The results in context

In line with the Multi Annual Country Strategy (MACS) 2018-2022 for Bangladesh, the Netherlands is phasing out its development co-operation activities in the food and nutrition security (FNS) sector. Agriculture will be integrated into our water management programme.

With the economic transformation of Bangladesh, people’s food behaviour is changing. The country’s agriculture is gradually shifting from subsistence farming to commercial agriculture. The role of the private sector is becoming more prominent in agricultural production and value chain development. The ongoing FNS programme focuses on value chain development to increase the productivity and income of smallholder farmers, on mobilisation of more private sector participation and on improving the food system as a whole. In the context of climate change adaptation, agriculture will be addressed and integrated in our water management programme.

Bangladesh is facing multi-dimensional malnutrition challenges. In spite of remarkable progress in child and maternal nutritional status in the past decade, levels of stunting, wasting and being underweight remain high in children under five years of age. Micronutrient deficiencies are also prevalent, affecting not only children under five but also pregnant and lactating women. There is also a notable increase in people being overweight or obese. Projects/programmes funded by the Netherlands have significantly contributed to addressing malnutrition challenges in Bangladesh. However, the Netherlands-supported nutrition programme is being phasing out in the new MACS.

Major results:

An additional 2,520,983 people gained access to adequately fortified food

An additional 650,834 people with improved food intake

An additional 161,414 family farms with increased productivity and/or income

Among other factors, these results can be attributed to:

mainstreaming of the distribution of fortified rice through the GoB’s safety net programme

improved access to quality agricultural inputs and improved farm technology for smallholder farmers

improved access to markets and better prices

feminisation of agriculture

women’s empowerment, leading to diversification of food production and diets, as well as better sharing of available food in the family

ecological sustainability, improved water and polder management, and climate resilient agriculture/adaptation

more involvement of the private sector in developing value chains.

The results in context

The Netherlands has always pursued a progressive sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) agenda in Bangladesh and persistently advocates on sensitive issues, especially in the area of youth sexuality and rights. In line with the Multi Annual Country Strategy (MACS) 2018-2022 for Bangladesh, the Netherlands is phasing out its development co-operation activities in this area. Our policy agenda will continue to be pursued through advocacy.

Projects like Unite for Body Rights (UBR), Nirapod 2 and ADOHEARTS have created safe spaces for adolescents (aged 10-19 years) to address SRHR and HIV/AIDS issues. To ensure sustainability and wider impact, the focus is now on creating adolescent friendly health service (AFHS) corners in existing government health facilities.

Other projects are deeply involved in providing comprehensive sexuality education in various types of education institutes. Curricula like ‘Me and My World’ (MMW by UBR), Gender Equality Movement in Schools (GEMS by Generation Breakthrough), Know yourself (Nijeke Jano by Nirapod) and Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM by RITU) cover SRHR issues for adolescents and young people. These are implemented in more than 1,000 schools and madrashas in Bangladesh. The Ministry of Education (MoE) has decided to introduce the GEMS curriculum in all public education institutes. At the moment, the same curriculum is already being used by UNFPA and MoE with other funds in a further 250 schools and also in the Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar.

The Netherlands also continues to focus on issues like menstrual regulation, menstrual hygiene management, HIV/AIDS, youth empowerment with meaningful participation and leadership development, and RMG workers’ health and well-being through inclusive business models, etc. Since activities in this area are being phased out, increased emphasis is being placed on sustainability and the wider impact of interventions. Hence, projects are working more closely with relevant government departments and focusing on joint advocacy with other SRHR stakeholders.

Through its involvement in the national Health Population Nutrition Sector Programme , the Netherlands, along with like-minded donors and the UN, has succeeded in incorporating SRHR indicators in the relevant Operational Plans of the 4th sector wide-approach (SWAp). As a member of the donor consortium and with a relatively small contribution to the SWAp, the Netherlands has gained a position to pursue and realise its policy goals throughout the health sector.

The results in context

Thanks to sustained economic growth figures of 6-8% annually for the past decade, Bangladesh is set to graduate from Least Developed Country-status in 2024. This will provide new opportunities, but also new responsibilities. For instance, it is expected that more than 2 million youths will enter the job market annually in the decade 2020-30. The importance of skills and job creation among Bangladeshi youths can therefore not be overstated, but these challenges will increasingly have to be faced without donor support.

In addition to youth, skills and jobs, PSD activities in the reporting period focused on the readymade garments (RMG) sector. The RMG sector accounts for more than 80% of Bangladesh’s export revenue and is under heavy strain from regional competition. Due to its lucrative nature and the high degree of politico-economical interconnectedness, the sector is sensitive to political tensions, which hampered some of the results.

During the reporting period and within its programme activities, the Netherlands also focused on women’s empowerment as a cross-cutting theme. This meant

1. close co-operation with the work done under the gender theme, such as activities that include financial inclusion and/or female entrepreneurship components,

2. monitoring the gender components in the existing RMG portfolio and

3. exploring the potential to encourage female inclusion and entrepreneurship as keystones of overall private sector development.

Narrative on results achieved

During the reporting period, the Bangladesh Youth Leadership Center project successfully addressed skills and leadership development among Bangladeshi youths, creating awareness and increasing coherence among students from different education systems. At the same time, the project also links students to the job market through events and career programmes. During the coming period, there will be no adjustment to the planning of the project.

As for RMG, the Netherlands programmes focused on improving conditions throughout the value chain in the RMG industry in Bangladesh, through projects with the International Labour Organization (ILO), the German Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and International Finance Corporation (IFC). The Netherlands retains an influential position in the Bangladeshi RMG sector, partly due to its programme involvement. Since the RMG sector is such a dominant economic sector (in terms of its contribution to overall employment as well as export earnings), decision-making in the sector is highly intertwined with the political sphere. This has resulted in volatility in the relationships between the stakeholders during the reporting period, which had an effect on programme results: out of the cumulative target of 560 factories (by the end of 2021) implementing a plan for local prevention, mitigation and remediation of RBC risks, 170 were reached in the reporting period.

For the ILO project, fewer factories could be supported in finalising their remediation plans (167 out of 248 – although 248 was an end of year target and reporting took place in June 2018), although interestingly a substantial amount of factory workers were reported to have better working conditions. For the IFC Partnership for Cleaner Textile project (PaCT), the limited progress (three factories reached from the six-month target of five, [overall three-year target: 180]) reported has to do with the indicator chosen: Phase II of the programme had just started and it is expected that the number of factories will catch up as the programme progresses. For the GIZ project, there has been considerable difficulty in getting the GoB on board for a trial on Employment Injury Insurance, despite repeated political commitment in the past.

Considering the multi-year span of these three programmes, as well as being on track with other indicators not reported here, it is expected that the programmes will be able to catch up on these indicators, especially considering that the ILO has already revised its overall target for factories under the Better Work Bangladesh (BWB) programme in close consultation with donors. Therefore, no adjustment is required.

The results in context

Women’s rights and gender equality (WRGE) are high on the Netherlands policy agenda. Several SDGs touch upon the issues of gender equality and empowerment of women but, most importantly, SDG 5 focuses on issues concerning women and girls and is therefore fundamental. Bangladesh will soon graduate from the LDC category. With the associated change in its aid recipient status, the Netherlands’ engagement on gender in Bangladesh will gradually shift from a primary focus on SRHR-Gender programming to broader advocacy on gender equality and empowerment of women, and on mainstreaming gender in its priority sectors, i.e. water and agriculture, private sector development and RMG. Over the coming years, the Netherlands will pursue gender programming, gender advocacy and gender mainstreaming as a three-pronged approach to the implementation of its WRGE policy.

Current projects in the Gender (and SRHR) portfolio focus inclusively on gender based violence (GBV), child marriage, women’s economic empowerment and access to services and value chains. Bangladesh has seen an alarming rise in child rape, sexual assaults and incidents of violence against women (VAW). ASTHA aims to create a sustainable model of prevention of GBV by raising awareness in the community and supporting the victims by offering protection and legal, health and psychosocial (holistic) counselling. The IMAGE project raises awareness concerning the prevention of child marriage by showcasing the negative impact on early married girls (EMGs) in terms of health and social position. Hence, it links the EMGs to education and income generating activities (IGA)/entrepreneurship. Making Markets Work for Women (MMWW) empowers women to become entrepreneurs and compete in the agriculture value chain. Projects in water management and agriculture, RMG and PSD also contribute to the WRGE results by working inclusively to enhance the prospects of girls and women becoming productive members of the community.

Some results:

279 reported GBV cases (out of a total of 562) were resolved; of the rest, 21% received referral support, including legal, health and others.

1,255 women and girls accessed services from the project’s two Women Friendly Spaces (WFS) in the Rohingya refugee camps.

2,800 women entrepreneurs maintained their compliances and business plans, and confidently dealt with buyers for fair price.

621 EMGs received a range of IGA training (linked to GoB facilities) and 1,879 (23.5% of total EMGs) became involved in IGAs.