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Dev Partners

CPD to host trade dialogue on sidelines of Bali confce

Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), a civil society think tank of Bangladesh, will organise a dialogue on ‘Integrating Trade Issues in Post-2015 International Development Framework: Ongoing Debates and Potential Opportunities’ on Thursday (Dec 5) in Bali, Indonesia. The CPD, as part of the Bali Trade and Development Symposium (TDS), will host the event on the sidelines of the ninth WTO Ministerial Conference to be held on December 3-6. The theme of the event is ‘International Trade Governance and Sustainable Development’. 9th WTO OMC

IMF approves $ 140.4m payout under ECF arrangement

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) completed the third review of Bangladesh’s economic program under a three-year arrangement supported by the Extended Credit Facility (ECF). The Board’s decision enables the immediate disbursement of an amount equivalent to SDR 91.423 million (about $140.4 million) to Bangladesh. This would bring total disbursements under the arrangement to SDR 365.692 million (about $561.4 million), says an IMF press release. The three-year ECF arrangement for Bangladesh was approved by the Executive Board on April 11, 2012 (see Press Release No. 12/129) for a total amount equivalent to SDR 639.96 million (about US$982.5 million), or 120 percent of quota.

Current levels of violence deeply shocking: UN rights chief

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay urged the Bangladesh political leaders on both sides to stop political violence and their ‘destructive brinkmanship’. “Whatever their differences, political leaders on both sides must halt their destructive brinkmanship, which is pushing Bangladesh dangerously close to a major crisis,” Pillay said in a statement issued from Geneva on Sunday. Instead, she said, they (political leaders) must fulfill their responsibility and use their influence to bring this violence to an immediate halt and seek a solution to this crisis through dialogue. The statement came at a time when the...

GO-NGO partnership in Bangladesh a good example in combating graft

Building a sound government-NGO partnership in combating graft is a good practice  in Bangladesh that can be replicated in many other countries, speakers observed at a function in Panama City. The special event on Bangladesh organised on the sidelines of the 5th Conference of State Parties (COSP-5) of the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) being held this week, according to a Foreign Ministry release issued on Friday. stop corruptionThe event titled ‘Opportunities and Challenges in Government-Civil Society Eng...

ADB, partners aim to protect Bangladesh urban poor from climate extremes

The Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Government of the United Kingdom (UK), and the Rockefeller Foundation are teaming up to help the urban poor of  fast growing secondary cities of Asia including Bangladesh. The three partners intended to protect the urban poor from the ravages of climate change. adb1The partners have agreed to roll out an innovative program namely ‘Managing Climate Risks for the Urban Poor’, to help 25 secondary cities in the region counter the impacts of climate change, with ...

Ticfa opens door to address labour, safety issue

US Trade Representative Michael Froman said a new agreement with Bangladesh will give the two countries a formal mechanism to address the serious labour, safety and worker rights issues that led to the Southeast Asian nation’s loss of US trade preferences earlier this year. The countries signed the Trade and Investment Cooperation Forum Agreement (Ticfa) at a ceremony in Washington Monday. In June, the US said it was suspending Bangladesh’s trade benefits under the Generalized System of Preferences as of September. The US cited pervasive garment factory safety problems, including two tragedies that claimed the lives of more than 1,230 workers, in addition to the failure of industry and government to allow Bangladeshi workers...