International Development Grant

Health Nutrition and Population Sector Programme - Policy Dialogue

Project Number: CA-3-A032610002

Status: Closed

Country/Region:

Bangladesh 100.00%

Maximum Contribution: $4,968,152.00

Start Date: February 04, 2008

End Date: June 30, 2011

Duration: 3.4 years

Project Description

This project which ended in June 2011 was part of the Government of Bangladesh’s $4.3- billion Health Nutrition and Population Sector Program (HNPSP) a multi-donor sector-wide approach (SWAp) that consisted of a pooled fund and parallel projects. CIDA contributed $5 million to the HNPSP pooled fund managed by the World Bank. The HNPSP pooled fund supported by six donors ensured the delivery of core health services. Donors who contributed to the pooled fund partnered with the Government of Bangladesh; together they made decisions concerning the design and implementation of the health SWAp. This project is a central element of the Canadian contribution to the HNPSP. As with all sector support/pooled fund initiatives Canada is working in close cooperation with other donors and the Government of Bangladesh to focus on effective transparent and accountable country systems; increase donor coordination and harmonization; and strengthen mutual accountability. This assistance also fosters greater policy dialogue among donors government and partners thus helping to strengthen efforts for effective focussed aid as well as long-term development results. This initiative is continuously monitored and evaluated in coordination with other donors.

Progress & Results Achieved

Results at the end of the project included: Interventions in areas of family planning immunization and vitamin A supplementation were successful and maternal-child health services were expanded. 257 government facilities are now providing emergency obstetric care services. 1 137 people were trained as community skilled birth attendants (CSBA) adding to a total of 5 578 trained CSBAs able to work in 339 subdistricts. 1 445 nurses were recruited from July 2009 to June 2010. Integrated Management of Childhood Illnesses (IMCI) was expanded. A total of 343 sub-districts in 48 districts including 40 district hospitals are now providing IMCI services. There has been a marked improvement in maternal mortality reduction from 322 in 2001 to 194 in 2010 a 40% decline in 9 years; and births by skilled birth attendants have doubled from 12.2% to 26.5% during the same period. This is an improvement but still leaves some 2.4 million births at home with mostly unskilled birth attendants. 82% of children are immunized and the family planning program shows that fertility has declined to 2.7. In September 2010 Bangladesh received a UN award for its achievement in reducing under-five child mortality and is therefore on track to meet its UN Millennium Development Goal to achieve MDG 4 of reducing under-five mortality by two-thirds by 2015.

Key Information

Executing Agency:
IBRD Trust Funds - World Bank

Reporting Organization:
Global Affairs Canada

Program:
OGM Indo-Pacific

Last Modified:
September 19, 2025

Development Classifications

DAC Sector:

Health policy and administrative management 60%
Public sector policy and administrative management 40%

Aid Type: Basket funds/pooled funding

Collaboration: Bilateral

Finance Type: Aid grant excluding debt reorganisation

Selection Mechanism:
Pre-APP

Policy Markers
Level 1 Gender equality
Level 1 Participatory development and good governance
Major Funding (>$1M)
Budget Breakdown
2007-04-01 to 2008-03-31 $4,968,152 CAD
Geographic Information
050
Project Number: CA-3-A032610002