Photo courtesy of UNDP Bangladesh/A2I Resources and partners: • Over $53 million was mobilized through partners, including $3.3 million from the private sector, $43 million from the government and $6.7 million from development partners. • Partners include: Cabinet Division, National Institute of Local Government, Bangladesh Computer Council, Ministry of Information, Ministry of Science and ICT, Ministry of Planning, Ministry of Establishment, the Election Commission, and the Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services.
Assessment of the programme Links to governance and the e-governance approach Starting in 2006, the A2I programme began to create favourable ground for effective ICT programming, starting with a series of surveys and studies that included the e-Governance Horizon Scan Report in 2007 and policy-envisioning documents in education, health, agriculture and local government.53 The programme also established a core group of ICT ‘champions’ in all the major agencies of government and designed and developed e-governance ‘driver’ projects54 and ‘enabling environment’ projects.55 Then, in 2009, when the Awami League came to power, the A2I programme began supporting the government’s national e-governance initiative called Digital Bangladesh. The A2I programme and its support for Digital Bangladesh has since become a pillar of UNDP’s work in the country.56 Digital Bangladesh and the A2I programme are both run from the Office of the Prime Minister, giving them high public status and almost daily press coverage. Given that the priorities of Digital Bangladesh are aligned with UNDP’s pro-poor policy goals for enhancing access to information and improving the delivery of basic services, the A2I programme is progressively meeting UNDP’s overall pro-poor policy goals. In particular, Digital Bangladesh and the A2I programme have launched numerous ‘quick win’ projects with key national ministries. One project supported the establishment of UISCs, half of which are run by women. The centres have since spread
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