Rome, 27 May 2015 – The Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Independent Office of Evaluation (IOE) of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) are co-organizing a national round-table workshop in Dhaka, at Hotel Amari, on 7 June 2015. The event represents a conclusive step in the country programme evaluation that IOE has recently conducted to assess IFAD-supported operations and strategy in Bangladesh.

The workshop will focus on the main findings and recommendations that emerged from the country programme evaluation. These included, developing broad-based institutional partnerships and further investing in knowledge management to ensure long-term sustainability, as well as ensuring access to credit for IFAD's target group and a further focus and engagement in agriculture to foster rural poverty reduction.

Participants to this learning event will include representatives from the Government of Bangladesh, directors of IFAD-funded projects and programmes, non-governmental and civil society organizations (national and international), academic and research institutions, foundations and the private sector, donors and selected resource persons.

Prior to the workshop, the IFAD delegation from Rome will visit the IFAD-funded project, Haor Infrastructure and Livelihood Improvement Project-Climate Adaptation and Livelihood Protection (HILIP-CALIP). This visit will offer the IFAD delegation an opportunity to interact with beneficiaries, project staff, district-level government authorities and see project activities.

Media alert No: IFAD/05/2015

IFAD invests in rural people, empowering them to reduce poverty, increase food security, improve nutrition and strengthen resilience. Since 1978, we have provided over US$16.3 billion in grants and low-interest loans to projects that have reached about 438 million people.IFAD is an international financial institution and a specialized United Nations agency based in Rome – the UN's food and agriculture hub.

About the Independent Office of Evaluation (IOE): IOE conducts evaluations of IFAD-financed policies, strategies and operations to promote accountability and learning. The main purpose is to contribute to improving IFAD's and its partners' performance in reducing rural poverty in recipient countries. IOE's independent evaluations assess the impact of IFAD-funded activities and give an analysis of successes and shortcomings – to tell it the way it is – as well as identify factors affecting performance. Based on the key insights and recommendations drawn from evaluation findings, IOE also communicates and shares IFAD's knowledge and experience in agriculture and rural development with a wider audience.