Charge the Affairs of the Embassy of Sweden Anders Ohrstrom and Resident Representative of UNDP Bangladesh Sudipto Mukerjee signed the agreement at UN office in the city on behalf of their respective organisations.

The deal aims to get 6,192 extreme poor and vulnerable women from Kurigram, GaiBandha, Lalmonirhat and Jamalpur districts out of poverty, according to UNDP.

The initiative is part of the third phase of the Strengthening Women’s Ability for Productive New Opportunities (SWAPNO), a social security project of the government and UNDP, which has in the first two phases seen 8,928 graduate out of poverty in Satkhira and Kurigram.

The project works to ensure sustainable livelihood and food security for extreme poor and vulnerable rural women.

The total budget of the third phase of SWAPNO is USD 7.3 million, where the government of Bangladesh, Sida and UNDP contribute $3.2million, $3.5 million and 0.6 million respectively. Marico International is also a partner of this project.

Sudipto said SWAPNO project has been working to bring the transformative changes in the lives of extreme poor women in Bangladesh through creating decent and sustainable job opportunities and involving them in income generating activities.

“Providing women with equal access to decent work will help us attain the Sustainable Development Goals, leaving no one behind,” he said.

Anders Ohrstrom highlighted the long-standing partnership with UNDP in the areas of human rights, climate change, gender equality and disaster resilience.

Senior officials from Sida and UNDP were present during at the signing ceremony.