International Development Grant

Human Resources for Health in Bangladesh

Project Number: CA-3-A034608001

Status: Closed

Country/Region:

Bangladesh 100.00%

Maximum Contribution: $19,848,761.00

Start Date: November 08, 2010

End Date: April 30, 2019

Duration: 8.5 years

Project Description

This project aims to improve maternal and neonatal health status of poor women girls and boys. It provides technical assistance equipment and teaching and learning aids to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to improve the quality of education for nurse midwives and community skilled birth attendants. It also provides support to the Ministry to rationalize the rules for recruiting posting promoting and training nurse midwives. Project activities include: (1) training nursing teachers and supervisors in pedagogy and midwifery; (2)providing teaching and learning aids to public sector nursing institutes; (3) repairing nursing institutes; (4) strengthening the Bangladesh Nursing Council so it can enforce standards at nursing training institutes; (5) supporting the installation of a nursing management information system at the Directorate of Nursing Services; and (6) supporting training and supervision of community skilled birth attendants. The project works with the Directorate of Nursing Services the Bangladesh Nursing Council and the Human Resource Development Unit of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Progress & Results Achieved

The results achieved by the end of the project (June 2019) include: (1) the training of nurses has improved in Bangladesh since the project helped increase the teaching capacity and knowledge of teachers of training schools. The project created a group of 18 Master Trainers who trained 73 senior nursing managers on the core competencies of planning and supervision; 2 755 senior nursing managers and teachers received training in leadership management pedagogy and teaching methods which impacted approximately 3 550 students per year enrolled and graduated from these institutions; (2) the development of a Personnel Management Information System which enables the Directorate General of Nursing and Midwifery (DGNM) to better manage the recruitment of nurses; a registration data base for the Bangladesh Nursing and Midwifery Council to track the 56 733 registered nurses 2 131 registered midwifery nurses and 9 182 community skilled birth attendants; (3) assisting the DGNM to create five Centers of Excellence in nursing education (Khulna Bogura Comilla Tangail and Thakurgaon) among the 43 nursing institutes supported by the project; (4) Communities of Practice have been established in six districts with Nursing Training Institutes to facilitate peer learning among nurses from nursing institutes and hospitals; (5) 114 nurses received pre-deployment training at the Rohingya refugee camps in Cox's Bazar to help them in their duties; (6) supported the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s National Task Force on nursing that led to the development of the recommendations and action plan on the future of nursing in Bangladesh and (7) helping the Ministry of Health to recruit 18 000 new nurses and 1 149 midwives over the course of the project. These results are contributing to ensuring the effective management of public nurse and midwifery training and services at the national level and improving the quality of maternal and newborn health services for the poor. They are als

Key Information

Executing Agency:
Cowater International Inc.

Reporting Organization:
Global Affairs Canada

Program:
OGM Indo-Pacific

Last Modified:
September 19, 2025

Development Classifications

DAC Sector:

Teacher training 3.52%
Health policy and administrative management 20%
Health personnel development 25%
Reproductive health care 27.18%
Personnel development for population and reproductive health 24.3%

Aid Type: Project-type interventions

Collaboration: Bilateral

Finance Type: Aid grant excluding debt reorganisation

Selection Mechanism:
Pre-APP

Policy Markers
Level 1 Gender equality
Major Funding (>$1M)
Budget Breakdown
2011-04-01 to 2012-03-31 $19,848,761 CAD
Geographic Information
500
Project Number: CA-3-A034608001