GIZ distributes cash grants among Covid-19 victims in four cities
The programme is jointly financed by the European Union and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development
More than 7,500 Covid-19-affected vulnerable households of Khulna, Rajshahi, Satkhira, and Sirajganj are receiving unconditional multi-purpose cash grants (MPCGs) via mobile cash transfer for a duration of up to four months.
The cash grant is part of a multi-donor action jointly financed by the European Union (EU) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH under the Bangladesh Resilient Livelihood Programme.
According to a press release issued on Monday, the MPCG payments are accompanied by an information campaign involving hands-on information about how to reduce the risk of infection and how to deal with persons affected by the novel coronavirus. It will reach 20,000 households in selected slum areas of the four cities.
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The monthly installments of the cash grant will help vulnerable people maintain their livelihoods in situations where natural disasters add to the challenges of coping with the economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic in Bangladesh, it added.
The most vulnerable slum dwellers – such as women, persons with disabilities, climate migrants, and other disadvantaged persons – have been prioritised for the cash grant.
The beneficiaries were identified through a transparent and participatory selection process, in which local councillors and elected representatives of the recipient communities participated.
The EU is contributing €1 million exclusively for the implementation of these Covid-19 response measures while the BMZ is contributing €500,000.
Both activities are implemented by the Urban Management of Migration and Livelihood (UMML) / Urban Management of Internal Migration due to Climate Change (UMIMCC) project of GIZ. The total budget of the UMML/UMIMCC project is €16.5 million.
