Partnership for Development: Alternative Approaches to Poverty Alleviation in Bangladesh

Poverty has been identified as one of the world's biggest problems. The international community recognises that reducing global poverty is one of the major development challenges of the twenty-first century. The problem of poverty is particularly severe in Bangladesh, where a variety of poverty alleviation initiatives have been tried. The most recent one involves Public Private Partnerships (PPPs), which are collaborations between partners in different sectors. PPPs are assumed to be effective for reducing poverty as they are seen to optimise the use of scarce resources, promote economic growth, and enhance efficiency. The Government of Bangladesh has recognised the use of PPPs as an innovative and effective approach for poverty alleviation in Bangladesh. Partnership for Development addresses this major policy issue by examining the novel arrangements of PPPs to determine how this approach can assist in alleviating poverty. This book explores different PPP arrangements for poverty alleviation in Bangladesh and evaluates their performance and effects. It identifies opportunities and constraints affecting these PPPs. It utilises the multiple-case study methodology, examining two cases, namely, the Income Generation for Vulnerable Group Development (IGVGD) and Rural Micro Credit (RMC) PPPs that have been introduced in Bangladesh as poverty alleviation measures. The book also identifies the rationale, features and mechanisms of the IGVGD and RMC PPPs using interviews with key persons who were involved in the policy making, and in the design and implementation of the PPPs. Different stakeholders were asked about the effects of the PPPs and suggestions for their improvement. The beneficiaries were also asked about the economic and social changes to their lives as a result of the PPPs. A model of PPPs for poverty alleviation is developed from the literature on the subject and then used to analyse the data from the Bangladesh case studies.
About the Author: Nilufa Akhter Khanom has been serving with the Bangladesh Civil Service since 1994. The author received a PhD from the Faculty of Business, Government and Law at the University of Canberra, Australia. She has been awarded with the Australian Leadership Award Scholarship and an Australian Development Scholarship from the Commonwealth Government of Australia. She has also been conferred with a Golden Key Award from the Golden Key International Honour Society. She has two books published on women's career development and has contributed articles on development policy issues in various international journals. Her major area of interest includes development issues, public and social policy issues, public sector management, gender and women empowerment, NGOs, microfinance and poverty. Currently she is teaching at the University of Canberra.