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The Netherlands will contribute about 5 million U.S. dollars over three years for completing the photo voter roll in Bangladesh and strengthening the capacity of the Election Commission to prepare for holding fair polls.
The amount would be provided to Bangladesh's Election Commission through the UNDP project titled "Preparation of Electoral Roll with Photographs (PERP)".
To this effect, an agreement was signed here Tuesday by Dutch Ambassador Bea Ten Tusscher and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Country Director Manoj Basnyat on behalf of the respective sides.
According to the agreement, the fund will help establish and strengthen the system necessary to update the photo voter list following the next parliamentary elections which is expected to beheld by the end of next year.
The Netherlands joins eight other donors, including a number of EU members, in pooling contributions worth approximately 50 million U.S. dollars to support Bangladesh government in reestablishing "electoral democracy".
The co-donors are Denmark, the UK's Department for International Development (DFID), European Commission, Korea, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and UNDP.
The preparation of the voter list with photographs in Bangladesh has already started and will be completed by October 2008 while the general election will be held by the end of next year, according to the roadmap announced by the Election Commission in mid-July. |
