Free outpatient treatment facilities in Pakistan, and other news (20 December 2019)

Each week we highlight some of the international development stories from across the globe that have caught our attention:

• Free treatment facilities will be provided to people visiting outpatient departments in four districts in Pakistan: Malakand, Mardan, Kohat, and Chitral. This is being supported by funding from the German government over the next two years, following advice from OPM. Read more in Dawn (Pakistan).

• USAID have declared a $20 million funding agreement with Heartland Alliance Nigeria to increase HIV/AIDS control in Nigeria, strengthening interventions in at risk, and hard to reach, populations. Read more in Online Nigeria.

• The Non-Aligned Movement – a collective of developing countries focused on the importance of information and communication technology (ICT) for progress towards the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals – has called for the International Telecommunication Union to strengthen their support for member states developing ICT capacities. Read more in New Delhi Times.

• The New Laos Business Environment Project has been launched by the US Ministry of Industry and Commerce. The project aims to increase capacity building and advisory services for small-and medium-sized enterprises, and improve implementation of trade regulations. Read more in Phnom Penh Post.

• The President of Bangladesh has highlighted the need to fill Bangladesh’s financing gap in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. He noted that alongside international development assistance, mobilisation of domestic resources and a greater engaged private sector would be needed. Read more in The Financial Express (Bangladesh).