The UK Department for International Development (DFID) and UNICEF signed an agreement to support Bangladesh Government in implementing improved sanitation and hygiene programmes to reach 30 million people in 34 of the poorest districts across Bangladesh.

For the five-year project from 2007 to 2011, DFID will contribute up to $US35 million, UNICEF's own contribution will be approximately $US4.8 million, while the government investment will be around $US8.9 million.

Up to 5.1 million people, particularly the poorest, will benefit from round-the-year access to "adequate supplies of safe drinking" water under the tripartite deal.

Acting Country Representative of DFID Ms. Elizabeth Carriere and UNICEF Representative Mr. Louis-Georges Arsenault signed the agreement in a simple ceremony here Tuesday.

The agreement was signed to support the joint implementation of the Sanitation, Hygiene Education and Water Supply in Bangladesh (SHEWA-B) project by Government of Bangladesh's Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE) and UNICEF, said an official release.

Through SHEWA-B, around 1.5 million schoolchildren will benefit from safe water delivery and improved sanitation services to 7,500 primary schools, whilst 4.5 million additional children are to gain from hygiene education in their schools.