EU, Bangladesh commit to enhancing good nutrition through good governance

The delegation of the European Union (EU) to Bangladesh organised a high-level event in collaboration with the Partners of the Food and Nutrition Security Programme for Bangladesh.

The event, titled 'The European Union and the Government of Bangladesh in Partnership for Good Nutrition through Good Governance', was held at a Dhaka hotel on Sunday with the participation of government and non-governmental organisations.

Agriculture Minister Dr Muhammad Abdur Razzaque was the chief guest for the morning session.

He highlighted that the Ministry of Agriculture has made it a priority to develop a self-sufficient and sustainable agricultural system and aims to achieve this through increased agricultural productivity, modernisation of agriculture marketing, and the adoption of new technologies.

M Tofazzel Hossain Miah, principal secretary of the Prime Ministers Office, was the chief guest for the afternoon session.

"It is essential for nutrition security to be driven by the government of Bangladesh with a strong political will and explicit commitments by leaders to end malnutrition in all its forms. This cannot be achieved without sustainable, resilient, and nutrition-sensitive food systems," he said.

The welcome remarks were delivered by Jurate Smalskyte Merville, counsellor, team leader of the delegation of the European Union to Bangladesh, and the closing remarks by Charles Whiteley, EU ambassador to Bangladesh.

Both EU delegates highlighted the importance of food and nutrition security across Bangladesh based on achievements shared during the event.

They emphasised the importance of continuing the support and investments to the FNS interventions through GO-NGO, Private Sector, UN agencies and CSOs.

In addition, the Director General of Food Planning and Monitoring Unit, Momtaz Uddin and the Director General of Bangladesh National Nutrition Council, Dr Shahriar Kabir highlighted the importance of multisector partnership and also building capacity of subnational governance structure.

Special guests at the event included Sarah Cooke, British high commissioner, and Md Mahmudul Hossain Khan, secretary, Coordination and Reforms at the Cabinet Division.

The event consisted of three panel sessions.

The first panel session was on production to consumption of nutritious food. Panellists included Secretaries from Ministry of Agriculture (Wahida Akter), Ministry of Food (Md Ismiel Hossain), and Additional Secretary of Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs (Md Aminul Islam).

It was moderated by Prof Dr Sattar Mandal, former member of Planning Commission and former VC of Bangladesh Agriculture University.

The second panel session was on how social protection and education interventions can maximise nutrition outcomes.

Panel members included Secretaries from Ministry of Social Welfare (Md Jahangir Alam), Ministry of Women and Children Affairs (Nazma Mobarek), and Additional Secretaries from Ministry of Education (Md Belayet Hossain Talukdar) and Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives (Mustakim Billah Faruqui).

The second session was moderated by Professor Kazi Maruful Islam of Department of Development Studies, University of Dhaka.

The topic for the third panel session was mainstreaming nutrition throughout planning, budgeting and implementation. Panellists include Secretaries from Planning Commission (Abdul Baki), Health Service Division (Dr Md Anwar Hossain Howlader) and Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock (Dr Nahid Rashid) and Additional Secretaries from Ministry of Finance (Dilruba Shaheena) and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (Dr Asrafi Ahmed).

The session was moderated by Dr Tahmeed Ahmed, executive director at icddr,b.

The current Food and Nutrition Security (FNS) Programme is part of the longstanding collaboration between the European Union (EU) and the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) in the FNS sector.