US pledges $202 million to help Bangladesh focus on economy, youth, democracy
The United States of America will provide USD 202.25 million in aid to Bangladesh to advance development, empower youth, strengthen democracy, improve health, and expand trade and economic opportunities to people in the South Asian country, authorities said on Sunday.
According to a press release from the ministry of finance, AKM Shahabuddin, additional secretary of the Economic Relations Division, and Reed J Aeschliman, mission director of USAID, signed the sixth amendment of ‘The Development Objective Grant Agreement (DOAG)’ in Dhaka on behalf of their respective governments.
Under the agreement, USAID would provide a USD 202.25 million grant to Bangladesh for its three sectors namely good governance, social, human and economic opportunity and resilience, the state-owned BSS news agency reported.
“Driving greater prosperity: @USAID signed an agreement worth over $200 million with the Bangladesh interim government to advance development, empower youth, strengthen democracy and governance, improve health and expand trade and economic opportunities to people across the country,” the US Agency for International Development (USAID)-Bangladesh said in a post on X.
On September 27, 2021, a new DOAG was signed between Bangladesh and USAID for the period of 2021-2026. By implementing the DOAG, USAID is committed to contributing a total of $954 million. So far up to the fifth amendment, USAID has provided USD 425 million to Bangladesh, the BSS news agency reported.
The US provided most of its development assistance through USAID, the United States Department of Agriculture and some other government and non-government organisations, it added.
On Sunday, the interim government’s Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus met a high-powered American delegation and sought support from the US to rebuild Bangladesh, carry out vital reforms and bring back stolen assets.
He described the challenges that the interim government is facing and said his administration had moved quickly to “reset, reform, and restart” the economy, initiate reforms in financial sectors and fix institutions such as the judiciary and police.
The multi-agency US delegation was led by Assistant Secretary for International Finance at the US Department of the Treasury Brent Neiman. Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, Donald Lu, who arrived in Dhaka on Saturday from India, also joined the delegation.
“Our (US) delegation met with the Chief Adviser, Professor Muhammad Yunus, affirming our dedication to fostering inclusive growth, institution building and development to benefit the people of Bangladesh,” the US embassy in Dhaka said in a statement after the meeting.
Fresh murder bid case against Hasina
A fresh case has been filed against Bangladesh’s ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina and 58 others on a charge of attempt to murder of a student during the violent clashes that led to the fall of her government last month, a media report said on Sunday. The case was filed on Friday by Fahim Faisal, who claimed he was shot at and injured during an anti-government protest in Dinajpur on August 4, a day before the fall of the Hasina-led Awami League government, The Daily Star newspaper reported. PTI
