GAIBANDHA: Speakers in a function here on Monday underscored the need for joint, cordial and sincere efforts of all the concerned to make the project for the ultra-poor women a grand success.
They made the comments while addressing a workshop on Strengthening Women’s Ability for Productive New Opportunities (SWAPNO) project at the conference room of Deputy Commissioner (DC) here on Monday, reports BSS.
Local Government Section of DC office arranged the workshop with the financial support of Marico Limited, Swedish International Development Cooperation (sida) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) while DC Abdul Matin presided over the function.
National Project Director-SWAPNO and also Additional Secretary of Local Government Division under the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Mohammad Emdad Ullah Miah addressed the function as the chief guest while Deputy Secretary of Local Government Division of the ministry Shamsul Alam was present as a resource person.
National Project Manager Dr Kazol Chaterjee made a power point presentation on the project and said all the 17 unions of Shaghata and Fulchhari upazilas of the district have been brought under the project for the period of 15 months.
A total of 612 ultra-poor women particularly the widows and divorced would be selected from the unions as beneficiaries through lottery and they would do earth filling work on the roads five hours and participate in life skills training one hour every working day, Kazol Chaterjee said.
Each of the beneficiaries would get Taka 200 against the work per day and of them, Taka 50 would be cut for their savings which they would get at a time and utilize it for income generating activities like cow, goat, sheep rearing and poultry farming in a bid to earn economical profit against the IGAs, he added.
Respective union Parishads of the upazilas would implement the project in partnership with a local reputed non-government organisation Gana Unnanyan Kendra (GUK), he mentioned.
Moderated by Deputy Director of LGS under the DC office Rokhsana Begum, the workshop was also addressed, among others, by District Fisheries Officer Abdud Dayan Dulu, Deputy Director of Women Affairs Department Nargis Jahan, Fulchhari upazila Chairman GM Selim Parvez, Fulchhari UNO Abu Raihan Dolon and Shaghata UNO Mohiuddin Jahangir.
Mohammad Emdad Ullah said the government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina adopted the project for 64,980 ultra-poor women of 1,030 unions under 106 upazilas of 22 district across the country aimed at changing their socio-economic condition.
The beneficiaries would be involved in income generating activities day by day and for this, they would be imparted training on IGAs regularly so that they would remove their poverty and be self-reliant economically and help the government build a poverty free happy and prosperous country, he added.
All the upazila chairmen, vice chairmen, UNOs, UP chairmen and secretaries of project command areas and NGO representatives, including journalists of print and electronic media participated in the workshop.
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