Aid Effectiveness
Aid Effectiveness
VOICE’s campaign for aid effectiveness began in 2003 with the objective of helping to form a national economic policy independent of bilateral and multilateral imposition. As the campaign progressed it became clear that the conditions tied to the aid were major factors in affecting multilateral policy. Aid conditionality does not favour development or the priorities of the people; rather, it hinders the formation of independent policies through interference in the political, democratic, and socio-economic spheres.
Country Plan for Bangladesh on Aid Effectiveness Advocacy
Voice has just released its plan, to be implemented from next month to the end of 2010 and beyond, regarding a national strategy for Aid Effectiveness Advocacy.
Voice invites members of the community and concerned parties to download the plan here and encourages comments and collaborations.
Privatization in power sector may lead to more public debts and poverty
An opinion sharing meeting held at press club in the capital on Sunday organized by different network of rights group criticized government policy that have created space of investment for the private sector, foreign companies in power sector. They mentioned that in view of other Asian country experiences it may create more public debts and increase disparity in society. The meeting was jointly organized by Action Aid, EquityBD, Jubilee South, SUPRO, MFTD, Unnayan Onneshan and VOICE.
Lidy Nacpil of Jubilee South narrated her experience from Philippines, and Sayed Aminul Haque of EquityBD gave analysis on Bangladesh situation in this regard. The meeting was moderated by Rashed Al Titumir of Unnayan Onneshan, while Md. Shamsuddoha of EquityBD, Faruque Ahmed from MFTD and Farjana Akther of VOICE spoke on the occasion.
Transparency, accountability in aid disbursement demanded
Some 21 civil society organizations staged a protest rally on Tuesday to denounce the role of the development partners and their allied ‘elite class’ and bureaucrats in development process, saying they were responsible for misusing foreign aid.
They [the development partners in Bangladesh, the ‘elite class’ and the bureaucrats] have made the country increasingly indebted since liberation, the protesters from rights based organizations told the rally.
Bangladesh government on Monday began a two-day dialogue in Dhaka with multilateral lenders and donor countries seeking approval of the poverty reduction strategy, a lender-driven development document.
Parallel to the ongoing BDF meeting, the rights organizations — Arpan, AMKS, Eso, Bangladesh Krishak Federation, CSRL, EquityBD, Kishani Sohva, Lead Trust, On line knowledge centre, Protikrit, Karmajibi Nari, La via campesina, MFTD, Prantik, Purbasha, RCSV, Swadhin Bangla Garments Sramik Federation, Solidarity Workshop, Sirajganj Flood Forum, Uddipan, Voice, and World Development Movement, UK—organised the rally in front of National Press Club in the city.
The organizers demanded sovereign, democratic and responsible financing to ensure that the benefits of aid and loans reach the poor through a transparent and accountable manner.
'Donors' support destructive for Bangladesh'
Speakers at a press conference yesterday said loans and grants of the World Bank (WB), Asian Development Bank (ADB) and other international financial institutions are destructive for Bangladesh as the donor agencies take away more kickbacks than what they have provided as aid or loans.
Only 25 percent of the foreign aid and loans provided to the country go to the target group while the rest of them are attained for the auxiliary and support services, they added.
The speakers said this at the press conference organised by VOICE, a rights-based research group, and Aid Accountability Group, a civil society alliance, at the National Press Club in the city.
They called on the government to reject destructive aid and formulate an independent economic policy instead of PRSP and to make all loan agreements public ensuring transparency and accountability.
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=126405
Rights group urges govt to reject conditional lending
VOICE, a rights research organisation, on Sunday called upon the government to reject ‘destructive foreign aid’ that has crippled national policymaking by robbing it of ‘sovereignty and independence’.
The rights leaders, at a press conference ahead of the meeting of the Bangladesh Development Forum, insisted that the government should announce when it will stop receiving conditional external assistance and begin to prepare the national budget with domestic resources only.
They added that only 25 per cent of foreign aid and loans reached the target group while the rest went to auxiliary and support services including the fees of foreign consultants.
‘The people of Bangladesh are becoming more and more indebted due to the loans given by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund and thus have become more vulnerable to foreign manipulation,’ Ahmed Swapan Mahmud, executive director of VOICE, told reporters at the National Press Club.
Conditions for development loans must be made public
BDF won’t accommodate people’s voices or representatives: VOICE
Rights group VOICE, complaining that people’s voices will not be heard nor their representatives accommodated in the upcoming dialogue between the government and global lenders, has demanded that that conditions imposed for, and the expenditure pattern of, foreign aid-funded development projects must be made public.
Referring to the meeting of the Bangladesh Development Forum scheduled to be held in Dhaka on February 15-16, VOICE has called for a debate on the relevance of external loans, which should involve politicians, professional groups, businesspeople, civil society dignitaries, and representatives of local government and community organisations.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to inaugurate the BDF meeting which will be attended by representatives of the Local Consultative Group, a forum of lending agencies and donor countries, and those of the newly emerging economic superpowers.
‘People from all strata of life do not have any access to the Forum although it demands greater participation of stakeholders,’ Ahmed Swapan Mahmud, executive director of VOICE, noted in a position paper titled ‘Destructive Aid and Bangladesh Development forum 2010’.
Press Conference: Reclaim People's Power for National Development, Reject Destructive Foreign Aid
PEOPLES' RESPONSE TO THE BANGLADESH DEVELOPMENT FORUM (BDF) METING
JOIN THE PRESS CONFERENCE, REJECT DESTRUCTIVE AID
Subject : PRESS CONFERENCE
Title :Reclaim People's Power for National Development, Reject Destructive Foreign Aid
Date : 14 February 2010
Time : 10.30 morning
Venue : VIP Lounge, National Press Club, Dhaka
Speakers :
Justice (Retd) Golam Rabbani
Prof. Anu Mohammad
Noor Mohammad
Arup Rahee
Ahmed Swapan Mahmud
and others,
Organized by:
Aid Accountability Group
VOICE
Transparent role of NGOs urged
Speakers in a discussion meeting yesterday stressed the need for ensuring transparency among NGOs to make effective use of the foreign aid which they felt was necessary for equity based development.
They also suggested for the disclosure of NGOs activities including amount of aids they received and the mode of expenditures.
They were addressing the discussion 'Role of the Civil Society on Aid Effectiveness' jointly organised by Voice (Voices for Interactive Choice and Empowerment) and Aid Accountability Group at National Press Club in the city.
EU for effective role of civil society in development
European Union (EU) ambassador in Dhaka Dr Stefan Frowein has urged the civil society members to find a way to work together to elaborate common positions and lobby effectively to contribute to development and progress to make aid more effective, reports UNB.
"This is especially true in Bangladesh… where civil society plays a crucial role as partner of the government improving the living conditions of thousands and thousands of people," he said while addressing a discussion at the National Press Club (Tuesday).
Voice (Voices for Interactive Choice and Empowerment) and Aid Accountability Group jointly organized the discussion titled ''Role of the Civil Society on Aid Effectiveness''.