NCA, a macro-level advocacy platform comprising over 50 organisations working for the rights of the char dwellers, made the call at a meeting held at the Planning Commission.
“Hard-to-reach char regions will be reflected in the 8th Five-year Plan of Bangladesh,” said Dr Shamsul Alam, Senior Member Secretary of General Economics Division (GED).
He also said the Planning Ministry can play a leading role to receive and spend the allocated block grants for chars that remained unspent in the past, said a press release.
Earlier, Senior Manager of the Save the Children in Bangladesh Asif Imran Khan made the keynote presentation and placed recommendations on effective planning for the development of char regions.
Senior officials of GED and NCA, representatives from Save the Children in Bangladesh, Shamunnay, WaterAid, Concern Worldwide, Friendship, CARE, ICCO Cooperation and Swisscontact M4C also participated in the meeting.
The GED officials said the Delta Plan 2100 has dedicated large-scale projects on char development.
Speakers highlighted the necessity of national policy and planning focusing on the development of women, children and youth of the impoverished char regions.
NCA members also consulted with the GED senior officials following the meeting on developing a government coordination agency for char region’s development.