health services, including reproductive health, family planning and antenatal care; scaling up emergency obstetric and newborn care services; and ensuring 24-hour services in district hospitals and selected health centers. The project also aligns multiple development partners to the country’s priorities in health, nutrition, and population, and uses country systems for implementation and monitoring. It strengthens health-sector planning and resource management, human resource development, pharmaceuticals management, health information systems and the maintenance of health care facilities. In addition, HSDP seeks to improve the control and treatment of both communicable and non-communicable diseases through the provision of vaccinations, scaling up HIV/AIDS interventions for the most-at-risk groups, and improving the quality of treatment for tuberculosis and the control and treatment of malaria in 13 highly endemic areas. For non-communicable diseases, HSDP aims to improve awareness of cardio-vascular disease risks, provide better diagnosis and management of diabetes, and improve screening for cancer. ACHIEVEMENTS AND EXPECTED RESULTS: ■■ The project has cut maternal mortality by 40 percent, down to 194 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2010. ■■ Child mortality has reduced by more than 50 percent, to 46 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2014. ■■ The project helped bring basic vaccination coverage of children younger than 23 months to approximately 84 percent in 2014. ■■ Skilled birth attendants were at 42.1 percent of births in 2014, up from 18 percent in 2007. IMPLEMENTING AGENCY: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. KEY PARTNERS: Global Affairs Canada, Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development, KfW of Germany, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, U.K. Department for International Development, U.S. Agency for International Development, U.N. Population Fund, Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. 20 BANGLADESH: INTEGRATED AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY PROJECT KEY DATA: Approved: Sept 12, 2011 Effective: Sept 12, 2011 Closing: Sept.30, 2016 FINANCING ($ MILLION): Financier Financing Disbursed Undisbursed IDA Credit (incl GAFSP) 46.3 45.51 0.79 (1.72%) GoB 17.2 Total cost 63.5 BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Agriculture provides livelihoods more than 60 percent of the population of Bangladesh. Despite Bangladesh’s success in reaching near self-sufficiency in food production, people living in the flash flood and drought-prone districts in the northwest and the saline-affected tidal surge areas in the south struggle to earn a living or produce enough food to eat. These regions suffer from higher poverty than the national average. The link between unfavorable agricultural environments, where farmers lack knowledge and technology, and chronic poverty, coupled with food insecurity, is abundantly clear in these areas. The project aims to enhance the productivity of agriculture (crops, livestock, and fisheries) in selected agro-ecologically constrained and economically depressed areas. It seeks to use technology and training to enhance agricultural production in the northern and southern districts affected by flash floods, drought and tidal surge areas affected by saline. The project focuses on alleviating poverty and increasing food security through increased production of major crops such as cereals, diversification of high-value non-cereal crops such as fruits and vegetables, and development of non-crop agriculture such as fishery, poultry, and livestock. Livelihood Field Schools improve farmers’ understanding and skills base, and also demonstrate the use of improved technologies. The project also aims to release new and improved crop varieties and more productive fish species, and help farmers increase crop intensity by conserving and utilizing surface water and improving the availability and efficient use of irrigation water. KEY ACHIEVEMENTS AND EXPECTED RESULTS: ■■ The Department of Agriculture Extension formed about 10,500 Livelihood Field Schools and conducted more than 43,000 demonstrations on various crops and improved technologies. ■■ The Department of Fisheries formed 2,100 fish farmer groups and conducted 5,880 demonstrations on improved fish varieties and production technologies. ■■ Improved agricultural technologies adopted by more than 300,000 farmers, including improved irrigation for 27,750 ha. ■■ Release for use of 18 improved production packages for crops and 9 for aquaculture, as well as 15 improved various crop varieties (four improved varieties of Wheat, one hybrid of mustard, one pulses and five new rice varieties); ■■ BADC processed 3,500 tons of certified seeds in new facilities. ■■ About 300,000 farmers received training in different technologies under crops, livestock and fisheries. IMPLEMENTING AGENCY: Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock. KEY PARTNERS: Global Agriculture and Food Security Program, Australia, Canada, Japan, Republic of Korea, the Netherlands, Spain, United Kingdom, United States, U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization. Bangladesh Country Snapshot 21 BANGLADESH: INVESTMENT PROMOTION AND FINANCING FACILITY (IPFF) KEY DATA: Approved: May 2, 2006 Effective: Aug 24, 2006 Closing: Dec 31, 2015 Rev Closing: Dec 31, 2016 FINANCING ($ MILLION): Financier Financing Disbursed Undisbursed IDA Credit 306 85.7% 14.3% GoB 60 Local Intermediary 190 Total cost 556 BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Bangladesh’s aspiration to become a middle-income country has been constrained by the large gap in infrastructure investment. Bridging the infrastructure gap has two major challenges: (i) low country capacity to conceptualize, design, and contract infrastructure ventures; and (ii) lack of long-term financing for successful closure of the infrastructure investment proposals. Key infrastructure ministries/agencies of the government have a long way to go before they can gather adequate technical and financial capacity to develop and implement the required infrastructure projects. Fiscal constraints on the government add on to financing side of the problem. As such, Government of Bangladesh has adopted the policy of promoting private sector participation in key infrastructure sectors, including energy and power, roads and bridges, information and communications technology, inland container terminal, river port and sea-port infrastructure. Public-private partnership (PPP) has been identified as an important tool to leverage the technical, financial, and project management resources of the private sector. The country’s commercial-bank-dominated financial sector has historically been lending for shorter terms spanning over one – three years, extending these days to a maximum of five/six years. Limited financial capacity, risk of asset liability mismatch, and lack of integration to international debt markets have constrained the local financial institutions’ ability to finance infrastructure projects for longer terms such as 10 to 15 years. As a consequence, infrastructure development programs, which are long-term in nature, had been suffering and the country needed Internal Development Association support with new lending facility to bridge the infrastructure gap. This project was taken up to increase private-sector investment in infrastructure by working with key government agencies and local financial institutions (FIs), selected based on pre-set eligibility criteria. Under the facility, the FIs apply to Bangladesh Bank, the project’s implementing agency, for partial debt financing, which they on- lend to private-sector sponsors awarded or licensed to implement infrastructure sub-project. The objectives of the project are: (i) to supplement the resources of local financial institutions to provide long-term finance for infrastructure investment proposals; and (ii) to promote the role of entrepreneurs in infrastructure development. To this end, apart from the main on-lending component, the project provides for technical assistance in two streams: for institutional strengthening of the PPP Office of Government, and for development of pipeline sub-projects by supporting upstream activities including feasibility studies, transaction support, and preparation of bid documents. The overarching goal is to increase eligibility of the sub-projects for IPFF funding and impart good practices in project development in Bangladesh. KEY ACHIEVEMENTS AND EXPECTED RESULTS: ■■ Delivery of 12 fully operational power plants, adding over 550 megawatts (MW) of electricity to the national grid. ■■ Financing of three central water treatment plants in export processing zones of Chittagong, Adamjee and, Commilla. ■■ Support to a nationwide fiber optic cable network sub-project, which will expand Internet outreach and speed, and an inland container terminal in Chittagong. ■■ Ongoing support to the first ever private sector-led dry dock in the country IMPLEMENTING AGENCY: Bangladesh Bank, the central bank of the country. KEY PARTNERS: Finance Division, PPP Office of the Government, key infrastructure ministries. 22 BANGLADESH: DENTIFICATION SYSTEM FOR ENHANCED ACCESS TO SERVICES (IDEA) PROJECT KEY DATA: Approved: May 10, 2011 Effective : August 28, 2011 Closing: December 31, 2017 FINANCING ($ MILLION): Financier Financing Disbursed Undisbursed IDA Credit 171 43.8% 56.2% GoB 2.01 Total cost 173.01 BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES A reliable and authentic National Identification (ID) system serves as an efficient, secure data platform for delivering multiple public services. The Election Commission Bangladesh (ECB) has established a National Identity (NID) database, based on their internationally-accredited electoral roll database, and issued paper-laminated NID cards to about 90 million registrants. The Project Development Objective is to establish a secure, accurate, and reliable national identification system in Bangladesh to serve as the basis for more efficient and transparent service delivery. The IDEA Project has established a secure, accurate, and reliable national identification (NID) management system in Bangladesh to serve as the basis for more efficient, inclusive, and transparent service delivery. The NID system is providing identity authentication services (online, offline and biometric) to number of citizens’ service delivery agencies. Any agency delivering services to citizens in Bangladesh can now greatly reduce their transaction costs by efficiently identifying their clients and maintaining their own databases of users/customers. KEY ACHIEVEMENTS AND EXPECTED RESULTS: ■■ The NID database contains around 100 million (49.58% female and 50.32% male) registrants. ■■ Now 62 agencies are using ID authentication service of the NIDW. There are 10 public agencies and 52 private sector agencies. ■■ All 6 mobile phone operators of Bangladesh have started using online biometric identity authentication service for their users’ SIM registration and replacement. ■■ The Finance Division of the Government has emerged as an important and busy user of the system like the National Board of Revenue (e-TIN). They required all civil servants and pensioners to use the NID number and identity authentication with the NID system. ■■ The mapping of the 17-digit NID number containing year of birth and geographical information of citizens into 10-digit Unique Identification Numbers has been completed. ■■ Some 90 mission paper-laminated cards will soon be replaced by smart NID cards which have robust security features. The center for the personalization of smart NID cards has been set up and the mass production of the smart cards has started. IMPLEMENTING AGENCY: National Identity Registration Wing, Bangladesh Election Commission KEY PARTNERS: Not applicable Bangladesh Country Snapshot 23 BANGLADESH: INCOME SUPPORT PROGRAM FOR THE POOREST KEY DATA: Approved: December 16, 2014 Effective: April 16, 2015 Closing: June 30, 2020 FINANCING ($ MILLION): Financier Financing Disbursed Undisbursed IDA Credit $283.6 1.8% 98.2% GoB $ 3.37 0 100% Total cost $286.97 1.8% 98.2% *$ millions; as of June 30, 2016; revised amount after partial cancellation BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Although Bangladesh has made remarkable progress in poverty reduction and human development outcomes, extreme poverty and vulnerability remain stubborn problems. The country ranks sixth in the world on prevalence of stunting. The incidence of low birth weight is also among the highest at 22 percent, with maternal under-nutrition at about 24 percent. The poor, in particular, experience under-nutrition. Improving nutrition and cognitive development opportunities for poor children is critical to arrest intergenerational transmission of poverty and presents an early window of opportunity to address inequality and improve outcomes later in life. Failure to invest adequately in the wellbeing of children from an early age has long-term implications for children and society as a whole, because it increases the likelihood of poverty in adulthood and perpetuates intergenerational transmission of poverty. The Income Support Program for the Poorest Project (Jawtno) is a cash transfer program that provides income support to poor mothers in selected locations while: (i) increasing the mothers’ use of Child Nutrition and Cognitive Development services and (ii) enhancing local-level capacity to deliver safety nets. Quarterly cash transfers will be made to eligible households based on their fulfillment of co-responsibilities linked to the growth and development of their young children (up to age 5). These include: (i) utilization of antenatal care services up to four times during pregnancy; (ii) use of growth monitoring and promotion services; and (iii) attendance at child nutrition and cognitive development awareness sessions. The average size of the monthly benefit is between $15-23, depending on the beneficiary profile, and falls within 20 percent of the estimated monthly per capita expenditure of the target population. In keeping with the government’s family planning policy, only the first and second born children will be eligible, to help prevent distorted incentives. The project also provides technical assistance to the implementing agency to facilitate administration and implementation of the cash transfer program, which includes building partnerships with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for the use of community clinics to deliver services and with the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications for the use of biometric Post Office cash cards for beneficiary payments. A robust monitoring and evaluation framework has also been designed to assess progress in achieving the project’s objectives through third party monitoring and evaluate the impact of cash transfers on household poverty and children’s health outcomes. ACHIEVEMENTS AND EXPECTED RESULTS: ■■ Project locations have been identified based on poverty and malnutrition criteria. The project will be implemented in 43 upazilas (sub-districts) across northern Bangladesh reaching up to 600,000 mothers and their families. ■■ Partnership arrangements have been finalized with Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for service delivery at local Community Clinics; Ministry of Post and Telecommunications for electronic cash transfers through Post Office cash cards, and Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics for use of household poverty data. ■■ Central and field level staffing is completed. ■■ Comprehensive child nutrition and cognitive development curriculum drafted and to be consulted on with wide range of stakeholders ahead of finalization. ■■ Cash transfers and services tentatively expected to commence in December 2016. IMPLEMENTING AGENCY: Local Government Division, Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development & Cooperatives. KEY PARTNERS: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Ministry of Post and Telecommunication and Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics are key partners of the Local Government Division and will be providing a variety of services for the project. The Children’s Investment Fund Foundation has recently approved $1.1 million towards the cost of the impact evaluation of the project. Innovations for Poverty Action has also expressed interest in partnering on the project evaluation and discussions are ongoing. Several trust funds have also been secured to provide technical assistance to the project, including the Early Learning Partnership and Rapid Social Response funds 24 BANGLADESH: LEVERAGING ICT FOR GROWTH, EMPLOYMENT, AND GOVERNANCE KEY DATA: Approved: Sep 20, 2012 Effective: Jan 24, 2013 Closing: Dec 31, 2017 FINANCING: Original Loan/Credit Amount: SDR 44,200 ($ 70 million) Revised Loan/Credit Amount: SDR 39,997,500 ($ 55.95 million) Financier Financing ($, millions) Disbursed Undisbursed IDA Credit 55.95 50% 50% GoB 1 Total cost 56.95 BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Bangladesh’s information and communications technology (ICT) industry has developed significantly over the past decade. The government recognizes the need to leverage electronic government (e-government) for public service delivery and to facilitate its reform efforts. However, the lack of shared IT hosting infrastructure, governance policies, and standards and structures present a major barrier to providing seamless electronic services and improving the public sector’s effectiveness and efficiency. The information technology (IT) industry sub-sector has also remained relatively nascent as compared to the telecommunications sub-sector, with total industry output estimated at $300 million per annum at the project’s initiative. The project will establish e-government foundations and institutional capacity for the government to leverage ICT for public sector modernization, and lay groundwork for an eventual whole-of-government approach for governance reforms and public service transformation to citizens and businesses. This project will also support the development of Bangladesh’s IT/IT Enabled Services (ITES) industry as the country possesses a comparative advantage in the sub-sector. The project aims to establish basic e-government foundations to support public-sector modernization; and catalyze growth of Bangladesh’s IT and enabled services industry for employment creation and export diversification. The project’s e-government component will provide critical ICT foundations to support public-sector modernization, initiate transformation of the e-government agenda for the years ahead. This includes expansion of the national datacenter, training on e-government for relevant public officials, and establishing enterprise architecture, interoperability framework, cybersecurity standards and guidelines, and setting up the country’s computer incident response team. The IT/ITES component will increase the competitiveness of Bangladesh’s sub-sector by increasing the quantity and quality of skills, provide strategic direction for industry development, and increase IT/ITES awareness and investments in the country. This includes relevant training for workers and middle management, institutional capacity building, and industry development strategy, promotion, and international business development. KEY ACHIEVEMENTS AND EXPECTED RESULTS ■■ Improve Bangladesh’s ranking on the World Economic Forum’s Network Readiness Index by at least five places: Improved global ranking of 109 in 2015; from 115 in 2012 and 113 in 2013. ■■ Percentage of ministries using two or more e-government technology foundations established under the project: 28 percent of 50 percent to date. ■■ Generating 30,000 direct IT/ITES jobs: Created 8,000 jobs to date. ■■ Increase IT/ITES industry revenue by $200 million: $85 million to date IMPLEMENTING AGENCY: Bangladesh Computer Council. Bangladesh Country Snapshot 25 BANGLADESH: MODERN FOOD STORAGE FACILITIES PROJECT KEY DATA: Approved: December 30, 2013 Effective: 27 May 2014 Closing: June 30, 2020 FINANCING ($ MILLION): Financier Financing Disbursed Undisbursed IDA Credit 210 9.4% 90.6% Beneficiaries 5 Total cost 215 BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Despite strong economic growth and a steady decline in poverty in Bangladesh over the past decade, natural disasters regularly cause serious damage to the country’s infrastructure and agricultural, severely affecting food access and food availability for the poor and vulnerable. The expected increase in the frequency and intensity of weather-related shocks makes it imperative that the government enhance its preparedness to address food insecurity in disaster-prone areas. The Public Food Distribution System (PFDS) is a core element of the government’s food security strategy. The modern food storage facilities proposed for construction under this project could considerably improve the efficacy of the government’s emergency response and recovery efforts in disaster-prone areas, and if grain stocks are properly managed, could enhance the efficiency of its PFDS at the same time. The Modern Food Storage Facilities Project’s overall objective is to increase the grain reserve available to households to meet post-disaster needs and improve the efficiency of grain storage management. Components include improving the storage capacity for grain by financing the construction of modern steel silos for rice and wheat that will be built in accordance with social and environmental sustainability parameters and safeguards compliance criteria. The project will facilitate households’ access to domestic silos for food grain and seed storage to improve food security during and after natural disasters. It will finance investments in small-scale storage at the rural household level, which is expected to bring important benefits to the farming community in the form of safer storage of rice seed (which is more valuable than commercial grain). Another component will finance costs required to ensure adequate overall management of the project, monitoring and evaluation of the activities implemented, and capacity enhancement of selected stakeholders. The project has been restructured to adjust project funding resulting from the decision not to proceed with the signing of the Bangladesh Climate Change and Resilience Fund Agreement due to its early closing date. Additional financing from the IDA will be considered in due time if and when funds are needed. KEY ACHIEVEMENTS AND EXPECTED RESULTS: ■■ Increased availability of grain stocks (400,000 metric tons at the end of the project) ■■ Increased number of households whose grain needs can be met (4.5 million) ■■ Decreased grain storage cost (from $800 to $300 per ton) ■■ Reduced loss in grain stocks (from 17percent to three percent losses) ■■ Food grade household silos will be distributed to 500,000 families in disaster prone areas IMPLEMENTING AGENCY: Directorate General of Food under the Ministry of Food KEY PARTNERS: International Finance Corporation 26 BANGLADESH: MULTIPURPOSE DISASTER SHELTER PROJECT (MDSP) KEY DATA: Approved: December 16, 2014 Effective: April 1, 2015 Closing: September 30, 2020 PDO and IP ratings: S and S FINANCING ($ MILLION): Financier Financing Disbursed Undisbursed IDA Credit 375.00 2.06% 97.94% GoB 1.70 Total Cost 376.70 BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Bangladesh is subject to a tropical monsoon-type climate, prone to cyclones, flooding, and drought. Bangladesh is also at risk for earthquakes and tsunamis, sitting at or near the juncture of several active tectonic boundaries. Cyclones typically affect Bangladesh in the fall and spring, the intervals between the dry season and the monsoon season.. Cyclones move northward across the Indian Ocean and almost every year at least one makes landfall in Bangladesh. The coast is approximately 710 km long and is home to nearly 40 million people. Cyclones affect the region with strong winds accompanied by powerful storm surges and widespread inundation over a vast area. After the severe cyclone of 1970, which killed an estimated 300,000 people, the Government of Bangladesh pledged to improve protection of the coastal population. In the subsequent decades, the government constructed a network of cyclone shelters in the coastal areas, and developed an early warning system for local communities called the Cyclone Preparedness Program (CPP). Between 1970 and 2007, around 1,700 cyclone shelters were constructed, with the aim of providing protection from high winds and storm surges common during cyclones. The growing network of cyclone shelters and the community-based early warning system has served to save lives and assets. The Multipurpose Disaster Shelters Project (MDSP) is a large-scale, disaster risk mitigation infrastructure project that strengthens emergency preparedness and will significantly reduce vulnerability to climate change and natural disasters. This builds on initial phases of interventions in multipurpose disaster shelters advanced under Emergency 2007 Cyclone Recovery and Restoration Project (ECRRP), considered the first phase of investments. The project is expected to have an impact on long- term disaster resiliency in Bangladesh, focused particularly on the coastal region. MDSP would focus on meeting these high priority needs by providing construction of 552 new shelters and the improvement of 450 existing shelters. The project will also invest in connecting roads and communication networks to shelters, increasing accessibility and effectiveness. It is expected that by safeguarding lives and assets, the project will contribute to goals of continued growth and shared prosperity. KEY ACHIEVEMENTS AND EXPECTED RESULTS: The project is expected to benefit nearly 14 million people living in the nine coastal districts of Bangladesh by improving access to safe havens in the event of a natural disaster. This would serve to build the resilience of local communities to such natural calamities, and help to speed recovery by protecting critical assets. In addition, the project aims to construct multipurpose buildings, especially primary schools. IMPLEMENTING AGENCY: Local Government Engineering Department, Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Bangladesh Country Snapshot 27 BANGLADESH: MUNICIPAL GOVERNANCE AND SERVICES PROJECT (MGSP) KEY DATA: Approved: January 14, 2014 Effective: April 6, 2014 Closing: June 30, 2020 FINANCING ($ MILLION) Financier Financing Disbursed Undisbursed IDA Credit $410 million 19.5% 80.5% GoB $61.75 million Total cost $471.76 million 19.5% 80.5% *$ millions; as of June 30, 2016; revised amount after partial cancellation BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated and rapidly urbanizing countries in the world. The population density and high urban growth are putting great pressure on basic urban services, particularly on local governments, district towns or municipalities and city corporations that are entrusted to provide such services. Bangladesh has 331 urban local bodies (ULBs), comprising 10 city corporations and 321 municipalities. Despite progress in the decentralization reform agenda, the capacity of these urban institutions is still weak: they have limited fiscal autonomy and decision-making powers, inadequate own-source revenues, and weak systems of accountability. Infrastructure in these ULBs is very inadequate, and whatever assets they have are poorly maintained, if at all. The MGSP is designed to address weak governance and help infrastructure development and maintenance in participating ULBs. It is designed to provide incentives to ULBs that demonstrate significant improvements in planning, financial management, and accountability. The project is reaching out to ULBs through the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) (for 26 selected ULBs in the Dhaka-Chittagong growth corridor) and through the Bangladesh Municipal Development Fund (BMDF) (under a grant-loan-equity subproject financing scheme) for ULBs that meet creditworthiness criteria. The project is also pursuing intensive capacity- building activities to enable ULBs to perform better and carry out their functions effectively. It also features a contingent emergency response component to enable ULBs to carry out disaster response activities if needed. KEY ACHIEVEMENTS AND EXPECTED RESULTS: The project development objective is to improve municipal governance and basic urban services in participating ULBs, and to improve the government’s capacity to respond effectively to emergencies. Into its second year of effectiveness, the project has initiated implementation of a number of small-scale infrastructure investments in the participating ULBs. These are mostly micro drains, road resurfacing, and construction of kitchen markets. In the 26 LGED ULBs, the operation and maintenance (O&M) activities were supported on a pilot basis, to allow these ULBs to prioritize O&M activities through planning and integrating O&M costs into their annual budget programs. Procurement of consultants to carry out activities that relate to the performance enhancement components (for example, performance assessment, capacity- building consultants) as well as to prepare the BMDF road map for improving its operations is under way. Preparations for the conduct of third party monitoring have been initiated while the Country Investment Plan process has been carried out to improve the quality of subprojects to be supported by the MGSP. Improvements in the execution of the O&M component are also being discussed with the ULBs. Bottlenecks in the procurement of key project inputs will need to be addressed to ensure that the project can achieve its objectives and keep implementation on track 28 BANGLADESH: NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM – PHASE II KEY DATA: Approved: Jun 5, 2015 Effective: N/A Closing: September 30, 2021 FINANCING ($ MILLION) Financier Financing Disbursed Undisbursed IDA Credit 176.60 0 100% IFAD 23.86 0 23.86 USAID 7.43 0 7.43 Govt. 6.50 0 6.50 Total cost 214.0 0 214.0 *$ millions; as of June 30, 2015; revised amount after partial cancellation; BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: National Agricultural Technology Program Phase II Project (NATP-2) builds on the successes of its predecessor NATP. It will support the government’s strategic priorities in agriculture, i.e., increasing production, achieving food security, supporting adaptation to climate change, and enhancing nutrition through safer and more diversified food. The overarching principle of NATP-2 is to promote a more demand-driven approach to improvement of agricultural technology and modernization of on-farm practices that takes into account the growing demand from consumers for safer food, as well as the needs of farmers for more diversified production. NATP-II will contribute directly to the Ministry of Agriculture’s (MoA) and the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock’s (MoFL) priority of increasing farm yields and diversifying agricultural production by improving agricultural research and extension. Its dual field-level strategy will deepen the interventions initiated by the previous project in existing sub districts and expand the geographic coverage to include new sub districts. NATP-II will cover 57 of the country’s 64 districts and span a broad range of agro-ecological zones across Bangladesh. The project will be implemented over a six-year period in up to 270 of the country’s 493 sub-districts (or upazilas); this includes 107 upazilas already covered under NATP, plus up to 163 new upazilas. The primary project beneficiaries will be smallholder farmers (i.e., small, marginal and landless farmers). The project will promote gender mainstreaming and women’s empowerment to ensure that a significant proportion of direct beneficiaries are female. Other direct project beneficiaries include extension workers, agricultural researchers, and to a lesser extent, rural entrepreneurs. The project development objective for NATP-2 is to increase agricultural productivity of small holders’ farms and improve small-holder farmers’ access to markets in selected districts. KEY ACHIEVEMENTS AND EXPECTED RESULTS: The project is expected to be effective in September, 2016 The project was approved by the Government of Bangladesh on May 23, 2016 and prepared Project Implementation Manual and Agriculture Innovation Fund Manual IMPLEMENTING AGENCY: Ministry of Agriculture (Lead Ministry) and Ministry of Fishery and Livestock KEY PARTNERS: International Fund for Agricultural Development; US Agency for International Development Bangladesh Country Snapshot 29 BANGLADESH: NORTHERN AREAS REDUCTION OF POVERTY INITIATIVE KEY DATA: Approved: Oct. 27, 2011 Effective: Mar 25, 2012 Closing: Oct 31, 2017 FINANCING ($29.29 MILLION) Financier Financing Disbursed Undisbursed IDA Credit 29.3 71.40% 28.6% GoB 7 Misc. 3.5 Total cost 39.8 BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The garment industry in Bangladesh accounts for 75 to 80 percent of Bangladesh’s export earnings, and has also played a significant role in providing economic benefits to poor and vulnerable women. Today, around 80 percent of the garment workers are female. Yet, the number of poor women from impoverished north- western districts joining the garments sector is much lower than the number of women garment workers from other parts of the country. Female garment workers constitute a highly vulnerable group, with few support systems in place that provide them adequate training or social services. For these women, their first few months in the city and at the factory are the most hazardous, deterring many women who are in desperate need of work from joining the industry. The Northern Areas Reduction of Poverty Initiative (NARI) aims to recruit 10,800 women from five districts in northern Bangladesh for an orientation course to help them make informed decisions about beginning a new life in one of three export processing zones (EPZs) in Dhaka, Karnaphuli, or Ishwardi. The women will be settled into newly built complexes, with transitional housing facilities at dormitories, giving them time to develop social networks and support systems. The project provides two and a half months of training in skills for the garment industry, allowing women to enter factories as semi-skilled workers. Trainees also will receive life-skills training, covering topics such as adjustment to city life, savings and remittances, safety and security, rights and responsibilities at the work-place, finding appropriate housing, contract negotiation, and health and fertility. ACHIEVEMENTS AND EXPECTED 2RESULTS ■■ Three dormitories and training centers constructed. ■■ First batch of training with 900 girls recruited from the target group, underway. ■■ The Information, Education Campaign to raise awareness in source areas, orient and recruit beneficiaries launched and is nearing completion for the sec- ond group. ■■ Dialogue at mature stage for partnering with the biggest brands and buyers (H&M, Walmart, Primark etc.) that source ready-made garments from Bangladesh to leverage corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds for the operating costs of the project, and link the beneficiaries of the project with ongoing CSR activi- ties at the factory and community level. EXPECTED RESULTS: Around 10,800 women will gain formal employment, and networks will be established for continuing the flow of potential workers. Two and a half months of training will be provided and the project will place the trainees into employment through placement services built into the project. The women will also be accommodated in transitional housing facilities for up to five months. IMPLEMENTING AGENCY: Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority. Coordinating Ministry: Ministry of Labor and Employment. KEY PARTNERS: Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association; Bangladesh Knit Manufacturers and Exporters Association.. 30 BANGLADESH: NUTON JIBON LIVELIHOOD IMPROVEMENT PROJECT KEY DATA: Approved: February 25, 2015 Effective: August 03, 2015 Closing: June 30, 2021 FINANCING ($ MILLION): Financier Financing* Disbursed Undisbursed IDA Credit 200.00 10.3% 89.7% GoB 20.00 0 0 Total cost 220.00 0 0 *$ millions; as of June 30, 2016 BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The Nuton Jibon Livelihood Improvement Project (NJLIP) is the follow-up project to the Empowerment and Livelihood Improvement “Nuton Jibon” Project, also called Social Investment Program Project II (SIPP II), which was closed in December 31, 2015. The predecessor project covered 3,262 villages in 16 districts where 92 percent of villages, (or 2,987 of the 3,262) are functioning in an inclusive, transparent, and accountable manner. The project development objective of NJLIP is to improve livelihoods of the poor and extreme poor people in selected districts. The NJLIP aims at providing support to around 500,000 extreme poor and poor households in 2500 villages of 12 poverty-prone districts of the country. In addition 3,142 villages (excluding 120 villages from where the project exited) of SIPP-II are also being supported through second-tier institutions called ‘Nuton Jibon Community Society’ (NJCS), which are formed at cluster and district levels. Thus, 1,158,661 (including 658,661 HHs of SIPP-2) extreme poor and poor households of 5,642 villages of 88 Upazila in 22 districts are directly benefitting from this project. More than 90 percent of the total beneficiaries are women. The project will work on: ■■ Second generation activities in nine districts supported by SIPP II. ■■ Seven districts have ongoing SIPP II villages and new villages in additional Upazilas. ■■ Development of village institutions and livelihood in five new districts (Chandpur, Comilla, Khulna, Satkhira, Shariatpur and one Upazila from Gopalgonj. ■■ The non-negotiable project principles would be inclusion, equity, participation, transparency, and accountability, in addition to the 10 golden rules called “Dosh Neeti”. The Project also provides support for nutrition awareness, business partnership linkages, and employment generation. ACHIEVEMENTS AND EXPECTED RESULTS: ■■ As of June 2016, the project has included 218,174 beneficiaries in addition to 526,928 beneficiaries of SIPP-2 bringing the total to 745,102 beneficiaries, which is 109% of the outreach estimation of 680,000 for FY 2016. ■■ A total of 12,344 vulnerable people (4.93 per village) were identified in the project areas of whom, 516 received one-time grant and 120 youths received training on skills development while 675 villages have prepared a youth database. A total of BDT 563.116 million was disbursed to 862 villages as a first installment of the Institution Development Fund (IDF). ■■ Gram Samiti Offices have been established in 462 villages although savings activity started in 1,628 villages. ■■ More than 93% (203,664) Nuton Jibon Group members are depositing savings on a regular basis. ■■ A total of BDT 18.52 million as savings has been accumulated and deposited into their bank accounts. IMPLEMENTING AGENCY: Social Development Foundation (SDF) under Ministry of Finance, GoB KEY PARTNERS: Not applicable Bangladesh Country Snapshot 31 BANGLADESH: PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT SUPPORT PROJECT KEY DATA: Approved: Mar 1, 2011 Effective: Aug 3, 2011 Closing: February 28, 2021 FINANCING ($ MILLION): Financier Financing* Disbursed IDA Credit 172.8 22.5% GoB DFID 17.4 69.1% Total Cost 190.2 26.7% BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: To attract foreign direct investment (FDI) in export-oriented manufacturing, the Government of Bangladesh initiated an economic zones regime by enacting a law in 1980 under which the Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (BEPZA) was created. The EPZ model, catering mainly to export-oriented FDI, has its limits in terms of cumulative impact and spillovers to the domestic economy. As such, further improvements to the economic zones regime became imperative. To meet the investment need of both foreign and domestic investors, the government moved to a more flexible and competitive Special Economic Zone (SEZ) regime by introducing the Economic Zones Act, which was supported by the World Bank Group, in August 2010. It led to the creation of the Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA). The World Bank Group, together with UK’s Department for International Development (DfID), is supporting the Government in developing Economic Zones through financing from the Bangladesh Private Sector Development Support Project. This project aims to ■■ Improve the business environment and access to serviced land through Economic Zones. ■■ Invest in training schemes to make human resources more responsive to enterprise needs. ■■ Support local private-sector capacity through product/process quality improvements. In April 2016, the Board approved an additional IDA credit of US$130 million. It became effective in August 2016. The additional financial will build on the gains realized by the original credit and contribute to enhancing the quality standards in the economic zones (EZs) and the governing institutions. KEY ACHIEVEMENTS AND EXPECTED RESULTS: ■■ Generated $ 489 million in direct investment in the economic zones, against a target of $10 million. ■■ Generated &131 million direct investment by zone tenant companies located within new zones against a target of $10 million. ■■ Created 5,887 new jobs, of which 26.3 percent are for women, against a target of 2,000 jobs by June 2016 (30 percent for women). ■■ The Implementing Agencies (BEZA and BHTPA) has completed 33 site assessments, feasibility studies/master plans for new economic zones, with Mongla and Kaliakor awarded as the first zone/park under the public private partnership regime in the country. ■■ BEZA and BHTPA has issued 18 licenses to establish private sector-led SEZs and High-Tech parks in different parts of Bangladesh. ■■ BEPZA has certified 20 companies located in economic zones with the ISO 14001 Environmental Management Standard through their green initiative. In addi- tion, BEPZA is maintaining 30 environmental and 60 social counselors to conduct social and environmental monitoring. ■■ BHTPA has trained about 12,139 people on industry-specific skills through their employment incentive and skill enhancement programs against a target of 2000. Through the Quality Company Certification program, about 38 firms have been certified by BHTPA with quality standards such as ISO: 9001, ISO: 27001, CMMI-3, and CMMI-5 exceeding the target of 30. IMPLEMENTING AGENCY: Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority, Economic Relations Division, Bangladesh High-Tech Park Authority, Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority KEY PARTNERS: DfID, IFC 32 BANGLADESH: PUBLIC PROCUREMENT REFORM PROJECT II KEY DATA: Original Credit Additional Financing Second Additional Financing Approval : July 5, 2007 May 9, 2013 June 6, 2016 Effective: Sep 12, 2007 July 28, 2013 Closing: June 30, 2017 June 30, 2017 June 30, 2017 Financing: $23.6million $34.5million $10million FINANCING ($ MILLION): Financier Financing Disbursed Undisbursed IDA Credit 68.1 71.2% 28.8% GoB 4.8 Total cost 72.9 BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: There is growing recognition within the country that enhancing accountability and improving governance in the public sector is an important element in poverty reduction, improving the investment climate, and accelerating private sector-led growth. It is estimated that public procurement expenditure of over US$ 6 billion accounts for 60–80 percent of the annual development budget. Thus procurement plays a pivotal role in the development agenda of the country. Procurement was identified as the main reason for poor utilization of aid and slow implementation of development programs. Given this context, the government initiated a systemic procurement reform with a complete package of reforms focusing on legislation, capacity development, electronic government procurement (e-GP), and performance measurement. This is the second phase of the reform. The objective is to improve performance of the public procurement system progressively, focusing largely on the key sectoral ministries and their implementing agencies. It follows on the successes of the first PPRP that supported the enactment of procurement laws and rules. The four components of PPRP II deal with comprehensive capacity development, procurement performance monitoring, electronic procurement, and social accountability. Besides Central Procurement Technical Unit (CPTU), the nodal procurement agency, four key government agencies that share large part of the annual development program are involved – the Roads and Highways Department, Local Government Engineering Department, Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board, and Bangladesh Water Development Board. They processed over 90 percent of FY2015 procurement through electronic tendering with a target of 100 percent by 2016, including on- line procurement performance monitoring. In addition, PPRP-II has been implementing a comprehensive capacity-building program along with a social accountability and behavioral change communications campaign to demystify procurement at the grassroots level. KEY ACHIEVEMENTS AND EXPECTED RESULTS: ■■ Improved efficiency: reduction of procurement delays with the award of contract within the initial bid validity period (2016: 83%, and 2007: 10%). ■■ Enhanced transparency: website publication of contract awards (2016: 91%, 2007: 7%); and website publication of bid invitations (2015: 100%, 2007: 70%). ■■ Minimized collusion/coercion/fraud: significant reduction in the frequency of newspaper reports of this in 2015 as against 2011; and insignificant number of complaints in e-GP in 2015 (less than 1% case) against substantial number in 2010-2013. ■■ Exponential growth of e-GP: number of registered bidders grown 40 fold (2016: 21,000, 2012: 525); number of bid invitations grown over 380 times (2016: 55,000, 2012:144); value of bid invitations grown over 330 fold (2016: $6 billion, 2012: $18 million). ■■ Enhanced capacity development: three-week trained staff (2016: 7400; 2007: 1800); internationally certified MCIPS- UK (2016: 89; 2012: 0). IMPLEMENTING AGENCY: CPTU, Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division. KEY PARTNERS: Bangladesh Country Snapshot 33 BANGLADESH: REACHING OUT-OF-SCHOOL CHILDREN PROJECT II KEY DATA: Approved: Oct 2, 2012 Effective: Jan 30, 2013 Closing: Dec 31, 2017 FINANCING: Financier Financing Disbursed Undisbursed IDA Credit 130 43% 57% USAID 3.8 BETF 7.5 GoB 141.3 Total cost BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: In 2010, nearly five million primary school-aged children were out of school in Bangladesh – many of these children had never enrolled, while others had dropped out before completing the primary cycle due to poverty. Children from the poorest quintile were reported to be disproportionately left out of the schooling system. These children were deprived of an education, reducing their chances of finding higher-earning jobs that could lift them and their families out of poverty. Building on the success of the first Reaching Out-of-School Children (ROSC) project, ROSC II provides a second chance at primary education to restore that opportunity. The project aims to improve equitable access, retention and completion in quality primary education for out-of-school children in selected under-served areas. ROSC II reintegrates out-of-school children into the education system through learning centers called Ananda schools (schools of joy), which are established in selected upazilas (sub-districts) with high-poverty and low-enrollment and completion rates. As ROSC students tend to be older, teachers observe a flexible schedule, with students taught by a single class teacher until they are ready to join mainstream secondary schools. These centers also provide education stipends to students to lessen the financial burden on families, in addition to providing free books, stationery, and school uniforms. The project builds upon the experiences of both public and NGOs and blends formal education with non-formal means of delivery to the young learners, providing them with an opportunity to complete grade five and transition to secondary education. The project also tries to empower disadvantaged rural communities to establish, own, and manage Ananda schools with support from the government and local education NGOs. In addition, the project aims to pilot initiatives in selected urban slums for child domestics, a pre-vocational skills training scheme for older ROSC students, and an Early Grade Reading program for current ROSC students. KEY ACHIEVEMENTS AND EXPECTED RESULTS ■■ Enrollment of 690,000 out-of-school children (49 percent girls and 87 percent from disadvantaged families) in 20,400 supported learning centers in 148 of the most disadvantaged upazilas and 3,100 children in 17 urban slums of Dhaka. ■■ A total of 919 ROSC students and graduates are being given prevocational training for self-employment. ■■ Average grade retention rate stands at 64 percent, with the attendance rate at 87 percent and teacher absence rate below 15 percent. ■■ A total of 19,377 teachers have been given foundation training and 4,000 center management committee members have been trained for the operation and management of learning centers. ■■ Most Ananda schools have water and sanitation facilities, and 80 percent of teachers at them are women. ■■ For the first time, ROSC students participated in the 2013 national learning assessment for the primary level. IMPLEMENTING AGENCY: Directorate of Primary Education. KEY PARTNERS: USAID, Save the Children 34 BANGLADESH: REVENUE MOBILIZATION PROGRAM FOR RESULTS: VAT IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM KEY DATA: Approved:May 09, 2014 Effective: January 11, 2015 Closing: June 30, 2020 FINANCING ($ MILLION): Financier Financing Disbursed Undisbursed IDA Credit 60 11% 49% GoB 13 9% 4% Total cost 73 *$ millions; as of June 30, 2016; revised amount after partial cancellation. BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Low revenue mobilization is limiting the country’s development aspirations as the level of tax collection was 10 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2012 and has remained at that level over the last few years. The tax system is complex, which has been fueling a non-compliance environment. A particular problem is that the indirect tax system is distortionary, discretionary, and narrow based. Tax administration is lagging in embracing good international practices, especially in terms of simplified business processes, adoption of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), risk management systems, modern Human Resources Management (HRM) systems. In general it is performing poorly in transparency and accountability. The new Value Added Tax VAT Law to take effect in July 2017 has the objective of simplifying the tax system especially the indirect tax system through the implementation of a single rate, few tax exemptions, a voluntary threshold for small business registration, and a simplification of the Excise & Duty regime according to international practices. The program’s objective is to improve revenue mobilization and transparency in the VAT administration. The program will support the VAT Law implementation by preparing both the tax administration and the taxpayers’ community for the Law adoption. ACHIEVEMENTS AND EXPECTED RESULTS ■■ Most of the core new business processes have been reviewed and cleared by the National Bureau of Revenue (NBR) ■■ The associated software development has been initiated and some Users Acceptance Tests (UAT) have been completed for the registration module. It is expected that the registration module will be launched in January 2017. ■■ Several interactions with selected taxpayers have been carried out in order to get feedback on the VAT rules especially regarding the public advance ruling and private advance ruling. ■■ Continual coordination with the Bangladesh Bank and the Public Accounts Office has been implemented in order to define interfaces and protocols for VAT electronic payments. ■■ Several workshops and orientation sessions have been implemented to orient the taxpayers’ community on the VAT Law and get feedback from them to improve, simplify, and clarify the VAT rules and regulations. ■■ Independent verification completed for DLR 1.2.1 as the first DLI achieved under the program and the disbursement process is underway. IMPLEMENTING AGENCY: VAT Online Project Office, VAT Wing, National Board of Revenue. KEY PARTNERS: Not applicable Bangladesh Country Snapshot 35 BANGLADESH: RURAL WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION PROJECT KEY DATA: Approved: Mar 22, 2012 Effective: May 13, 2012 Closing: June 30, 2017 FINANCING ($ MILLION): Financier Financing Disbursed Undisbursed IDA Credit 42.2 52% 48% Communities 5.6 GoB 2.7 Total cost 50.9 * Project restructuring included cancellation of $25 million of IDA credit BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: National rural water supply coverage in Bangladesh is estimated to be around 97 percent, but water quality issues and contamination by arsenic have effectively lowered this figure to around 83 percent. Arsenic is the single largest threat to safe water service provision in Bangladesh. The quality of sanitation coverage is another area of concern, with only 37 percent of latrines being hygienic. The poor infrastructure and facilities for water and sanitation services, along with increased demand, is making it difficult to provide reliable water and sanitation services. The project aims to increase the provision of safe water supply and hygienic sanitation in selected rural areas of Bangladesh. It calls for scaling up piped and non-piped water facilities to provide safe and clean water to villagers in some 383 Union Parishads (local governing units) with acute arsenic contamination and low coverage for safe water supply. The project also seeks to provide hygienic sanitation facilities, and is financing the construction of 35 piped water supply schemes and 14,000 water point sources in hot-spot upazilas (subdistricts) where piped water supply is not economically possible. To fight the poor sanitation, it intends to provide financial incentives for the poor to construct hygienic latrines, build local private-sector capacity so that markets can better react to rise in demand; and increase the government’s role in ensuring that latrines are maintained and accessible to all. The project is financing installation of 50,000 latrines for selected poor households. KEY ACHIEVEMENTS AND EXPECTED RESULTS: ■■ 748,000 out of target 924,000 people in rural areas have been provided with access to improved water sources. ■■ 11,900 out of 14,000 improved community water points constructed under the project. ■■ 493 out of 28,000 new piped household water connections provided from the project. ■■ 201,000 people out of 275,000 have been provided with access to hygienic latrines. ■■ Total 948,000 direct project beneficiaries out of target 1.2 million people in rural areas have been provided with access to improved water sources and hygienic latrines. IMPLEMENTING AGENCY: Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE). KEY PARTNERS: Not applicable. 36 BANGLADESH: RURAL ELECTRIFICATION AND RENEWABLE ENERGY DEVELOPMENT II KEY DATA: Original Credit Approved: Sep 20, 2012. Additional Financing Approved June 19, 2014 Effective: Feb 20, 2013. Closing: Dec 31, 2018 FINANCING ($ MILLION): Financier Financing Disbursed Undisbursed IDA Credit 233.4 81% 19% IDCOL 14.1 BCCRF 10 22% 78% USAID 7.6 48% 52% KfW 10.7 GPOBA 16.1 13% 87% Local Beneficiaries 47.9 NGO/Private Sector 89.1 Funding Gap 6.2 Total cost 435 BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Only about 66 percent of rural households in Bangladesh have access to grid electricity, and even these consumers suffer frequent and prolonged power cuts. Currently, electricity supply is about 8,500-9,000megawatts (MW), against a peak demand of about 10,000 MW. The dispersed nature of rural settlements and the numerous rivers that crisscross the country make grid electrification in many areas of Bangladesh difficult and expensive. Despite steady progress in enhancing coverage, it is clear that reliance on grid electricity alone will not allow the Bangladeshi government to realize its vision of universal access to electricity by 2021. The second Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Development (RERED) project aims to increase access to clean energy in rural areas of Bangladesh. It builds on the success of RERED I by supporting solar home systems and other renewable energy options in remote rural areas, where grid electricity is not economically or geographically viable. The World Bank initiative led to support from other donors, and about 3.95 million rural homes and shops are getting electricity access through the solar home system. The implementing agency is the Infrastructure Development Company Ltd. (IDCOL), a government-owned financing institution, and 47 partner organizations (mostly non-government organizations) are installing solar home systems through a micro-credit scheme Replicating the success of the solar home systems program, the project is also supporting renewable energy based mini-grids,, solar irrigation pumps (replacing diesel pumps), dissemination of improved cook stoves, and biogas digesters for cooking. KEY ACHIEVEMENTS AND EXPECTED RESULTS: ■■ Provided 3.95 million remote households and rural shops with solar home systems, with 20,000 systems being installed every month. ■■ Increased access to electricity in Bangladesh by 14 percent. ■■ 7 mini-grids are currently providing 24/7 electricity to 2,000 rural businesses and shops. Another 9 are under construction. ■■ 320 solar irrigation pumps are under operation benefiting 8,000 farmers with reliable and affordable irrigation services. ■■ 750,000 rural women are benefiting from improved cook stoves with more than 70,000 improved cook stoves being sold every month. IMPLEMENTING AGENCY: IDCOL, and Power Cell of the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources. KEY PARTNERS: Asian Development Bank, Japanese International Cooperation Agency, KfW of Germany, the German Federal Enterprise for International Cooperation, Islamic Development Bank, U.S. Agency for International Development, Global Partnership on Output-Based Aid, Bangladesh Climate Change Resilience Fund. Bangladesh Country Snapshot 37 BANGLADESH: RURAL ELECTRICITY TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION KEY DATA: Approved: February 27, 2014 Effective: September 16, 2014 Closing: June 30, 2020 FINANCING ($ MILLION): Financier Financing Disbursed Undisbursed IDA Credit 600 16% 84% Government 237 Total cost 837 BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Only about 66 percent of rural households in Bangladesh have access to grid electricity, and even these consumers suffer frequent and prolonged power cuts. Currently, electricity supply is about 8,500-9,000 megawatts (MW), against a peak demand of about 10,000 MW. Electricity availability and the number of consumers have grown steadily in recent time. While the government made substantial investments to extend the rural low-voltage system network to support new connections, the rural medium-voltage distribution system and the associated transmission system received relatively less attention. As a result, the rural electricity system is now over-loaded and experiences frequent load-shedding, leading to higher technical losses and services interruptions. The objective is to reduce system losses and enhance capacity in the rural distribution network, primarily in the eastern part of Bangladesh. The project aims to rehabilitate and augment the distribution network of the Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board (BREB) in support of reducing systems losses and enhancing capacity for carrying additional electricity. The project is also supporting transmission enhancements by the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB). ACHIEVEMENTS AND EXPECTED RESULTS: The project is on track to meet its development objectives. 1,000 km of line construction has been completed against the project target of 6,000 km by 2020. All major contracts for line materials and substations have either been awarded or under evaluation. IMPLEMENTING AGENCY: BREB, PGCB. KEY PARTNERS: Not applicable. 38 BANGLADESH: SECOND LOCAL GOVERNANCE SUPPORT PROJECT KEY DATA: Approved: Nov 29, 2011 Effective: Feb 22, 2012 Closing: Nov 30, 2016 FINANCING ($ MILLION): Financier Financing Disbursed Undisbursed IDA Credit 290 97.83% 33% GoB 255.4 Total cost 545.4 *$ millions; as of June 30, 2016; revised amount after partial cancellation. BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The local governments of Bangladesh, the key components of community development, have largely improved their transparency and accountability in the delivery of services with stronger public financial management through the implementation of the Second Local Governance Support Project (LGSP II). By developing Union Parishad (UP, the lowest tier of local government) capacities, strengthening accountability systems, and improving participation at the grassroots level, there is an increasing trend towards the decentralization of government, meaning local governments have more autonomy and resources. The Second Local Government Support Project (LGSP II), the second nation-wide effort to strengthen the local government system in Bangladesh, has been successful in achieving its objectives of improving the accountability and responsiveness of UPs, along with placing an emphasis on the enhancement of citizen engagement and women’s participation in decision- making at the local level. Project Objective and Compoents: The development objective of the LGSP II is to strengthen inclusive and accountable institutions of local governance through a more efficient and transparent intergovernmental fiscal system. Grants administered and closely monitored by the LGSP II, have allowed the UPs to solve local problems and reach community goals with transparent spending and financial management. By empowering communities to make choices on their development priorities and basic service needs, and in addition, empowering local governments to respond to community priorities, the project not only enhanced UP’s capacity to provide better services to the people on the local level, but also ensured participation of local citizens in planning, implementation and monitoring of development activities, especially women. KEY ACHIEVEMENTS AND EXPECTED RESULTS: Transfers of Basic Block Grants (BBGs) and Performance Based Grants (PBGs) as planned. ■■ Government of Bangladesh’s share of total BBG increased to the agreed 60% before completion of the project. ■■ Financial and Performance audits of all 4,550 UPs carried out annually, with improved audit quality. ■■ Capacity building training provided to District officials and UP functionaries on an on-going basis. ■■ Continued promotion of active citizen participation and transparency by Ward Committees (WCs) and Scheme Supervision Committees (SSCs), women’s develop- ment forums, and open budget meetings. ■■ Development of Management Information System (MIS) software and its operation. IMPLEMENTING AGENCY: Bangladesh Local Government Division, Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives. KEY PARTNERS: U.N. Development Program, U.N. Capital Development Fund. Bangladesh Country Snapshot 39 BANGLADESH: SAFETY NET SYSTEMS FOR THE POOREST PROJECT KEY DATA: Approved: June 26, 2013 Effective: Nov 17, 2013 Closing: Dec 31, 2017 FINANCING ($ MILLION): Financier Financing Disbursed Undisbursed IDA Credit 466 151 315 GoB 2,172** 1,892*** 280 Total cost 2,672 *$ millions; as of June 30, 2016; revised amount after partial cancellation. **based on FY14 to FY17 forecast allocation of recurrent government budget of five major safety net programs. ***based on FY14 to FY16 revised budget of five major safety net programs (actual allocation growth exceeded forecast) BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Despite remarkable progress in poverty reduction, extreme poverty in Bangladesh remains high, with large numbers of people vulnerable to systemic shocks. The Government of Bangladesh recognizes that shocks and vulnerability are mainstream problems for the poor and has currently implements several safety net programs as response measures. Well designed and implemented safety nets not only reduce poverty and vulnerability but have shown to improve women’s wellbeing. Yes despite the numerous ongoing interventions, large numbers of poor people remain out of reach of safety nets. There is a scope for better targeting of benefits in some of the largest programs, improving delivery mechanisms and monitoring systems, as well as enhancing transparency measures. Cognizant of these existing challenges, the Ministry of Disaster Management & Relief (MoDMR) which implements approximately one-third of the country’s social protection budget, is currently utilizing IDA resources to improve performance of its major programs. The Statistics & Informatics Division (SID) is also supporting this process, given its mandate to develop a national household database (NHD) towards better targeting of social assistance, which in the medium term is also expected to improve the quality of a significant portion of public expenditure on safety net programs. The Safety Net Systems for the Poorest (SNSP) Project aims to improve the equity, efficiency and transparency of major safety net programs to benefit the poorest households. Component 1 (Support to MoDMR Safety Net Programs) provides performance-based partial reimbursement of government spending under selected safety net programs; Component 2 (Strengthening of MoDMR Program Administration & Transparency) provides resources to improve implementation quality, including the development of management information systems, beneficiary outreach and engagement strategies, training, etc. towards the achievement of higher level objectives; and Component 3 (Development of the National Household Database) provides resources to conduct a nationwide census, establish a comprehensive targeting system, and contribute to improving coordination among various safety nets programs. KEY ACHIEVEMENTS AND EXPECTED RESULTS: ■■ Improved pro-poor targeting of financial resources of major safety net programs ■■ Improved field level implementation and monitoring capacity of major safety net programs ■■ Improved transparency measures by piloting digital payments and grievance reporting ■■ Approved Operations Manual and data collection strategy for the NHD IMPLEMENTING AGENCY Department of Disaster Management (DDM) (Components 1 & 2); Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) (Component 3). KEY PARTNERS: 40 BANGLADESH: SECONDARY EDUCATION QUALITY AND ACCESS ENHANCEMENT PROJECT KEY DATA: Approved: Jul 31, 2008 Effective: Sep 4, 2008 Closing Date: Dec 31, 2017 FINANCING ($ MILLION): Financier Financing Disbursed Undisbursed IDA Credit 395.60 67.86% 32.14% GoB 40.0 Total Cost 435.6 BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Special measures taken over the last couple of decades have enabled more Bangladeshi children than before, especially girls, to continue their education at the secondary level. But it still remains a challenge for children from low-income families to access a good-quality education. The Secondary Education Quality and Access Enhancement Project (SEQAEP) aims to improve the quality of secondary education, systematically monitor learning outcomes and increase access and equity in 215 project upazilas (sub-districts). The project provides stipends and tuition to disadvantaged girls and boys based on proxy means-testing (PMT), in addition to incentives to students, teachers, and schools in 215 upazilas to encourage them to perform better. Eligible students receive stipends of $15 to $40 a year if they maintain 75 percent average attendance, achieve a passing grade in final examinations and remain unmarried until they complete Grade 10. The project also includes measures to provide water and sanitation facilities in schools, and strengthen school management and accountability systems while helping to develop stronger reading habits. Financial rewards are given to the teachers and institutions that consistently increase the number of students appearing in and passing the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examinations. KEY ACHIEVEMENTS AND EXPECTED RESULTS: ■■ The pass rate in SSC examinations was higher than 75 percent. ■■ Supported 8.4 million student-years (55 percent girls) under the stipends program. ■■ More than 4,068 institutions were supported under the SSC institution award. ■■ Awarded more than 386,000 students for academic performance while supporting some 1.1 million students in English and mathematics and about 6.1 million students in developing a reading habit. ■■ 95% of the project institutions have received Improving School Facilities (ISF) grants. IMPLEMENTING AGENCY: Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education, Ministry of Education KEY PARTNERS: Agrani Bank, Bishwo Shahitto Kendro, Local Government and Engineering Department, Directorate of Public Health and Engineering Bangladesh Country Snapshot 41 BANGLADESH: SECOND RURAL TRANSPORT IMPROVEMENT PROJECT KEY DATA: Approved: Sep 20, 2012 Effective: Nov 28, 2012 Closing: Apr 30, 2018 FINANCING ($ MILLION): Financier Financing Disbursed Undisbursed IDA Credit 302 122.38 153.57 GoB 115 Total Cost 417 *$ millions; as of June 30, 2016; revised amount after partial cancellation BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Despite a wide road network and large investments in it, rural roads in Bangladesh need regular repair and rehabilitation. The quality, construction, and carrying capacity of parts of the secondary and tertiary road network are poor. This has road safety implications for the rural residents, many of whom live on the margin. In terms of opportunity though, these road networks are means to education, health and livelihood for about 66% of population, who live in rural Bangladesh. Despite this suboptimal state juxtaposed against the opportunity, large portion of the secondary and tertiary road networks remain impassable during the rainy season, more so given the deltaic nature of the country and more frequent extreme weather events. Project Objective and Components: The objective of the project is to improve rural accessibility (connectivity) in project areas (covering 26 districts) and strengthening institutional capacity for sustainable rural road maintenance. KEY ACHIEVEMENTS AND EXPECTED RESULTS: ■■ The project has over 600 civil works contracts, 99% to be e-procured; ■■ 3,060km out of 5,248 km of Upazila and Union roads has been completed to facilitate rural connectivity through improvement (new roads) and rehabilitation works; ■■ 450km of performance-based maintenance contract roads have been awarded which will be maintained for next five years; ■■ Pilot work of one inland waterway and 8 Growth Centre Markets have been completed; ■■ “Rural Road Safety Manual” has been developed under this project; ■■ Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) has signed most of the consultancy contracts under the institutional strengthening and capacity building and governance component of the project. Implementation of those contracts is either ongoing or completed. KEY PARTNERS: Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) 42 BANGLADESH: SIDDHIRGANJ POWER PROJECT KEY DATA: Parent Project Approved: Oct 30, 2008 Effective: Mar 31, 2009 Additional Financing Approved: November 13, 2015 Effective: June 15, 2016 Closing: June 30, 2018 FINANCING ($ MILLION): Financier Financing Disbursed Undisbursed IDA Credit 504.00 61.3% 38.6% GoB 148.5 Total Cost 652.50 BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Electricity demand in Bangladesh has increased at an average rate of 10 percent per annum in recent years, with peak demand reaching about 9,500 megawatts (MW). Yet per capita generation remains among the lowest in the world (300 kilowatt hours), and present generation capacity at around 8,500 MW falls far short of peak demand. Although the supply situation has improved recently, availability and reliability of supply are the key issues. Load shedding and outages occur in irrigation/ summer season that affect households, commercial enterprises, and industries. The sector is financially weak, access to capital is severely constrained and prices do not cover costs, necessitating large government subsidies to keep the key institutions operational. Increasing shortages of natural gas, the primary fuel for power generation, have added to the sector’s challenges. The Siddhirganj Power Project aims to increase electricity supply to the Bangladesh power-grid network by constructing a 335 MW combined cycle power plant, (CCPP) as well as an 11-kilometer 230-kilovolt power evacuation system, and a 60 km 30-inch gas transmission pipeline. The combined cycle design of the power plant is a comparatively cleaner technology with lower heat emissions and higher thermal efficiency. KEY ACHIEVEMENTS AND EXPECTED RESULTS: ■■ By November, 2016 mple cycle power plant is expected to add 217 MW to the national grid. ■■ The steam cycle of the power plant is scheduled to complete in August, 2017 when it will add total 335 MW capacity to the grid. ■■ Construction of the power evacuation system is complete, and it is transferring 235 MW of electricity from the other power plants of Siddhirganj to the greater Dhaka area. ■■ The gas line is almost complete and has improved the gas supply situation in the Siddhirganj region. IMPLEMENTING AGENCIES: Electricity Generation Company of Bangladesh, Gas Transmission Company Ltd., and Power Grid Company of Bangladesh. KEY PARTNERS: Not applicable Bangladesh Country Snapshot 43 BANGLADESH: SKILLS AND TRAINING ENHANCEMENT PROJECT KEY DATA: Approved: June 10, 2010 Effective: Aug 22, 2010 Closing: June 30, 2016 PDO and IP ratings: S,S FINANCING ($ MILLION): Financier Financing Disbursed Undisbursed IDA Credit 79 99.7% 0.3% IDA AF 100.0 19.0% 81.0% GoB 29.8 Total cost 217.8 54.0% 46.0& TF 15.0 88.0% 12.0% BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The Bangladesh economy has been registering steady economic growth of around 6 percent over the past decade. As local and global economic shifts continue toward industry and services, demand for skilled manpower is expected to rise at home and abroad. Bangladesh is a labor-surplus country, so the government is increasingly focusing on workforce development through technical and vocational education training (TVET). This is a timely response as the country prepares to accommodate and capitalize on the ongoing demographic dividend. However, poor training quality, low employability, and inadequate wages plague the TVET sector, requiring interventions. The project aims to strengthen selected public and private training institutions to improve training quality and employability of trainees, including those from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds. It is designed to address the key issues concerning TVET in a number of ways: ■■ Ensuring that the programs offered are relevant to labor market needs by incorporating views from industries and civil society. ■■ Helping to ensure teacher-trainer vacancies open for six months or more are filled. ■■ Breaking new ground, supporting both public and private institutions to create a level playing field. ■■ Providing various incentives to the institutions. Based on performance indicators, training institutions grant of up to $1 million for implementing their institu- tional development plans;. Institutions providing short courses receive $275 per student, of which $75 is stipend to the student. A 20 percent per student amount performance grant is offered to the institute for each trainee who is employed within six months of completing training. ■■ Providing stipends to students from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds. Those receiving a stipend must maintain 75 percent annual attendance and 45 percent pass marks in the annual examinations. ■■ Strengthening polytechnic teaching and management through specialized training programs for polytechnic teachers and managers in collaboration with Sin- gapore. ■■ Supporting sustainable implementation capacities and governance at all levels of skills development system; ■■ Facilitating changed mind sets among the institutions, who now initiate and lead innovations, and among students and communities towards increasing the value of technical education in society and ■■ Increasing harmony among formerly-fragmented skills development stakeholders and forging global partnerships. ACHIEVEMENTS AND EXPECTED RESULTS: ■■ 144,615 diploma students from 100 polytechnic institutions (50 of which are public) received stipends. Female beneficiary share increased from 10% to 26% from adopting universal female stipend instead of poverty targeting one. ■■ 73,753 trainees have received short-course training, of whom, 27% are women. ■■ 173 full-time contractual teachers deployed in 50 public polytechnics, filling up 95% of vacant teaching posts, and around 1,200 polytechnic teachers trained. ■■ 140 managers and 120 polytechnic teachers trained in Singapore. ■■ Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) has been operationalized, and around 9,000 individuals have been assessed through RPL. KEY PARTNERS: Directorate of Technical Education, Bangladesh Technical Education Board, Bangladesh Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training; Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Canada 44 BANGLADESH: STRENGTHENING REGIONAL COOPERATION FOR WILDLIFE PROTECTION IN ASIA KEY DATA: Approval: Apr 7, 2011 Effective: Jun 29, 2011 Closing: Dec 31, 2016 FINANCING ($ MILLION): Financier Financing Disbursed Undisbursed IDA Credit 36 78.82% 21.18% GoB 3 Total Cost 39 BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Illegal trade in wildlife is largely controlled by criminal gangs that poach flagship species such as tigers and elephants in one country, stockpile them in another, and then trade them beyond the South Asia region. No single country can eliminate poaching or the illegal wildlife trade on its own. Since wild animals cannot be confined to national boundaries, a single country also cannot manage a contiguous cross-border wildlife habitat effectively. This makes the control of the illegal trade of wildlife and wildlife parts a challenging multi-country affair. The project aims to assist participating governments in building or enhancing shared capacity, institutions, knowledge and incentives to collaborate on tackling the illegal wildlife trade and other selected regional conservation threats to habitats in border areas. It has a two-pronged approach that calls for: (i) capacity building to address the illegal wildlife trade through regional cooperation; and (ii) habitat protection and management to generate regional conservation benefits and address the human-wildlife conflict. Components are: ■■ Building capacity to address the illegal trans-boundary wildlife trade by bringing about regional collaboration in combating wildlife crime through strengthened legislative and regulatory frameworks and well-equipped specialized agencies and systems, as well as relevant training and awareness programs for staff responsible for enforcement of wildlife laws and regulations. Bangladesh and Nepal are participating in the first phase (with the Nepal project amounting to $3 million) and Bhutan joined in the second phase. ■■ Promoting wildlife conservation in Asia through establishing a virtual regional center of excellence; improving existing park infrastructure; conducting species monitoring and recovery programs; preparing and implementing endangered species recovery plans; protecting inviolate areas for species conservation; implementing real-time field-based monitoring systems; developing landscape scale imaging platforms; strengthening enforcement of laws and regulations; and carrying out innovative research projects in wildlife conservation. KEY ACHIEVEMENTS: ■■ Drafted 21 rules for operationalization of Wildlife Act 2012 and gazetted two Vulture Safe Zones in Bangladesh. ■■ Established Wildlife Crime Control Unit (WCCU) at the Forest Department Head Quarter and Divisional Offices for combating illegal wildlife trafficking and other wildlife related crimes. ■■ Established Wildlife Center for undertaking research, training, and outreach for wildlife conservation. ■■ Established inter-agency coordination among WCCU, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Border Guard, Coast Guard, Customs, Police, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in com- bating wildlife and forest crime ■■ Completed the first census of Bengal Tigers in the Sundarbans using camera trapping method. ■■ Piloted SMART paroling in the Sundarbans to protect the remaining 106 tiger population in the Sundarbans. ■■ Identified elephant routes and corridors in the border areas to reduce human-elephant conflict. ■■ Commenced implementation of 37 sub-projects aiming to improve the management of protected areas, conservation of flagship species and reduce human-wildlife conflict. ■■ Completed Wildlife Master Plan, 5 Protected Area Management Plans and 3 Eco-Tourism Management Plans. ■■ Organized two regional thematic meetings on “Institutional arrangements for wildlife crime control” and “Human- wildlife conflict management” in 2015. ■■ Completed training, certificate and diploma courses on combating wildlife crime and wildlife management. IMPLEMENTING AGENCY: Bangladesh Forest Department Bangladesh Country Snapshot 45 BANGLADESH: THIRD PRIMARY EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM KEY DATA: Approved: July 31, 2011 Effective: Dec 7, 2011 Closing: Dec 31, 2017 FINANCING ($ MILLION): Financier Financing Disbursed Undisbursed Original IDA Credit 700 45% 55% Original Total cost 8,140 Additional Financing 970 0% 88% Revised Total Cost 9,810 BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Bangladesh had made remarkable progress in primary education in the last decade. The net enrollment rate (NER) reached around 98 percent while the gross enrollment rate (GER) reached above 108 percent in 2014, and gender parity was achieved. The completion rate was 79 percent in 2014 and the survival rate to Grade 5 is 81 percent. Despite the impressive progress, transition rate to secondary level remain a concern. Poverty along with educational background of the family, remoteness of the society, and distance from the school, were the main reasons for dropping out. The quality of education remained a bigger concern; many schools were overcrowded, while teacher qualifications and motivation remained low and exams mostly tested memory recall and rote learning. The Third Primary Education Development Program (PEDP3) aims at increased participation and reduced social disparities in primary education, increased completion of primary education, improved quality of the learning environment, systematic assessment of student learning, and improved effectiveness of resource utilization at the primary education sector. The program has introduced a comprehensive set of reforms to upgrade the quality of learning for all children at the primary and preprimary level, strengthened capacity to provide high-quality data and utilization of information for effective results monitoring, brought disadvantaged children into pre-primary and primary education, and developed mechanisms for the public and private sectors to work more closely together in education service delivery. The program builds on the experience and successes of previous programs but stands out from them because its financing is linked to specific results being achieved on the ground. Funds are disbursed when disbursement-linked indicators (DLIs) covering nine areas are met. The DLIs for quality enhancement cover: (i) development of an 18-month diploma program and teacher training; (ii) the development and incremental introduction of competency-based examinations; (iii) merit-based teacher and head teacher recruitment; and (iv) timely distribution of textbooks (within a month of the start of the academic calendar), including an updated curriculum. The DLIs supporting reduction in disparities include: (i) the widespread introduction of pre-primary education, especially in disadvantaged areas; and (ii) needs-based infrastructure development to reduce overcrowding in schools and improve the quality of the facilities as well as school-level planning. Two other DLIs are set for enhanced sector financing and effective program monitoring and reporting. The World Bank is also the supervising entity for a Global Partnership for Education grant of $100 million for PEDP3. KEY ACHIEVEMENTS AND EXPECTED RESULTS: ■■ Achievement of 39 out of the 44 year 0 to year 4 DLI targets. ■■ Completion of three rounds of the National Student Assessments (Grades 3 and 5) in 2011, 2013, 2015. ■■ Teacher recruitment and deployment completed according to merit-based recruitment procedures. ■■ Introduction of competency based questions in the Primary Education Completion Exams (PECE) ■■ International standard diploma in education piloted and expanded nationwide (accredited by the University of Dhaka). ■■ Receipt of textbooks within the first month of the academic year by over 90 percent of primary schools. ■■ Cconstruction of classrooms and wash block facilities with priority to remote and underprivileged areas. ■■ Use of electronic government procurement for construction works by procuring entities. ■■ Launch of an on-line data collection and management system to conduct the Annual Primary School Census. ■■ Use of existing country system for fiduciary arrangements to the extent possible. IMPLEMENTING AGENCY: Directorate of Primary Education, Ministry of Primary and Mass Education. KEY PARTNERS: Asian Development Bank, UK’s Department of International Development, European Union, Department of Foreign Affairs Trade and Development Canada, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australia, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, Japanese International Cooperation Agency and UNICEF 46 BANGLADESH: GHORASHAL UNIT 4 REPOWERING PROJECT KEY DATA: Approved: December 21, 2015 Effective: May 15, 2016 Closing: March 31, 2022 FINANCING ($ MILLION): Financier Financing Disbursed Undisbursed IDA Credit 217 0% 100% GoB 46 83% 17% Total cost 263 BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Although Bangladesh is rich in natural gas reserves, current gas production is below demand due to a low level of exploration work and inadequate gas transmission systems. Availability of gas through further gas exploration works will likely to take longer time. About one third of the available generation capacity in Bangladesh is based on gas-based steam cycle technology, operating at very low efficiency. In line with the apparent shortages in natural gas production, the government has prioritized to improve the efficiency of the existing gas based power plants. This project is a step forward in that direction. The project objective is to increase generation capacity and efficiency of the targeted power plant. The key activity of the Project is to convert Unit 4, one of the four 210 MW gas-fired steam units at Ghorashal Power Station (GPS), into a combined cycle unit for an upgraded total capacity of 409 MW. The steam unit is currently generating 170MW and the overall efficiency of the unit is around 31%. The Project would increase the overall efficiency of the unit to 54% and the generation output will also be more than doubled with only 18% increase in gas requirement. Fuel consumption (per GWh) would be reduced by 44%, which would also lead to lower greenhouse gas emissions. The Technical Assistance (TA) component would finance an Owner’s Engineer for the Project and also focus on capacity building and institutional support to the power plant as well as Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB). KEY ACHIEVEMENTS AND EXPECTED RESULTS: ■■ 210 MW gas-fired steam units converted into a 409 MW combined cycle unit ■■ Overall efficiency increased to 54% from the current efficiency level of 30% ■■ 303 PJ fuel savings in Projected lifetime ■■ 311,936 tCO2e reduction in GHG emissions over the project life IMPLEMENTING AGENCY: Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) KEY PARTNERS: Not applicable Bangladesh Country Snapshot 47 BANGLADESH: FINANCIAL SECTOR SUPPORT PROJECT KEY DATA: Approved: June 5, 2015 Effective: September 20, 2015 Closing: September 30, 2020 FINANCING: Financier Financing Disbursed Undisbursed IDA Credit 300 32.63 264.05 GoB 50 17% Total cost 350 *US$ millions; as of August 30, 2016 BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Bangladesh has made significant gains in economic growth, development and poverty reduction over the past 20 years. Building a strong financial sector that can cater to the needs of the growing economy is one of the essential ingredients in meeting Bangladesh’s long-term development goal as well as supporting short- to medium- term growth. Bangladesh needs to develop a financial sector that is stable, inclusive, and capable of providing efficient financial intermediation to the productive sectors of the economy, facilitating capital accumulation and investment to generate faster growth. In addition, given the importance of the manufacturing sector and of the export sector, it is particularly important to cater to the evolving financing needs of these sectors through increased financial intermediation. The project development objective is to improve financial market infrastructure, the regulatory and oversight capacity of Bangladesh Bank, and the access to long-term financing for private firms in Bangladesh. This will be accomplished through components aimed at strengthening financial market infrastructure; improving regulatory, supervisory, and sector developmental capacity of BB; and building the market for and scaling up long-term finance especially to exporters and manufacturing firms to spur competitiveness, investment, and growth. ACHIEVEMENTS AND EXPECTED RESULTS: ■■ Shift of government payments to electronic means; ■■ High-level of operational reliability as measured by compliance with international principles ■■ Certification of Bangladesh Bank (BB) against quality standards ISO270001 and Control Objectives for Information and Related Technology (COBIT). ■■ Number of Basel Core Principles on which BB is judged as compliant and largely compliant; and ■■ Outstanding long term foreign exchange loans of partner financial institutions (PFIs). IMPLEMENTING AGENCY: Bangladesh Bank (BB), the Central Bank of the country. KEY PARTNERS: Financial Institutions. 48 BANGLADESH: MODERNIZATION OF STATE-OWNED FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS PROJECT KEY DATA: Approved: June 30, 2016 Effective: n/a Closing: December 31, 2021 FINANCING ($ MILLION): Financier Financing Disbursed Undisbursed IDA Credit 150 n/a n/a GoB 50 n/a n/a Dev Partners 200 millions; as of June 30, 2016; revised amount after partial cancellation BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: A number of SOBs in Bangladesh are significant financial institutions because of their size, outreach, developmental impact, and interconnectedness. Performance of the SOBs as a group is significant for financial stability in Bangladesh; furthermore, their underperformance has a meaningful fiscal impact. These banks are systemically important not only with regard to assets but also due to their widespread retail presence, which is crucial for financial inclusion. Their overall operations need to be automated to enhance data integrity and security, internal efficiency, and competitiveness. Addressing deficiencies in owning, managing, and regulating the SOBs presents big opportunities. The explicit and implicit government support, trust toward them by the savers, and enhanced governance and performance would allow the SOBs to expand their long-term funding operations. The SOBs can be at the forefront of expanding financial inclusion in Bangladesh and are well placed to further pursue the unfinished agenda of inclusion. Stronger SOBs would reduce vulnerabilities in the financial system and open the market to more competition, benefiting financial sector consumers and the broader economy. The project will support Bangladesh’s efforts to develop the financial sector and enhance its stability. By modernizing the state-owned banks (SOBs), the Government of Bangladesh (GOB) aims to achieve: (a) a more stable financial system; (b) better access to finance in the society; (c) improved governance of the SOBs; and (d) lower fiscal outlays to recapitalize them. The project will address the identified weaknesses of the SOBs in the areas of risk management, internal control, financial reporting, and resource management (including planning for staff training). It will also lead to improved bank data quality, developing better financial reporting and enhancing internal resource management and control. More specifically, the SOBs are expected to enhance their institutional capacity to better monitor and manage various risks in their daily operations and capture all the economic activities relating to their operations and provide timely financial information to meet the needs of stakeholders both inside and outside the SOBs. ■■ Achievements and Expected Results:n/a (the project has not yet been made effective) IMPLEMENTING AGENCY: Banking and Financial Institutions Division (BFID), Ministry of Finance KEY PARTNERS: Not applicable Bangladesh Country Snapshot 49 BANGLADESH: URBAN RESILIENCE PROJECT KEY DATA: Approved: March 24, 2015 Effective: Aug 3, 2015 Closing: June 30, 2020 FINANCING: Financier Financing Disbursed Undisbursed IDA Credit 173.00 2.93% 97.07% GoB 6.5 Total Cost 179.5 2.93% 97.07% BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Bangladesh is one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries. It is highly exposed to a variety of hazards, such as floods, cyclones, tidal surges, and earthquakes. The GoB has shown that proactively investing in Disaster Risk Management saves lives, reduces economic losses, and protects development gains. The GoB has successfully instituted disaster risk reduction policies and invested in infrastructure along coastal areas to mitigate the risk from floods and cyclones. Despite these gains, the vulnerability of Bangladesh’s urban areas is not as well understood, or addressed, in the country’s policy framework. With 7 million people living in Dhaka and 15 million living in the wider Metropolitan area, Dhaka is particularly at risk. Land use planning regulations, and public service delivery in the urban areas have failed to keep up with the pace of growth. The current regulatory environment is somewhat opaque and the enforcement mechanisms for urban development control do not address structural safety, creating an environment that lacks practical enforcement capability and accountability. In this context, physical and social vulnerabilities keep increasing and any hazards, such as floods, fires, building collapses, or earthquakes, present a formidable threat to life and prosperity. City-level actors are critical protagonists in the effort to develop resilient and livable cities in Bangladesh. The Bangladesh Urban Resilience Project seeks to create an enabling environment for coordinated, locally managed disaster risk management based on three core pillars of disaster resilience in an urban settings: i) effectively respond to urban disasters; ii) reinforce existing infrastructure; and iii) ensure resilient construction. The project has five components: ■■ To reinforce the emergency management response capacity. ■■ To develop the consensus-driven analytical foundation required for longer-term investments to reduce risk in the built environment of Dhaka, Sylhet and other cities through the vulnerability assessment of critical and essential facilities. ■■ To put in place the institutional infrastructure and competency to reduce long-term disaster vulnerability in Dhaka, through improved construction, urban plan- ning and development. ■■ Project coordination, monitoring and evaluation. ■■ The Contingent Emergency Response Component, under which following an adverse natural or man-made event that causes a major disaster, the GoB may request the Bank to re-allocate project funds to this component to support response and reconstruction. KEY ACHIEVEMENTS AND EXPECTED RESULTS: ■■ 68 wards will be facilitated with decentralized emergency response services in Dhaka (DNCC/DSCC) ■■ 20 wards will be facilitated with decentralized emergency response services in Sylhet ■■ 12 multi-agency exercises and drills will be completed by final year of the project ■■ 12 emergency management warehouses equipped with specialized search and rescue equipment will be built for FSCD ■■ Two fixed control rooms, 12 emergency management warehouses and 17 auxiliary control rooms will be constructed and/or renovated for FSCD. ■■ 10 emergency management warehouses, two emergency operations centers, three disaster risk management offices, 10 zonal control rooms, one urban resil- ience unit will be constructed and/or renovated for DNCC/DSCC/SCC facilities. ■■ Satellite Control Room facilities equipped with 6 ECT suites and 51 flyaway communication kits will be available for DDM/DNCC/DSCC/SCC/FSCD. IMPLEMENTING AGENCY: Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) (for DNCC itself, Dhaka South City Corporation, Sylhet City Corporation, Fire Service and Civil Defense (FSCD)), Rajdhani Unnayan Katripakhha (RAJUK- Capital Development Authority), Department of Disaster Management (DDM) and Project Coordination and Monitoring Unit (PCMU). KEY PARTNERS: Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is financing Urban Building Safety Project (UBSP) which is being implemented in parallel to Urban Resilience Project (URP). 50 BANGLADESH: WEATHER AND CLIMATE SERVICES REGIONAL PROJECT KEY DATA: Approved: June 3, 2016 Effective: n/a Closing: June 30, 2020 FINANCING: Financier Financing Disbursed Undisbursed IDA Credit 113.00 0.0% 100.0% GoB 15.73 Dev Partners 128.73 0.0% 100.0% BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Bangladesh is one of the most disaster-prone and climate vulnerable countries in the world. It is regularly exposed to extreme weather events such as tropical cyclones associated with storm surges, floods, severe thunderstorms and drought. While Bangladesh has made impressive gains in a number of social indicators, these stand to be jeopardized unless substantial investments are made in strengthening disaster preparedness, early warning systems, and services based on weather, water and climate information. At present, the Bangladesh Meteorology Department (BMD) can issue only 24-hour general weather forecasts and does not have the required land, ocean or atmospheric observation network, hardware, software or human resource capacity for issuing accurate short term weather or longer range climate forecasts that can be used at the national level or regional levels. The hydrological network, managed by the Hydrology Division of the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB), remains primarily manual with manual data collection, transmission and storage with only limited real time hydrological and flood forecasting. Even though the weather and water dependent agriculture sector that contributes to almost 16 percent of the country’s GDP and provides employment to about 60 percent of the people, farmers in Bangladesh do not get any systematic agro-meteorological advisories or bulletins to be able to make appropriate decisions and adjust to weather variability at the farm level. Through investments in monitoring systems, forecasting and services, this project makes a critical contribution to strengthening disaster preparedness and climate resilience in Bangladesh and also contributes to development of weather based information services that are expected to support decision-making in key productive sectors in the country. The project development objective is to strengthen Government of Bangladesh’s capacity to deliver reliable weather, water and climate information services and improve access to such services by priority sectors and communities. The project comprises of four components: ■■ Strengthen meteorological information services, ■■ Strengthen hydrological information services and the early warning system ■■ Develop agrometeorological information systems ■■ The Contingent Emergency Response Component, which enables that following an adverse natural or man-made event that causes a major disaster, the GoB may request the Bank to re-allocate project funds to this component to support response and reconstruction. ACHIEVEMENTS AND EXPECTED RESULTS: ■■ Improved forecasting of weather patterns and extreme events ■■ Development and provision of agromet information services to farmer groups ■■ Enhanced access to early warnings for significant weather and water hazards by vulnerable communities IMPLEMENTING AGENCY: Bangladesh Meteorology Department (BMD), Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB), Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE). KEY PARTNERS: Not applicable Bangladesh Country Snapshot 51 BANGLADESH: LOW INCOME COMMUNITY HOUSING SUPPORT PROJECT KEY DATA: Approved: April 5, 2016 Effective: Yet to be declared effective Closing: December 31, 2021 FINANCING: Financier Financing Disbursed Undisbursed IDA Credit 50.0 0.0% 100.0% GoB 7.0 Total Cost 57.0 0.0% 100.0% BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: While Bangladesh has made significant strides over the past two decades in reducing poverty, around 21 percent of Bangladesh’s urban population continue to live below the poverty line. More than eight million Bangladeshis live on less than $2 per day and housing and sanitation remain a huge challenge for the poor living in cities. The Low Income Housing Support Project aims to engage government, local community and private sectors to provide affordable housing and sanitation facility for the poor. Poor urban households live in inadequate and insecure houses, often in unsanitary conditions and face difficulties in accessing employment, made worse by having little or no social protection. With one of the highest urbanization rates in Asia, the situation continues to worsen for an increasing number of urban poor. Promoting the inclusion of the urban poor into growing opportunities in cities can help to promote growth and shared prosperity. The Low Income Community Housing Support Project is a pilot program that builds on organized and networked communities supported by various urban poverty programs. It will bring together government systems, local communities and private lenders in a community-based and flexible approach to secure tenure, improve onsite infrastructure, and extend affordable housing loans leveraging community systems. The project is expected to cover three municipalities in its pilot phase, benefitting around 24,000 urban poor. The project will also advance the development of affordable housing microfinance products. KEY ACHIEVEMENTS AND EXPECTED RESULTS: ■■ The project will benefit around 120,000 beneficiaries with improved access to services ■■ The project will benefit around 40,000 beneficiaries with improved housing ■■ Affordable housing microfinance products provided to the beneficiaries ■■ The project was approved by the Government of Bangladesh on May 10, 2016 and signed on June 30, 2016. The Financing Agreement has been approved, and Subsidiary Agreements with both Implementing Agencies are expected to be signed by September 2016. IMPLEMENTING AGENCY: National Housing Authority, Palli Karma Sahayak Foundation. 52 BANGLADESH: COLLEGE EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT PROJECT KEY DATA: Approved: September18, 2007 Effective: November 26, 2007 Closing: June 30, 2016 FINANCING: Financier Financing Disbursed Undisbursed IDA Credit 100.0 0.0% 100.0% GoB 30 Total Cost 130 0.0% 100.0% BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES : Improving skills and productivity are crucial to Bangladesh’s quest to accelerate economic growth and become a middle-income country. However, the current skill levels of the labor force are unlikely to support future market demands. While there is an abundance of low-skilled workers, there is a strong demand for graduates with higher cognitive and non-cognitive skills and job-specific technical skills. This would require improving the quality and relevance of tertiary education so that education institutions are equipped to produce graduates with more market relevant skills. The National University (NU) college system accounts for about 1.6 million, i.e. nearly two-third of all tertiary students across 1,731 affiliated government and nongovernment colleges in Bangladesh. The NU’s large number of government and nongovernment colleges, enrollment, and extensive network make it critical for improving the education sector. The project’s objective is to strengthen the strategic planning and management capacity of the college education subsector and to improve the teaching and learning environment of participating colleges. As a first CEDP will focus on building up the National University college system’s capacity to plan, manage, implement, and monitor their institutional programs and strengthening the foundation for the next phase of development activities. The project supports the development of a Strategic Plan for the College Subsector, to provide directions and goals for the college education subsector and a consensus-based plan of action. Through the availability of competitive grants, CEDP promotes institution-led activities that focus on creating a quality teaching learning environment in government and non-government colleges. The Institutional Development Grants will focus on areas, such as: upgrading basic teaching-learning facilities and Internet connectivity; improving market relevance of college education through development of soft skills of students and linkages with the industry/employers, introducing quality assurance and strengthening management capacity and upgrade of the fiduciary system in the colleges. The IDG activities will help provide government and education practitioners insight on the planning, management, and implementation capacity of participating colleges, informing the strategic plan, policy, and operations of the subsector. CEDP promotes professional development of teachers through training offered through the establishment of a Training Consortium. The Training Consortium comprises of national training-offering agencies and the University of Nottingham as international partner to ensure global best practices in teacher training. Additionally, the project aims to fill teacher vacancies in government colleges and improve recruitment process of teachers for non-government colleges. KEY ACHIEVEMENTS AND EXPECTED RESULTS: ■■ The Project is expected to be effective and commence implementation by September 30, 2016. ■■ The first Strategic Plan for the College Subsector to be prepared is expected to guide the tertiary college subsector. ■■ More than 100 competitive institutional development grants to be awarded to government and non-government colleges for improving teaching learning environment. ■■ Around 8,000 teachers and managers to give professional development training to bring academic excellence. ■■ Around 2,700 vacant teacher posts to be filled in the government colleges. IMPLEMENTING AGENCY: National University and University Grants Commission, Ministry of Education. KEY PARTNERS: Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE), Bangladesh Open University (BOU), National Academy for Educational Management (NAEM), University of Nottingham (UoN). Bangladesh Country Snapshot 53 Bangladesh Country Snapshot 55