(BSS) - The `NGO-Microfinance Institution (MFI) Resourced Pooled Fund` was launched in Bangladesh to strengthen locally led humanitarian financing and make disaster response activities more effective, integrated and sustainable.

Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Minister Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir attended the national launching ceremony as the chief guest at a city hotel yesterday, according to a handout issued today.

Speaking at the event, the minister said there is no alternative to public-private partnership in ensuring rapid and effective humanitarian assistance at the local level in disaster-prone Bangladesh.

He expressed hope that the new fund would play an important role in enhancing the disaster response capacity of marginalised communities and accelerating emergency assistance activities across the country.

The minister said the joint fund, formed by utilising the experience, institutional capacity and grassroots engagement of local NGOs and microfinance institutions, would open a new horizon in humanitarian aid management.

He urged all concerned organisations and institutions to work in a coordinated manner for the successful implementation of the initiative.

Representatives from different international organisations, development partners, NGOs and officials of microfinance institutions were present at the programme.