Workshop of Concern Worldwide

Leaving No-One Behind in Bangladesh’s Urban Contexts 2023-2027

National Level Workshop

Overview of the program

Concern Worldwide is the biggest aid and humanitarian agency in Ireland. Along with Bangladesh, they work in various Asian and African countries. Their main focus is poverty alleviation. Till 2019, they have helped almost 28.6 million marginalized people worldwide.

They have been working in Bangladesh for quite a while. For the purpose of poverty reduction, they work in education, health, gender equality, nutrition, and so on. Since the world is urbanizing rapidly, they are being more focused on urban development and have created an urban development program in Bangladesh.

As part of their vision for urban development in Bangladesh, a workshop was organized for sharing learning from past programs and research, and to make plans for the next five years for further consultation and feedback. Chief guest ‘Abu Saleh Mostofa Kamal, Director General, Dept. of Social Services, Mr. Manish Kumar Agrawal, Country Director, Concern Worldwide, UN representatives, and other I/NGO representatives were present.

The name of the workshop was “Leaving No-One Behind in Bangladesh’s Urban Contexts 2023-2027”. It was held on 22 February 2023 at Lakeshore Hotel, Gulshan. The program began with a welcome speech and an overview of the objectives by Mr. Manish Kumar Agrawal. Then, the keynote presentation titled “Urban Development Policy Priorities for the Furthest Behind” was presented by Dr. Asif Shahan, Associate Professor of Development Studies, University of Dhaka.

The next presentation was given by Dr. Gretta Fitzgerald, Program Director of Concern Worldwide. The topic of her presentation was urban nutrition challenges and opportunities for the next five years. The open discussion session began at 11.20 am and was moderated by Dr. Asif Shahan. At 11.55, the special guests were requested to give a short speech. The speakers included Ms. Gwyn Lewis, UN Residence Coordinator, Bangladesh, and Mr. Selim Reza, CEO of Dhaka North City Corporation.

Finally, the chief guest Dr. Abu Saleh Mostafa Kamal, Director General of, the Department of Social Services gave his speech at 12.25 pm. The program concluded at 12.50 pm with concluding remarks from Mr. Manish Kumar Agrawal.

Concern has become a dominant voice in the issue of urban development, striving to alert decision-makers to the insufficiency of national budget allocation and government-provided measures for urban social safety nets. They now have a better knowledge of the connections between skills, empowerment, access to services, and resilience for the disadvantaged in urban areas thanks to an integrated urban development approach.