UNCDF has been a long-term development partner of Bangladesh. Over the past three decades UNCDF has helped Bangladesh meet its development challenges by focusing initially on local agriculture, and then more recently on decentralization and local service delivery. In order to scale up promising innovations tested in previous pilots, UNCDF and UNDP developed the Union Parishad Governance Project (UPGP) and the Upazila Governance Project (UZGP), to reduce poverty by increasing local government capacities and improving service delivery.

In the context of the World Urban Forum 7 in Medellin, Bangladesh organized a side event on “Trends of Urbanization, Past, Present and Future”, focusing on rapid urban growth and the resulting pressure on urban authorities and their capacity to deliver public services. Discussions centered around on how rapid urbanization processes, combined with the financial and technical constraints of developing countries, can be planned and managed in a way that infrastructure and service development can keep up with large population inflow.

The session was moderated by Mrs. Christel Alvergne, UNCDF LDFP Deputy Director, chaired by Mr. Md Golam Rabbani, Secretary of the Ministry of Housing and Public Works, and co-chaired by the Honorable Mayor, Mr. Md Ramzan Ali from Mamikgami. Mr. K. M. Nurul Huda of the Bangladesh Municipal Development Fund (BMDF) presented the Fund’s urban policy and infrastructure development plan which is designed to finance projects and build capacity through trainings. Mr. Huda has highlighted the central role of UNCDF in providing solutions for the municipalities in Bangladesh and commended the UNCDF’s recent support in analyzing the municipalities’ opportunities to access the bond market.