Fund formed to boost disaster reply capacity

An NGO-Microfinance Institution (MFI) Resourced Pooled Fund has been launched to make locally-run humanitarian financing and disaster response activities more effective and sustainable in the country.

Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives Minister Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir attended the national launching ceremony of the “NGO-MFI Resourced Pooled Fund” as the chief guest at a hotel in the capital on Monday night, said a PID handout on Tuesday.

Speaking at the event, the minister said there is no alternative to public-private partnership in ensuring quick and effective humanitarian assistance at the local level in disaster-prone Bangladesh.

He expressed optimism that this new fund would play an important role in enhancing the disaster response capacity of the country’s marginalised people and also accelerate emergency assistance programmes.

Mirza Fakhrul said this joint fund, formed by utilising the experience, capacity and public involvement of local NGOs and microfinance institutions, will open new horizons in humanitarian aid management.
He called on all the relevant institutions to work in a coordinated manner.

Representatives from various international organisations, development partners, NGOs and microfinance institutions were present.