BSS, Dhaka :
Economic Empowerment of the Poorest (EEP), a project run under the Rural Development Cooperatives Department (RDCD), Wednesday unveiled a ‘MANIFESTO’ explaining how to lift the country’s 25 million extreme poor out of poverty by 2022.
At an inter-ministerial workshop with high officials of the concerned ministries present on the occasion at the CIRDAP auditorium here, the participants said the MANIFESTO with a three-pronged approach is good enough for permanent eradication of extreme poverty, as it has become the number one enemy of the country’s economy.
The action plans of the MANIFESTO include formulation of a national programme focusing on livelihood transformative initiatives, ensuring public services for extreme poor and bringing change in polities and relevant institutions for poverty alleviation.
“If the MANIFESTO recommendations are implemented, and if the robust economic growth continues, it should be possible to eradicate extreme poverty from Bangladesh by 2022,” Shazia Omar, Head of Advocacy of the EEP, said while highlighting the salient features of the MANIFESTO at the workshop.
RDCD Secretary MA Quader Sarkar, Additional Secretary of the department AHM Abdullah, Professor (Emeritus) of Bath University of London Geof Wood and project director of EEP Asadul Islam addressed the function as designated discussants.
Speaking on the occasion, Quader Sarkar dubbed the MANIFESTO as a positive step towards involving the people in the process of poverty eradication. “We fought for freedom and we must now fight for equity.we support this cause and will do everything in our power to ensure that extreme poor have a fair chance at a free and dignified life,” he said.
EEP project director Asadul Islam said that their initiatives have already got endorsement of different sectors of the society, policy makers, government officials and civil society organizations. From this workshop, he said, we should like to extend support to the extreme poor people to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.
Shazia Omar said Bangladesh has made great strides in bringing down maternal and child mortality rates through the improved family planning programmes. “Let’s do something extraordinary again. As a symbol of 50th anniversary gift to our nation, let us eradicate extreme poverty from Bangladesh by 2021,” she said.
The main objective of the workshop was to inform how the government agencies can carry forward the MANIFESTO for the sake of eradicating extreme poverty from Bangladesh.
