Concern Bangladesh, an international NGO, in partnership with seven local organisations will implement the project over a five-year period with a primary focus on 83 chars in 24 unions of Nilphamari, Lalmonirhat and Pabna districts.

About 30,000 families, 10,000 of them extreme poor, will be brought under the coverage of the project.

Dr Atiur Rahman, chairman of Unnayan Shamannay, disclosed this at the launching ceremony of the project at Cirdap auditorium in Dhaka. Concern Bangladesh and Unnayan Shamannay jointly organised the programme.

Economist Atiur Rahman said basic government services such as education and health services are limited in the chars, and the private sector has shown little interest in investing in the chars.

The project would work for a healthy livelihood for the char people through expanding NGOs and GoB services in the remote areas and building their capacity to access resources, he said.

Addressing the launching ceremony as chief guest, Food and Disaster Management Minister Chowdhury Kamal Ibne Yusuf said the private sector has not yet come forward with enough investment in SMEs and agro-processing industries, which could generate employment for the char people.

Lack of infrastructure, particularly electricity, is constraining such investment, he said.

"We are lagging behind in some of the areas in terms of achieving the targets set in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). There is still some time left for reducing the gaps," the minister said.

Monjurul Ahsan Bulbul, executive editor of the daily Sangbad, conducted the programme.

Kieren Crawley, country director of Concern Bangladesh, Awami League lawmaker Asaduzzaman Noor and Douglas Broderick, country director of World Food Programme (WFP), also spoke.