Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said she expects the World Bank to play a stronger role in Bangladesh’s development endeavours as its leading development partner, reports UNB. “The World Bank is our one of the leading development partners. I hope, it’ll play a more proactive role in our endeavours," she told a function.
The government and the World Bank jointly arranged the programme at Osmani Memorial Auditorium, marking the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.
The Prime Minister said the partnership with the world community will further be strengthened towards Bangladesh’s development endeavours.
“All our development plans, are aimed at realising our Father of the Nation's dream of building a hunger, poverty, illiteracy and exploitation-free Sonar Bangladesh.”
Sheikh Hasina said the people of Bangladesh are very brave, committed and hard-working ones. The resilient people of this country are determined to change their future and build a better Bangladesh for the next generation, she added.
The Prime Minister mentioned that the country has already been placed at the medium category of human development index and upgraded to a lower middle-income country according its per capita income level.
"We’re pursuing an inclusive growth strategy to graduate from the LDC status shortly and become a developed nation by 2041 with a land of peace, prosperity and harmony," she told her audience.
About the spread of terrorism across the world, she said, "Our government has adopted a 'zero tolerance' policy towards any kind of violent activities. We’ve been able to contain militancy in the country. We’ll further strengthen our drive to eliminate the scourge of militancy from the society."
World Bank president Dr Jim Yong Kim, World Bank Vice President for South Asia region Annette Dixon and Finance Minister AMA Muhith also spoke on the occasion. World Bank chief economist Paul Romer was the keynote speaker. Our Staff Reporter adds: World Bank (WB) president Dr Jim Yong Kim yesterday declared an additional USD 1 billion fund for Bangladesh to develop childcare in the country.
The fund will be disbursed in the next two years and used to develop child health and nutrition, said Kim.
The WB president made the announcement at a joint press briefing, after a meeting with Bangladesh finance minister AMA Muhith at the Secretariat.
After the meeting, Muhith and Kim said they would give an extra USD 1 billion for tackling malnutrition of children in Bangladesh.
WB loans, which are styled International Development Assistance (IDA), come in three-year bundles. Kim expressed hope that financial support to Bangladesh to end stunting among its children could increase up to USD 1 billion over the next three years, as he marked End Poverty Day in the country. The day was observed to learn lessons from the country's attempts to become more prosperous and end extreme poverty by 2030.
Praising Bangladesh’s record in reducing poverty at a meeting with the finance minister, Kim said the world could learn much from how Bangladesh had improved the livelihoods of tens of millions and empowered women despite facing persistent challenges including those related to governance and climate change.
“Competing in today’s digital economy requires a workforce with well-developed intelligence, which is why the World Bank Group wants to increase its investments to end stunting in Bangladesh as soon as possible,” said Kim on the first day of his first visit to Bangladesh. “Failing to invest in a skilled and healthy workforce is ultimately harming future economic growth, and that’s why we commend Bangladesh’s commitment to end childhood stunting,” he added.
Kim joined a public event today to mark the United Nations’ International Day for the Eradication of Poverty to celebrate Bangladesh’s achievements in lifting millions of people out of poverty despite the formidable challenges it faced at the time of independence and its vulnerability to natural disasters.
He announced that the WB Group would establish a multi-donor trust fund for other countries to learn from Bangladesh’s experience.  
Despite Bangladesh’s success in reducing maternal and child mortality, and improving child nutritional status, the country has one of the highest numbers of stunted children in the world. Among children under five, some 5.5 million are stunted, of whom poorer children bear a disproportionate burden of stunted growth. The WB’s investments in children’s early years in Bangladesh will support nutrition services and include a conditional cash transfer programme targeted at 600,000 poor families in 43 sub-districts.
“The World Bank Group wants to increase its investment in Bangladesh to improve nutrition and cognitive development of children in their early years. Ensuring adequate nutrition prenatally and in the first two years after birth can prevent devastating permanent effects on cognitive and brain development, thereby improving the long-run earnings potential of children. Rapid brain and physical development, social relationships and environments work together to create phenomenal advances in children’s capabilities during this time-frame,” said the WB president. “Investing in the socio-economic environments of poor children during their early childhood years can help increase their earnings ability and lift their households out of poverty,” he added. The WB's stepped-up support to early childhood development announced by Kim represents almost a 100 per cent increase in investment compared to the previous three-year period.