Documents

Overview

Twenty five years of protracted conflict in the Chittagong Hill Tracts have left the majority of its inhabitants in conditions of extreme poverty, and tensions over land tenure, resource access, and ethno-demographics remain challenges to sustainable development. Three quarters of the population live below the national poverty line; 50% of primary-enrolled children drop out in their first few years; and it is estimated that 40% of the CHTs’ workforce is either unemployed or underemployed.

A CHT Peace Accord was signed in December 1997 and was recognized as a significant political achievement for the region which is home to 11 distinctive indigenous groups and Bengalis. It raised high expectations that it would serve as the cornerstone of a successful peace building process and as a means for opening up new opportunities for development. Relevant institutions have been established to support this process although not all subjects as per the CHT Peace Accord have yet been transferred to them, and several parts of the Peace Accord are yet to be implemented.

In partnership with the Government, CHT communities and NGOs, UNDP supports the Promotion of Development and Confidence Building in the Chittagong Hill Tracts through the Chittagong Hill Tracts Development Facility. The CHT Development Facility plays a very important role ensuring a successful peace building process and improving the development conditions of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) people. The support is focused on:

·         CHT governance institutions functioning and national systems developed in support of Peace Accord implementation;

·         Confidence is built to solve long-standing problems critical to sustainable development and peace in CHT;

·         Economic development opportunities enhanced for CHT;

·         Literacy increased through an education scheme adapted to local context;

·         Access to quality preventive and curative health services at the community level;

·         Local organizations and communities empowered and their capacities enhanced to manage their own development;

With an annual budget of USD 25 million and 200 staff in five offices, the Chittagong Hill Tracts Development Facility (CHTDF) is one of UNDP’s large interventions spanning across governance, peace-building and multiple sectors within one facility.

In addition to UNDP’s own resources, funds have been made available by the European Union, Canada (CIDA), Denmark (DANIDA), USA (USAID), Norway, Australia (AusAID) and the Embassy of Japan since the inception. The Facility manages the respective donor agreements within one programmatic framework.

The CHT Development Facility is led by a Director and a Senior Management Team consisting in addition of four Chiefs leading programme sections and one Chief Operations.

Expected outcome of CHTDF’s interventions with the CHT Institutions is increased capacity of these institutions to deliver services and support community development. Expected outputs are (a) Capacities of local government institutions to advocate on CHT issues strengthened, in particular implementation of the CHT Peace Accord, resulting in enhanced clarity and consensus on CHT issues, (b) Capacities of Local Government Institutions in the CHT strengthened, resulting in improved management systems for decentralized service delivery and (c) Participatory planning, budgeting, monitoring mechanisms among CHT institutions enhanced to contribute towards achievement of MDGs.

MDG acceleration is managed by CHTDF’s Capacity Development cluster, it is an approach that leads to identification of high-impact and feasible solutions for prioritized bottlenecks, that are preventing ongoing interventions to achieve MDG targets. Outcome of MDG acceleration is direct action by all development partners, to help realize the solutions.

Local Government institutions at district (HDCs) and sub-district level (Upazila parishad) are taking the lead in the acceleration process, members of respectively District and Upazila Development Coordination Committees are participating. Members and organized in thematic task forces formed around the MDGs.

The outputs of the MDG acceleration process in the CHT are as follows:

• Mapping of MDG achievements at district and upazila level

   

• Selection of one MDG per district for MDG acceleration process.

   

• For selected MDGs, bottlenecks identified and multi-stakeholder action plans developed for addressing them through joint action at different levels  (union, upazila and district)

   

• Implementation and monitoring

   

• Government Development coordination committees/meetings at upazila and district level will conduct mapping exercise annually to review overall development results

   

Broad steps of MDG acceleration:

• MDG mapping (on 7 MDGs) at district and upazila level

   

• Selection of MDG for acceleration process (one for each district)

   

• Analysis by using MDG acceleration Framework (MAF)

   

• Development of MDG acceleration action plan

   

• Implementation and monitoring of MDG acceleration plan

Inputs:

From CHTDF

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