Knowledge and innovation are critical to rapidly end hunger, undernutrition, and poverty in Bangladesh and beyond. On October 4, IFPRI and the Governance Innovation Unit (GIU) of the Prime Minister’s Office of Bangladesh agreed to create a Knowledge and Innovation (K&I) Hub in Bangladesh to help accelerate progress. The K&I Hub will support the GIU’s research and analytical capacity, conduct joint research on priority areas and advocate for evidence-based policies and programs for ending hunger and undernutrition.
IFPRI Director General and Compact2025 Leadership Council member Shenggen Fan commended the strong commitment of Bangladesh from the government, NGOs, and partners to accelerate progress to end hunger and undernutrition. “We are very much committed to work with you to use evidence and research to inform food security and nutrition policies and implementation,” Dr. Fan said.
Mr. Abdul Halim, GIU Director General, reiterated the commitment to using knowledge, innovation, and partnerships to advance rapid progress. “GIU always facilitates innovative practices regardless of sector and discipline and is mandated to build synergies with the private sector and non-government sector by building partnerships in the areas of common interests,” he said. “In line with that we have come to an agreement with IFPRI to work together with a view to conducting join research on priority areas, developing mutual research capacity, and supporting policy advocacy.
The agreement was signed by both Directors General at the Compact2025 Roundtable Discussion in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Over 30 high-level government officials, development partners, and researchers attended the event, which followed the IFPRI workshop presenting recent evidence on eliminating hunger and malnutrition in Bangladesh.
