The Swiss government has joined hands with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Bangladesh to provide the Bangladesh government with support for gender equality and the promotion of peace, justice and strong institutions. The $5.53 million deal for the Strengthening Institutions, Policies and Services (SIPS) Programme was penned at the UNDP office in Dhaka on Tuesday. Read more: Landslides remain most substantial damaging, recurrent hazards in Cox’s Bazar: UNDP Suzanne Mueller, Head of Cooperation and Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of Switzerland in Bangladesh and UNDP Resident Representative Stefan Liller signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organisations. “We need to strongly integrate SDG16 & SDG5 for inclusive economic development, gender equality, governance, & human rights for agenda 2030 and I firmly believe this new SIPS initiative will contribute to that," Suzanne said at the signing. “We are grateful to Switzerland for our longstanding partnership and commitment to jointly support Bangladesh in achieving Agenda 2030 - particularly by strengthening its institutions and promoting good governance,” said Stefan Liller. Read more: Safe Digital Space: AUW, UNDP to promote intercommunal, religious harmony Despite Bangladesh’s magnificent strides in achieving Sustainable Development Goals, a lot still needs to be done in terms of governance indicators. More importantly, the government of Bangladesh has emphasised strengthening democratic institutions at both the national and local levels. The new programme targets three major outcomes - strengthening the capacities of Bangladesh’s bureaucracy to deliver on SDG 16 and SDG 5, making institutions of public oversight more people-centric and effectively fulfil their mandates and strengthening the policy environment to sustain SDG results and integrating SDGs into routine government operations and partnerships. Swiss embassy’s Senior Programme Manager for Economic Governance Sohel Ibn Ali, UNDP’s Deputy Resident Representative, Van Nguyen, Assistant Resident Representative, Anowarul Haq, Senior Governance Advisor, Md Mozammel Haque, and Senior Governance Specialist, Sheela Tasneem Haq, were also present at the signing.