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CSOs to Focus on Climate Finance Oversight in Bangladesh
CSOs to Focus on Climate Finance Oversight in Bangladesh
Two day Workshop and a Seminar in South Asia Social Forum Sets the Tone
Dhaka, November 20: CSOs from different parts of Bangladesh converged at a two-day workshop jointly organized by Voice, EquityBD and Bank Information Center has decided to focus more on monitoring the flow of climate finance in the country, insisted the participation of communities at all levels of project planning, implementation and monitoring, and initiated to link with other climate justice movements elsewhere in South Asia to strengthen the movement in Bangladesh.
VOICE @ South Asia Social Forum, Dhaka; November 18-22, 2011
VOICE @ South Asia Social Forum, Dhaka; November 18-22, 2011
VOICE (www.voicebd.org) undertakes a number of programmes during South Asia Social Forum (SASF) to be held on 18-22 November, Dhaka, Bangladesh. These events will jointly be organized with different national and international networks including Aid Accountability Group, Bank Information Centre, Eurodad, NGO Forum on ADB, Privacy International etc, among others. Being one of the organizers in SASF, VOICE is calling global civil society actors, youths, women, human rights activists, political groups, organizations and concerned multi-stakeholders to join us aiming at building greater solidarity for new economic and social order. The details of the programmes (draft) attached herewith
Ahmed Swapan Mahmud interviewed on CIVICUS Live during the CIVICUS World Assembly in Montreal
The CIVICUS World Assembly was held from the 10th to the 12th of September, 2011, at the Palais des Congrès in downtown Montreal. Our Executive Director, Ahmed Swapan Mahmud, was in town to participate in a workshop entitled "Beyond 2015: Shaping the Post-MDG Agenda." He was interviewed live on the official channel of the World Assembly, CIVICUS Live.
View the interview at the following link:
Rights groups protest $1b conditional IMF loan
Dhaka, Apr 19: Thirteen right based civil society organizations led by Equity BD on Tuesday demonstrated, held rally and formed human chain in front of national press club to protest government’s move to take one billion dollar conditional loan from the IMF. They urged the government not to take the loan with condition of money contraction and VAT expansion which are anti-poor and against the nation.
The right groups are Arpan, Bangladesh Bhumihin Samity, Bangladesh Kishani Shova, Coastal Development Partnership, Bangladesh Krishak Federation, Equity BD, Lead Trust, La via Campesina Bangladesh, Media Foundation for Trade and Development, On Line Knowledge Center, Pradip, VOICE and Uddipan.
Zaid Iqbal Khan of Krishok Federation mentioned that the government has already withdrawn bank ceiling on loan. This will reduce the loan flow for long term investment and thereby no new employment opportunity.
Subal Sarkar of Bhumihin Shamiti stated that in line with IMF conditionality government will have reduce subsidy in fuel and fertilizers ultimately which will create problem for farmers.
Sayed Aminul Haque of EquityBD said the country still has comfort level of remittance flow and export growth. Import cost has increased but even with WTO provision government can reduce import, thus government has no need of embark on IMF loan.
World Bank Under Fire for Role in New Global Green Fund
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK, Apr 6, 2011 (IPS) - The World Bank is facing mounting opposition from a broad network of green and grassroots activists over its role in a new global Green Climate Fund (GCF) aimed at helping developing countries combat the ravages of climate change.
"In spite of the climate and economic crises, the World Bank continues to finance fossil fuel projects at an alarming rate, promote false solutions to the climate crisis, and use funding instruments that increase indebtedness of developing countries," charged a coalition of nearly 100 local and international civil society organisations in a letter released here during on- going negotiations at the first of three U.N. climate change conferences to be held in the lead up to the Durban COP17 summit in late November.
"The World Bank is not suited to advise in the design of a fund that must ensure fair and effective long-term financing based on the principles of environmental integrity, equity, sustainable development and democracy," noted the two-page letter, whose signatories included global groups like Action Aid and International Rivers, regional groups like the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance and local groups like the Bolivian Climate Change Platform.
A sharing meeting on Impacts of ADB’s Projects and Policies: Perspective of Civil Societies and People’s Movement
A sharing meeting on `Impacts of ADB’s Projects and Policies: Perspective of Civil Societies and People’s Movement` to be held on Monday, 28 February 2011 from 9:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the CBCB Conference Hall ( 24/C Asad avenue, Mohammadpur, Dhaka).
A findings of the study on 'Mainstreaming Climate Change in National Policy Development Using Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Process in Water Resource Management' will be presented in the meeting.
For further information please call us, 0088-02-8158688, 0088-01711881919 or email us, ahmed.swapan@gmail.com.
Dhaka urges donors to distribute aid rationally
Foreign Minister Dipu Moni on Saturday called for rationalisation of distribution of aid that many donors allocate based on political, economic and strategic interests.
She made the call while she was addressing as co-chair an interactive policy dialogue on quality and quantity of ODA for LDCs and their debt problem in Lisbon, says a press release.
She also called for improving quality of Official Development Assistance (ODA), and rectification of the huge imbalances in terms of ODA per capita among the least developed countries (LDCs).
Dipu Moni highlighted the concern of gradual decrease in grant in the ODA mix and underscored the need for minimising transaction cost of ODA and making ODA disbursement and delivery flexible and predictable.
On external debt situation, she underlined that diversion of money from poverty alleviation initiatives and programmes to service debts has its own economic and social implications.
She stressed the need for full and comprehensive debt relief measures for highly indebted countries and for a case-by-case debt relief for countries like Bangladesh.
Multi-stakeholder Consultation on the Joint Cooperation Strategy in the Context of Aid and Development Effectiveness
The Aid Accountability Group, with assistance from the Reality of Aid Network, organized a multistakeholder consultation on the Joint Cooperation Strategy (JCS) in the context of aid and development effectiveness, 20 September 2010 in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
The JCS, signed by the Government of Bangladesh and 18 Development Partners (including ADB and WB apart from donor countries) on June 2010, is a strategy for signatories to work together in the spirit of PD and AAA, aiming to translate international commitments on aid into real actions for improved aid delivery and poverty reduction in Bangladesh.
Different positions were put forth during the consultation. According to Dr Qazi Khalikauzzaman (Chairman of Pally Karmasahayak Foundation), aid stands at less than 2 percent of the national budget but the conditionalities attached are unbearable and lead to worsening poverty. This was supported by economist and Professor Anu Muhammad, who stated that a net foreign aid at 1b USD, 90% is spent on logistics, travel and consultancy fees. Instead, the country should concentrate on domestic resource mobilization and remittances.
Stresses Implementation of Joint Cooperation Strategy (JCS) Inclusively with CSOs
The JCS itself declared that it was made ‘in order to implement our commitment made in Paris and Accra’ where the major part of these forums of including CSOs in the process was overlooked. Moreover, the JCS described a monitoring flow chart keeping Aid Effectiveness Working Group in the middle of Policy Making and Implementation. However not a single Working Group includes a single representative of CSOs in the process," said the speakers at the multi-stakeholders consultation on Aid Effectiveness on the Context of Joint Cooperation Strategy held in CIRDAP auditorium at Dhaka today, jointly organized by Aid Accountability Group (AAG) and The Reality of Aid Network.
Chairman of Pally Karmasahayak Foundation (PKSF) Dr. Quazi Khalikuzzama presided over the meeting. Former Finance Advisor Mirza Azizul Islam, eminent economist Professor Anu Muhammad, Joint Secretary of Economics Relations Division (ERD) Bijon Kumar Baishya, Former Secretary of Finance and Team Leader of Paris Declaration Evaluation-phase-2 Siddiqur Rahman Chowdhury, Representative of Reality of Aid Ava Danlog, Deputy Country Director of DFID Diana Dalton, European Union Attache of Aid Effectiveness Julia Jacoby, Women Leader Khusi Kabir and Ahmed Swapan Mahmud, Convenor of AAG were present among others.