Content

Bangladesh

Content

Democracy
Environment
Potential
Priority areas of German development cooperation
Reform of the health system, family planning and HIV/AIDS
Energy efficiency and renewable energies
Good governance and municipal development

Situation and cooperation

Crowds in Sagordighi. Copyright: phalanxThe estimated population of more than 160 million people in Ban­gla­desh live on only 144,000 square ki­lo­me­tres of land (around 40 per cent of the total sur­face area of Ger­many). With more than 1,100 people for every square ki­lo­metre of land, Ban­gla­desh is the most densely pop­u­la­ted country in the world. The country's pop­u­la­tion is cur­rent­ly growing at a rate of just over one per cent per year, which is still too high for the country's limited natural re­sources. Over­pop­u­la­tion means that many people are forced to live in areas which are unsafe when flooding occurs, such as the river islands that are affected severe­ly by erosion.

Poverty remains widespread in Bangladesh, despite an impressive rate of economic growth. Women and children in particular suffer from – pre­dominant­ly seasonal – under­nourish­ment and mal­nu­tri­tion. The reasons for the poor food supply situation include a lack of arable land and high levels of un­employ­ment. According to World Bank figures, more than two million jobs would have to be created every year to offer productive em­ploy­ment for the steadily growing pop­u­la­tion. The country is currently a long way from achieving this goal.

A rice farmer in Bangladesh planting seedlings. Copyright:: Manoocher Deghati/IRINA very large proportion of the work­force is employed in the agri­cul­tur­al sector, but it is impossible to create sufficient new jobs in the sector. The country's biggest industrial sector is the textile industry. More than two million people are employed in this sector, while roughly 15 million more jobs depend directly or indirectly on the textile industry. The steady growth of this industrial sector has been based over the last few years on low pro­duc­tion costs and low wage costs. Now, however, there is demand for higher pro­duc­tiv­i­ty and better product quality. Previously, only a small pro­por­tion of the 5,000-plus textile companies were in a position to meet the new requirements. However, they are now rising steadily in number, and as a result international manufacturers are increasingly shifting production from other Asian countries to Bangladesh. Investors, including those from abroad, regard the burgeoning shipbuilding industry in the southern part of the country as a sector with great potential for growth.

Next to export revenues, transfers from Bangladeshi workers living abroad – especially in the Gulf states – are the country's most important source of foreign currency. Remittances make up around 11 per cent of gross national product (GDP), one of the highest rates in the world.

Bangladesh faces serious problems, including the country's poorly developed infrastructure, bottlenecks in energy supplies and a low level of training. UNESCO estimates that 45 per cent of the pop­u­la­tion over the age of 15 is illiterate; the figure for women is slightly higher (at 50 per cent). The state has yet not been able to provide sufficient schools. The numerous private schools and those run by non-governmental organisations are an attempt to compensate for this lack.

Democracy

The economic and social development of Bangladesh is hampered by significant short­comings in the area of good go­ver­nance and demo­cracy. Distur­bances and violent clashes occurred in the run-up to the parliamentary elections held in January 2007. The President of Bangladesh thereupon declared a state of emergency and installed a politically neutral caretaker government.

The elections held at the end of 2008 went off peacefully and brought Sheikh Hasina from the Awami League to power. Hopes for greater democracy and a continuation of the progress achieved under the caretaker government in terms of democratic reforms, human rights protection, combating corruption (the country ranks 134th out of 178 states included in Transparency International's 2010 Corruption Index) and improving public financial administration have, however, not yet been fulfilled to the desired degree. Nevertheless, the government has in principle recognised these shortcomings.

Environment

A woman in Bangladesh washing cloathes in a river. Copyright: Manoocher Deghati/IRINBangladesh has to face not only po­lit­i­cal conflict but also ever greater en­vi­ron­ment­al de­gra­da­tion as a result of natural di­sas­ters, over-pop­u­la­tion and poverty. Soil erosion and de­for­es­ta­tion are destroying forests, wetlands and farmland. In addition, a pro­por­tion of the country's drink­ing water is polluted by natural deposits of arsenic. Long-term consumption of the contaminated water causes skin diseases, harms the internal organs and can lead to cancer.

Bangladesh is particularly severely affected by the impacts of climate change. The high number and sheer intensity of natural disasters combined with the country's population density mean that the numbers of so-called environmental refugees are likely to increase. This in turn increases the potential for conflict in the cities of Dhaka and Chittagong and in the region as a whole. A national strategy for dealing with climate change (Bangladesh Strategy and Action Plan for Management of Climate Change) was formulated for the first time in August 2008 under the caretaker government.

Increasing migration to the country's urban areas is leading to housing shortages, urban poverty and poor hygiene. The unchecked increase in traffic and industrial production is placing additional pressures on the environment. River water is contaminated mainly by industrial and domestic effluents. Implementation of existing laws to protect natural resources is essentially failing on account of inefficient administration and corruption.

Potential

In spite of its many different problems, Bangladesh has great potential for economic development, especially in the industrial sector: The new government also recognises the importance of rural development and is attempting to achieve a consistent increase in productivity through far-reaching support measures. Improved municipal governance, optimised production methods, the provision of loans and the upgrading of infrastructure can also help to further modernise the rural economy.

Street scene in Dhaka: People, rikshas and cars. Copyright: phalanxThe expansion of the road network is par­tic­u­lar­ly im­por­tant for the more than 100 million people living in rural areas. Trans­port routes make the ex­change of goods and ser­vices possible, but they are often unusable due to flooding. Most farmers are therefore unable to get their products to market during the rainy season. The markets themselves are also subject to regular flooding, rendering them unusable and causing goods that are stored there to rot. German development cooperation is therefore involved in efforts to develop local roads and markets and provides advice to those who use and run them.

The industrial and services sectors also offer potential for de­vel­op­ment. Information technology, the processing of leather, jute fibre production, precision engineering, fisheries, and the chemicals and pharmaceutical industries are some of the main sectors with potential to stimulate economic growth.

Priority areas of German development cooperation

At the government negotiations in 2010, Germany pledged a total of 46.8 million euros to Bangladesh for 2010 and 2011. Cooperation between Bangladesh and Germany is currently focused on the following three priority areas:

  • The health system

  • Energy efficiency and renewable energies

  • Good governance and municipal development

The key strategies for cooperation in these three areas were devised in close consultation with the government and civil society. In addition to the priority areas mentioned above, as of the end of 2008 Germany has also been supporting a number of measures in the sphere of Technical Cooperation aimed at supporting Bangladesh in its efforts to adapt to the impacts of climate change. These include reforestation projects, projects for the conservation of biological diversity, and disaster prevention in coastal regions. In addition, the German government keeps ready emergency funds that can be made available to deal with the annual floods and the enormous damage caused by them.

The overarching goal of Germany's – and other international partners' – cooperation with Bangladesh is to combat poverty. Cooperation between the country's government and the international donor community is oriented towards the second national poverty reduction strategy paper (National Strategy for Accelerated Poverty Reduction II, 2009-2011, NSAPR II). In order to guarantee the efficient and coordinated division of labour, the government of Bangladesh and 18 development partners signed a Joint Cooperation Strategy (JCS) in June 2010.

Reform of the health system, family planning and HIV/AIDS

Mother and child working in a stone pit. Copyright: Manoocher Deghati/IRINMedical care in Bangladesh is in­ad­e­quate. This problem affects the poor dis­pro­por­tion­ately, since they can­not afford private health care. To help im­prove the sit­u­a­tion, Ger­ma­ny is taking part in the wide-ranging Health, Nutri­tion and Pop­u­la­tion Sector Program (HNPSP), which is being over­seen by the gov­ern­ment of Bangla­desh and the World Bank. Germany’s con­tri­bu­tion focuses on financing the parts of the pro­gramme relating to family planning and on support for steering and results monitoring and, in future, health financing mechanisms. Germany is also involved in the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases in the larger cities of the country and helping to develop a national strategy for tackling HIV/AIDS.

The funds pledged are tied to a reform plan for the health system and to specific improvements in important health indicators. The main thrusts of the reform are the decentralisation of the health autho­ri­ties, increased autonomy for hospitals, better health care for the poor, a strategy for the provision of essential drugs, and the estab­lish­ment of a health insurance system. Only isolated progress is evident in these areas, one reason for this being the political crisis of the last few years.

With regard to important health indicators, however, a number of positive trends can be observed. There have been improvements in important Millennium Development Goals such as combating infectious diseases and reducing child mortality. Extra efforts need to be made, however, in reducing maternal mortality and improving nutrition.

Energy efficiency and renewable energies

Bangladesh faces a major energy crisis. Shortfalls in supply lead to frequent power cuts. The over-burdened and outdated infrastructure in the energy sector hampers the country’s economic productivity.

The government of Bangladesh therefore wishes to invest more in future in renewable energies and efficient technologies, partly through the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) under the Kyoto Protocol. German expertise is urgently called for in this context, particularly with regard to renewable energies, but also in the use of up-to-date technologies to increase energy efficiency.

Germany is therefore providing intensive support to Bangladesh in the reform of the electricity sector. One particular concern within this is to improve the energy supply in rural areas that have no access to the electricity grid. Energy sources such a solar energy and biogas play an important role here. Another focus is investment in improving the electricity network and avoiding transmission losses. Joint efforts by the government and donors over the past 10 years have led to a considerable drop in systemic losses in the electricity grid – from 35 per cent to less than 20 per cent.

Measures also include energy consultancy services for small and medium-sized enterprises. Their demand for more efficient energy sources is also being supported. The efforts being made by German development cooperation in the energy sector are viewed positively in Bangladesh: given the backdrop of climate change, they are contributing towards a new awareness in all areas of society.

Good governance and municipal development

Upon taking up office in January 2009, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina declared good governance, combating corruption and the promotion of human rights as basic principles of government action.

The legal foundations for this are very largely given, as are the cor­responding institutions: Bangladesh has ratified every inter­national human rights convention and has also set up a national human rights commission and a national council for the development of women and children. However, many office holders have so far lacked the capability and the will to enforce these principles in practice. In 2009 some 100 people died in police custody or while on remand. The protection of women and children is also served inadequately by the judiciary and the security forces.

Within the area of good governance, then, Germany focuses particularly on improving the human rights situation, strengthening the legal position of women and girls (empowerment) and improving governance, especially at the local level.

Measures also include working with the government on com­pre­hen­sive prison reform, consultancy with regard to implementing inter­na­tional labour and social welfare standards, pro­grammes aimed at en­abling civil society par­ti­ci­pa­tion, and the support of local gov­ern­ment authorities.

In all the programmes and projects being supported, particular attention is given to the concerns of socially disadvantaged sections of the population, ethnic and religious minorities, and refugees.

Service-Links & Content-List

Ministry

What we do

Press room

Publications

Services

BMZ glossary
Close window

Facebook Twitter MySpace Favorites Mister Wong Google