MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING
between
the Government of the Kingdom of Norway
and
the Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh
concerning
Development Cooperation
1. Introduction
Norway and Bangladesh have had a long-standing development cooperation.
With a view to further strengthening and developing relations between the two countries, representatives of the Governments of the Kingdom of Norway and the People's Republic of Bangladesh conducted consultations in Dhaka on 14 November 2002 to arrive at this Memorandum of Understanding on the overall priorities and framework for the future cooperation between the two countries.
2. Development perspectives
Bangladesh has continued to make economic and social progress since 1995, when the previous Memorandum of Understanding between the two countries was signed. At the same time, external aid has gradually come to play a less important role compared to Bangladesh's own resources.
The Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy (I-PRSP) and the Three Year Rolling Plan, as well as the Millennium Development Goals, will constitute the framework for development cooperation between the Governments of the Kingdom of Norway and the People's Republic of Bangladesh. At Development Forum meetings, the Government of Bangladesh and development partners have agreed that Bangladesh has a historic opportunity to accelerate growth and eradicate poverty. At the same time, it is of critical importance that the Government of Bangladesh strives towards better-performing public institutions and good governance in order to make greater use of its economic potential. In the next three to five years tangible results should be within reach as regards poverty reduction.
Based on the I-PRSP, the Three Year Rolling Plan and the Millennium Development Goals, the two delegations agreed that further progress in the following areas is crucial for achieving Bangladesh's development objectives:
Reduction of income poverty and improvement of social services.
Good governance, respect for human rights and democracy. This calls for transparency, accountability and a fight against corruption, as well as an enabling environment that encourages human creativity and support human dignity and human rights. Improvement of the law and order situation is also essential in this regard.
Despite macro-economic stability, Bangladesh has yet to attain the desired level of economic growth. The government has a crucial role to play in achieving this through reform programmes that encourage investment and private sector development.
A prerequisite for achieving these goals is improvement of the efficiency and quality of public administration, and steps to make it more accountable and responsive.
3. Objectives and areas of cooperation
The overall goal of the cooperation programme is to support Bangladesh's efforts to reduce poverty. Good governance, including the fight against corruption, financial management and respect for human rights are vital preconditions for achieving the development objectives of Bangladesh.
Governance issues will therefore constitute the overriding concerns of development cooperation between Bangladesh and Norway, both in the development policy dialogue and in relation to specific cooperation activities.
The two main sectors of cooperation shall be:
Education, in particular basic education.
Private sector development, including trade.
Other important concerns within the main areas of cooperation include gender equity, environment, institutional capacity building and HIV/AIDS control.
4. Roles and responsibilities
In facilitating the implementation of the overall national development policies and plans of Bangladesh, the two Governments undertake to build on a set of basic principles defined as follows:
all agreements within the government-to-government cooperation shall be in line with national policy and planning documents;
all government projects supported by Norway shall be included in the Annual Development Plan;
the Government of Bangladesh shall be responsible for planning, implementation, monitoring and control of all activities included in the government-to-government cooperation;
the cooperation shall be based on the existing national administrative standards and procedures of Bangladesh, provided that they meet with internationally accepted requirements for accountable and transparent financial management;
agreements shall serve as instruments for a dialogue on management and implementation and specify the purpose and outputs, the obligations of the parties, the format and content of reporting, and the procedures to be followed, and shall also ensure that Norway has access to any information regarding the projects supported, as deemed relevant;
the Government of Norway will actively support and facilitate the efforts of Bangladesh to fulfil its commitments to improve coordination of foreign assistance and when appropriate, move from project to programme support;
financial support to non-governmental organisations, multilateral organisations, private enterprises or institutions shall be provided in line with the Bangladeshi Government's rules and regulations. The Norwegian Government shall provide information on the volume of assistance and the recipients.
5. The volume of assistance
Both governments undertake to make all relevant efforts to enable development cooperation to be sustained at an appropriate level. The volume of assistance may, however, be increased or decreased based on an assessment of performance and accountability.
The level of assistance will be subject to the progress of necessary reforms of importance for development in Bangladesh, requests for funding, progress in the implementation of the various components of the programme and annual allocations made by the Norwegian Parliament.
6. Mid-term review
A mid-term review should be conducted approximately three years after the signing of this Memorandum to assess the results of the cooperation as well as the development challenges facing Bangladesh. The review should be linked to the goals set out in the I-PRSP and the Three Year Rolling Plan as well as to the Millennium Development Goals.
7. Other issues
Existing agreements shall be honoured subject to the fulfilment of agreed requirements.
Based on this Memorandum, the Government of Norway may publish official guidelines for its development cooperation with Bangladesh. If it does so, these will be forwarded to the Government of Bangladesh.
8. Validity
This Memorandum replaces the Memorandum of Understanding of 23 May 1995. It shall be valid from the date of its signing and for a period of four years.* It may be revised when deemed necessary by either of the parties, who will agree on mechanisms for this process. It may be terminated by either party at six months' notice.
* Validity extended by one year (until 20.04.08) by Addendum no. 1 dated 26.06.07