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On the occasion of the official visit of the Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina to Paris, Agence Française de Développement signed two financing agreements for €330 million in the health and water sectors.
Agence Française de Développement (AFD) today signed a €200 million financing agreement aimed at strengthening the health and health insurance system in Bangladesh. AFD will support the training and management of medical personnel involved in country’s Covid-19 response. This project will also strengthen the capacity of Bangladeshi health services to adapt to climate change by improving the surveillance of climate-sensitive diseases as well as the energy efficiency of infrastructure and disaster preparedness. The project also aims to promote gender equality when it comes to access to vaccines, quality health services, health insurance, and training and salary incentives for female medical staff.
"The project is part of AFD's support to the Government of Bangladesh's response to the health and social effects of the Covid crisis," said Carlos Soto Iguaran, project manager for AFD. "It contributes to structurally strengthening the health and social protection system and, through this, the country's resilience and capacity to prevent and respond to exogenous shocks whether they are of a health, climatic or social nature."
An additional €130 million in financing for the Gandharbpur sustainable water supply development project in Dhaka
The loan will finance the Gandharbpur water plant, which has a capacity of 500 million liters per day and will meet the needs of 4.3 million people. Women will be the first beneficiaries of the extension of the network's coverage. "AFD is committed to supporting sustainable, high-impact water and sanitation projects," said Thomas Bouisse, project manager at AFD in Paris. "Not only is the project perfectly aligned with SDG 6.1 to achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all by 2030, but it is also remarkable for its ambition and scale. France has a long-standing presence in the water sector in Bangladesh and we hope that this project will contribute to this fruitful and ongoing cooperation."
The project contributes to the Government of Bangladesh's strategy to reduce reliance on groundwater, thereby preserving the country's aquifers by shifting to the use of surface water, in the context of the capital's growing urban population. This transfer improves the resilience of the city of Dhaka to the effects of climate change by helping to reduce its vulnerability to flooding.
The agreements were signed by Fatima Yasmin, Secretary of the Economic Relations Division of the Ministry of Finance of Bangladesh and by Philippe Orliange, Director Asia Department of Agence Française de Développement, during the state visit of the Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina.
They mark a new stage in the partnership between Bangladesh and AFD in the context of the social, energy and social transition implemented by Bangladesh
Press contact: Radhika Takru