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ActionAid to be expanded in Bangladesh

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January 27, 2001 

Dhaka, Jan 25 (UNB) – The UK-based NGO ActionAid will expand its programme in Bangladesh and other South Asian countries gearing up their fight against poverty that remains the principal foe of millions here and in the region.

This was agreed upon at ActionAid’s Asia regional conference January 22-24 in Dhaka, chief executive of ActionAid UK Salil Shetty told a press conference at their Dhaka office here today (Thursday).

Director for Asian region Ramesh Singh, director general of ActionAid Spain Rafael Beneyto, chief executive of ActionAid Ireland and ActionAid Bangladesh country director Feisal Hussain also addressed the press.

Salil said the focus of ActionAid programmes was more on meeting the day-to-day needs of the poor and marginalised people. “Poverty level was not going down in Bangladesh despite being the largest recipient of aid.”

He said decades of aid-funded projects had yielded limited results because poor people have had little say in their design and implementation.

Now, he said, ActionAid runs three major international campaigns on education, agriculture and trade and AIDS.

The strategy is to empower poor and marginalised people at the grassroots level to claim their rights, strengthen local institutions and influence policies that affect poverty at national and international levels, the NGO boss explained.

“For Bangladesh, we are particularly concerned with market access to both developed and developing countries,” he said, adding that macroeconomic conditions for sustained poverty reduction relies on equitable access to markets for Bangladeshi goods and services.

“These are currently blocked by unfair and unjust practices of nations that are more powerful and skilled at manipulating international trade rules,” he said.

Ramesh said ActionAid Bangladesh is working here with 67 small partner organisations and channeled a fund of US$3 million last year in fighting against poverty.

“The funds would be doubled in next 3-4 years,” he told the newsmen.

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