A two-week long International Training Workshop on Achieving Sustainable Development Goals: Financial Inclusion and Rural Transformation has been completed at BARD. The African Asian Rural Development Organization (AARDO), New Delhi and Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh jointly sponsored this training workshop.

A total of 20 participants from 12 member countries namely Sri Lanka, Egypt, India, Ghana, Zambia, Namibia, Gambia, Pakistan, Oman, Malaysia, Kenya and Bangladesh took part in this international training workshop. The aim of the workshop was to analyze the existing situation of the financial inclusion and increase the efficacy of the implementation of financial inclusion programme in the rural areas and thus to help the policy- makers and financial service providers of the member states of the African Asian Rural Development Organization (AARDO) for achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs). The concluding session of that international training workshop was held on 11 December 2024 at BARD.

The session was chaired by Saif Uddin Ahmed, Director General of BARD while Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain, Honorable Adviser, Ministry of the Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives and Ministry of Youth and Sports was present as the chief guest Dr. Khushnood Ali, Head of Research Division, AARDO was present as the guest of honor in that event. Along with the dignitaries, Director (Training) of BARD, Workshop Director, distinguished foreign delegates and participants from different AARDO member countries, Faculty Members of BARD were also present in this august occasion.

In the speech of the chief guest, Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain, Honorable Adviser, Ministry of the Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives and Ministry of Youth and Sports said from this training workshop, the trainees would be able to help to make policy for the inclusion of the poor people in their financial institutions utilizing lessons learnt from this international workshop. In the speech of the chairperson, Saif Uddin Ahmed, the Director General of BARD said that BARD had been working through cooperatives since early sixties to ensure financial inclusion among the rural population.

Dr. Khushnood Ali, Head of Research Division, AARDO the guest of honor in the concluding ceremony of the workshop said that this workshop was unique and it would be effective and helpful to rural development practitioners. He thanked the BARD authority and concerned officials of the Ministry of the Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives for organizing this important workshop. In this training workshop, Dr. Shishir Kumar Munshi, Director, BARD acted as Workshop Director whereas Abdullah Al Mamun, Director, BARD acted as Workshop Coordinator. Md. Abu Taleb, Joint Director and Abdulla-Al-Mamun, Assistant Director acted as Associate and Assistant Workshop Director respectively.

African-Asian Rural Development Organization (AARDO) was formed in 1962 with a view to promoting coordinated efforts, exchange of experiences and cooperative action for furthering the objectives of development of the rural areas. AARDO- a non-political body enjoys observer status with various UN and other international organisations like Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), International Cooperative Alliance (ICA), Centre on Integrated Rural Development for Asia and the Pacific (CIRDAP), etc. It also promotes collaboration with various international organisations for the economic and social welfare of the rural community.

Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development (BARD) was established in 1959 as a training institute for the practitioners and policy makers in rural development. Simultaneously, it combined training with research and pilot experimentation. The unified approach of training, research and pilot experimentation has provided uniqueness to the training curriculum of the Academy. Through organising need based training programmes, the Academy has made significant contributions to human resource development for local level planning and management of rural development programmes throughout the country. It has spread the training experiences in and outside the country.