In Bangladesh the World Bank and ten bilateral agencies together are contributing $440 million to the Fourth Population and health project, and the government is providing $165 million, for a total of $605 million over the five-year project period. The United Nations Population Fund, WHO and UNICEF are supplying project management, procurement and technical assistance. All the partners in the project belong to the Bangladesh Population and Health Consortium which operates on the basis of strict equality of all the partners, independent of the size of their financial contributions. The Asian Development Bank has joined the consortium with a view to ensuring consistency between the project and its own $60 million investment in population and health in Bangladesh. The consortium approach enables the government and the donor community to agree on an overall strategy and to work out a consistent financing plan for the sector. In addition to strengthening Bangladesh's population programme and its delivery system for family planning services, the consortium is attempting to reorient the health care system toward public health, including maternal health. It is also trying to make basic services more easily accessible to the rural and urban poor.