Mobilizing Civil and Political Society to Resist Bilateral & Multilateral Policy Impositions

Ahmed Swapan Mahmud

The Bangladesh Development Forum (BDF) meeting held each year which determines the policy guidelines for the development of Bangladesh. In fact, in last three decades, in the name of development the international financial institutions and the corporate agencies of rich countries also determine their aid policy for county’s development. But if we keenly observe, we see those institutions mainly got the benefit though the policies are supposed to improve the socio-economic status of the country. In fact, the poverty reduction rate is not satisfactory which is below one per cent, though both foreign aid and loan are gradually increasing. Reality is that unexpectedly, themajority of people still remain under poverty line.

The marginalization is increasing as well as the people’s struggle of life and livelihood is dangerously aggravating for the interventions of donors in national development policy. One of the major causes for not-changing the poverty situation in Bangladesh is for policy imposition by the donors. In last three decades development history clearly indicates that the foreign aid can’t alone solve the problems we have, rather in most cases, it creates a market, which mainly keeps their own interest. And with that point of view, this is also clear that the PRSP where people have least of the participation that is a lending policy can’t reduce the poverty situation at all.
The foreign aid must be condition free for self-reliance depending domestic resources. Foreign aid to Bangladesh’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) dipped in the last 20 years. Foreign assistance constitutes 10 per cent of the GDP in the 80s, which now stands at 4 per cent. It is also observed that the donor’s money returned to them in a raft of ways. In last thirty years there were taka 180000 crore foreign aid in the public sector of which taka 135000 crore returned to the donor agencies or countries in different forms of which 13 % as consultancy, 12% as equipment suppliers’ fees, Besides, various vested interest groups plundered the money including bureaucrats and politicians of the country who took 7% of the total amount. And most of the remaining amount gobbled up by their local mediators. The International Financial Institutions like International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank (WB), and the United States Aid (USAID) play dominant role and put conditions in granting loans that is crippling the political decision making process of the government. Donor agencies and the countries play a double standard role in granting loans and aid to developing countries. In formulating any national policy even in any national issue, there is a need for healthy debate bringing together the politicians, members of the civil society, NGOs, professional and citizen groups. In formulating Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, people’s active participation and their opinion is quite neglected which is prepared for getting foreign loan from donors. The PRSP document is not yet shared in parliament and people in general still quite ignorant though it is supposed to reduce poverty of the country as well changing the lot of the mass poor.
For a self-reliant country, national policy must be participatory where people from all walks of life including geographical variances should
have the scope for active participation so that they can put their opinion, which must be honored.
BDF meeting is a closed-door meeting where people don’t have access and not least the scope for sharing people’s views and opinion. PRSP will be submitted in the meeting and donors will define guidelines and formulate policies for national development. Foreign aid has made the country indebted and burdened with huge foreign debt liabilities instead of benefiting the people. The aid though was taken for eradicating poverty and development of the country, the poverty rate is not at all satisfactory. Government can announce a target date for Bangladesh to stop accepting any foreign aid and loan and stop being the world's most famous country of beggars. If not next year, then the target should be not later than 2010.
Besides, people demands to the donors, in the spirit of honesty, transparency, and good governance, provide the public of Bangladesh with the following data for every project funded: e.g. the percentage of project funds which are believed to have been lost due to corruption at different levels, a breakdown of which groups are the immediate recipients of the funds (e.g. donor country citizens, local consultants, different income groups in Bangladesh, an independently conducted benefit incidence analysis giving a breakdown of who are the ultimate beneficiaries of the project, a clear statement of the specific conditionalities for the project, a signed declaration stating whether disbursement of the project funds may be used as leverage for other concessions or favours from the Government of Bangladesh.
Therefore, people’s demand condition-free foreign loan, discussion in parliament on foreign assistance, non-intervention of the IMF and WB in the allocation of financial and technical assistance, cancellation of PRSP prepared by the IMF and WB, domestic resource mobilization and preparation of a central plan to make the donor agencies accountable.