A half day workshop on sharing the achievements and future plan of Knowledge for Development Management (K4DM) project of the United Nations development Programme (UNDP) was held on June 17, 2019 at Bangabandhu International Convention Centre in Dhaka. The workshop was organised by the government’s Economic Relations Division (ERD) with support from K4DM project.

Monowar Ahmed, secretary of ERD was present as chief guest while Sudipto Mukerjee, Resident Representative of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) attended the programme as special guest. With participants from ERD and other ministry officials, the workshop was chaired by Sultana Afroz, additional secretary and national project director of K4DM.

K4DM, a joint project of the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) and UNDP, began its journey in 2015. The objective of this workshop was to present the achievements of the project so far, review them, and share proposed activities for the next extended period (July-December 2019).

Sudipto Mukerjee in his speech said, “With a small investment, K4DM was not only able to build the capacity of ERD officials, but also engage other relevant ministries. That is why the project has been able to achieve transformational changes which can be sustained over time by institutionalising policies and programmes within national strategies. The project has consistently achieving significant results.”

Participants discussed the proposed future activities, providing valuable feedback. This includes: setting up separate booths for non-resident Bangladeshis (NRBs) at international airports, investing in Bangladesh, strengthening south-south cooperation, and need-based capacity building.

A partnership has been developed with CIRDAP for organising an international conference in Bangladesh between July-August 2019, with participation from 15 south pacific member countries of CIRDAP.

Workshop participants also provided their input on various other topics, such as knowledge sharing, skill development of officials, and professional training. Their feedback will be taken into consideration during the finalisation of the Annual Work Plan (AWP) for July to December 2019.