BSS, Dhaka: The World Food Programme (WFP) and the Bangladesh
Bureau of Statistics (BBS) today marked a significant milestone in their
longstanding partnership with the launch of a strategic Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU).
This MoU aims to mobilize ‘Data for Life’ and strengthen official statistics,
focusing on achieving Zero Hunger and supporting Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs) 2 and 17, said a press release here today.
WFP’s Bangladesh country director said the WFP’s collaboration with BBS has
been pivotal in generating crucial data over the years.
“We have jointly produced poverty and under-nutrition maps and have been
involved in policy research, like the Urban Socioeconomic Assessment Survey
2019 and the Vulnerable Group Development Survey,” he said.
The WFP’s latest endeavour, he said, the Food Security Assessment and Food
Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) Survey 2023, where WFP supported in
training, analysis, and report writing, is a testament to the combined
efforts towards addressing hunger and under-nutrition in Bangladesh.
BBS Director General Mohammed Mizanur Rahman said this MoU is not just a
formalization of the existing relationship between WFP and BBS but a step
forward in integrating food security indicators into our surveys, like the
Sample Vital Registration System Survey.
This collaboration is essential for informing the government’s 9th Five-Year
Plan and enhancing our efforts to monitor progress towards the SDGs, he
added.
Under the strategic MoU, the WFP and BBS will extend their collaboration to
include various areas such as poverty and undernutrition mapping exercises,
food security surveys, and policy advocacy studies in the fields of shock-
responsive social protection and urban programming with evidence-generation
activities to support the upcoming 9th FYP.
This partnership is a cornerstone in the fight against hunger and under-
nutrition in Bangladesh and serves as a model for leveraging data and
statistics in humanitarian efforts.
