Bangladesh

Projects

Building Youth Employability through Skills (BYETS)

The Building Youth Employability through Skills (BYETS) project will empower Bangladeshi youth with improved technical, employability and entrepreneurial skills, and connect them to income generating opportunities: jobs and self-employment. BYETS will partner with Training Service Providers (TSPs), government, industry, and employers to create a conducive environment for the targeted youth that would facilitate employment opportunities for them.

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Supporting Local Democratic Governance and Climate Resilient Public Service Provision in Bangladesh (GO4IMPact)

The GO4IMPact programme will help to make public service delivery in Bangladesh's Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) and Solid Waste Management (SWM) sectors more democratic and climate-resilient by applying the Thinking & Working Politically (TWP) approach, which builds the capacity of relevant actors, improves discourse and promotes participatory and democratic decision-making processes.

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SMILE – Sustainable and Meaningful Intervention for Livelihood Enrichment

The SMILE project seeks to uplift deserving students in Habiganj, Moulvibazar, Sylhet, Sunamganj and Dhaka by providing scholarships, educational campaigns, and teacher training, while also enhancing capacity development and employment opportunities for local youth, promoting cooperative governance and micro- savings, addressing health issues, and championing environmental conservation, all while exploring innovative solutions to meet community needs.

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H2O: Innovative business model for safe and affordable drinking water

Even though water has been officially recognised as a human right by the Bangladeshi government, 60% of Bangladesh’s 160 million inhabitants have no access to clean drinking water. Many people live on polluted land or with polluted groundwater. Rural and rapidly growing (sub)urban areas are not usually connected to the public drinking water supply. People collect water of questionable quality from unofficial and informal providers at high prices.

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Sarathi – Progress Through Improved Financial Health

Bangladesh is the world’s second largest garment exporter, with the ready-made garment (RMG) sector accounting for over 83% of the country’s exports and contributing approximately 16% to the GDP. This industry encompasses more than 4 000 RMG factories and provides employment to approximately 4.2 million workers of which almost 60% are women. Even though the RMG sector plays a pivotal role in Bangladesh’s economy, only 34% of it was integrated into the formal financial system when Swisscontact started to work towards the financial inclusion of RMG workers and their community members in 2016.

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News

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23.04.2024

Digitalisation in Development

Bangladesh has experienced a notable surge in digital initiatives in recent years, aimed at modernising its infrastructure, enhancing service delivery, and fostering innovation. In collaboration with local stakeholders and government agencies, Swisscontact is implementing several initiatives to further advance digitalisation, to enhance service delivery, promote economic growth, and uplift livelihoods.

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16.04.2024

From Isolation to Inclusion: M4C and BRAC Bank PLC Partners to Advance Financial Inclusion in Northern Char Regions of Bangladesh

Making Markets Work For The Chars (M4C), is thrilled to announce a groundbreaking partnership with BRAC Bank PLC, marking a significant leap towards enhancing financial inclusion among the underprivileged communities of northern char regions of Bangladesh. This pioneering initiative, unveiled at a recent signing ceremony, is set to revolutionise access to formal banking services for the inhabitants of the isolated char areas, starting with a pilot program in the Gaibandha district.

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27.03.2024

National Seminar Charts Course for Infrastructure Development in Char Regions of Bangladesh

The recent seminar, “Infrastructure in the Chars: Status Quo, Constraints, and Way Forward” addressed the status, challenges, and potential solutions for infrastructure development in the char areas of Bangladesh. Held at the Grand Ballroom, Hotel Intercontinental, on Wednesday, March 13, 2024, this seminar aimed to foster a dialogue on the critical needs for infrastructure improvement to enhance economic growth in these unique regions.

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Country Director Bangladesh

Mujibul (Cezanne) Hasan

Swisscontact in Bangladesh

For 50 years, Swisscontact has delivered projects throughout Bangladesh, addressing systemic constraints and creating pro-poor market systems in skills and enterprise development. These projects resulted in creating thousands of decent jobs and improved livelihood options, food security, youth and women’s economic empowerment, financial inclusion and economic growth.

Besides, Swisscontact incorporates gender equality and social inclusion, environmental responsibility, and good governance across all its projects as sustainability criteria. The organisation operates from a country office based in Dhaka with five additional field offices and employs over 90 long-term national and international staff.

Our partners

Swisscontact South Asia has been successfully working with partners below for implementing projects.

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Katalyst

Improving Business, Improving Lives.

Between 2000 and 2017, Katalyst has benefitted 4.69 million SMEs and farmers with an income increase in USD 689 million. It is the largest market development project in South Asia.

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