World Bank approves $600 million to improve livelihoods of vulnerable Bangladeshis

The World Bank has approved USD 600 million for two projects in Bangladesh to help over 1.75 million poor and vulnerable population against future shocks like the Covid-19 pandemic.

The two projects will work with the youth, women, disadvantaged groups, and returnee migrant workers in improving employability and livelihood opportunities, and build their resilience against future shocks, according to a release issued yesterday in this regard.

“In Bangladesh, the Covid-19 pandemic has affected the livelihoods of thousands of people, particularly, female workers, youth, and returnee migrant workers,” said Dandan Chen, Acting World Bank Country Director for Bangladesh and Bhutan.

“These two projects will help empower and mobilize rural poor people, prepare them for the future job market and support entrepreneurial opportunities, especially for women and disadvantaged groups,” the release quotes him as saying.

The 300 million US dollar Accelerating and Strengthening Skills for Economic Transformation (ASSET) Project will equip more than one million youth and workers with skills needed for future work.

This project will particularly support youth, women and disadvantaged groups, including people with disabilities to become skillful and to connect them to labor market. The project will also support industries to retrain their workers during and after the pandemic and thus accelerate recovery.

“Building on the success of earlier projects, ‘STEP’ and ‘NARI’,’ the project will help modernize and build resilience of the technical vocational education and training sector of Bangladesh. It will set up an international standard model polytechnic in the country,” said Md Mokhlesur Rahman, World Bank Team Leader for the project.

“Further, the project will benefit the informal sector workers through expanding the ‘Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)’ program,” he added.

The other 300 million US dollar will go to Resilience, Entrepreneurship and Livelihood Improvement (RELI) Project, which will help improve the livelihoods of about 750,000 poor and vulnerable rural people across 3,200 villages in 20 districts, the release states.

“The project will provide immediate and tailored livelihood support to rural poor people for responding to urgent needs such as the COVID 19 pandemic, improve their ability to cope with future shocks and help them come out of poverty through income-generating activities and skill development,” said Jean Saint-Geours, World Bank Team Leader for this project.

Both the projects have a maturity of 30 years including a grace period of five years.