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Dhaka, 7th
June, 2007:
The health and well
being of mothers and
newborns has
received a
significant boost
with the Government
of Bangladesh taking
the lead UN joint
initiative has been
developed through
the collaborative
efforts of three
agencies, United
Nations Population
Fund (UNFPA), the
United Nations
Children's Fund
(UNICEF) and the
World Health
Organization (WHO)
with financial
supports from the
Department for
International
Development (DFID),
UK and the European
Commission(EC)
worth $31.2 million.
The funding will
support Bangladesh
Government’s
“Accelerating
Progress towards
Maternal and
Neonatal Mortality
and Morbidity
Reduction”
project, which will
be jointly
implemented by the
Government, UNFPA,
UNICEF and WHO.
 The
Memorandum of
Understanding was
signed today among
the three
participating UN
agencies (UNFPA,
UNICEF and WHO). Mr.
Pornchai Suchitta,
UNFPA Representative
a.i,
Mr. Louis-Georges
Arsenault, UNICEF
Representative,
and Dr. Khaled
Hassan, Acting WHO
Representative
signed on behalf of
their agencies.
The signing took
place in the
Sheraton Ballroom.
The Honorable
Adviser, Major
General (Dr.) A.S.M.
Matiur Rahman (Retd),
Ministry of Health &
Family Welfare,
Water Resources and
Religious Affairs
witnessed the
signing ceremony as
Chief Guest. Mr.
Ehsan Ul Fattah,
Secretary, Ministry
of Health and Family
Welfare, was also
present at the
ceremony. The
representatives of
DFID, the EC, UNFPA,
UNICEF and WHO,
senior GOB officials
and donor consortium
members were also
present.
The project begins
in July 2007 and
will run for five
years. Initially
DFID and the EC will
provide $8.3 million
to implement the
project in 4
districts and
eventually it will
be implemented in 20
districts.
Though Bangladesh
has made significant
progress towards the
improvement of both
child and maternal
survival, formidable
challenges still
remain, particularly
in implementing
effective and
efficacious
interventions at a
national level.
Maternal mortality
and neonatal
mortality, estimated
to be 320 per
100,000 and 41 per
1000 live births,
respectively, are
still unacceptably
high. With the
progress that the
country has made in
reducing mortality
and morbidity from
infectious causes,
neonatal mortality
now accounts for
over 66% of overall
infant deaths.
The goal of this
project is to reduce
maternal and
neonatal mortality
and morbidity in
Bangladesh with an
emphasis on
addressing the
equity issues to
achieve MDGs 4 and
5. The purpose of
the project is to improve
community Maternal
and Neo-natal Health
(MNH) practices and
the utilization of
quality MNH
services,
particularly among
the poor and the
vulnerable. |