News Coverage

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.

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

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.
He pointed out that the lender-driven Poverty Reduction Strategy had failed to reduce poverty — rather the percentage of the poor has increased in recent years.

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’.

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.
Addressing the discussion, executive director of Transparency International Bangladesh Dr. Iftekharuzzaman told that not only government but activities of NGOs should be transparent. The work and expenditure of NGO bosses should also be brought under inspection.
He said NGOs should ensure their own commitment to reduce poverty and ensure equality and human rights. He stressed on working collectively carrying forward the agenda of aid effectiveness and build up a national movement.
In his address, 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 in the development and progress.

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''.

Chaired by Voice executive director Ahmed Swapan Mahmud, the discussion was addressed, among others, by deputy Danish Charge de Affairs Jan Moller Hansen, executive director of the Transparency International, Bangladesh (TIB) Dr Iftekharuzzman and coordinator of Nijera Kori Khusi Kabir.
DFID advisor for Aid Effectiveness Bo Sundstrom presented at the session a keynote paper on ''How to work more effectively together to deliver real development outcome''.

The European Union ambassador in Dhaka, Stefan Frowein, has urged the civil society members to find a way to work together to elaborate common positions and lobby effectively to contribute in development and progress to make aid more effective.
   ‘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 morning.
   Voice (Voices for Interactive Choice and Empowerment) and Aid Accountability Group jointly organised the discussion titled ‘Role of the Civil Society on Aid Effectiveness’.
   Chaired by Voice executive director Ahmed Swapan Mahmud, the discussion was addressed, among others, by deputy Danish charge d’affaires Jan Moller Hansen, executive director of the Transparency International, Bangladesh Iftekharuzzman and coordinator of Nijera Kori Khusi Kabir.
   DFID adviser for Aid Effectiveness Bo Sundstrom presented at the session the keynote paper on ‘How to work more effectively together to deliver real development outcome’.

While parties were struggling to reach an agreement at the Bella Centre in central Copenhagen before the high-level segment of climate talks, environmental activists from across the globe staged demonstrations yesterday with a call for 'Climate Justice'.

The environmental activists were demanding a 350ppm limit on carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and no more than a 1.5 degree Celsius rise in global temperatures for the sake of survival of the most vulnerable countries like Bangladesh, small islanders and African nations.

Meanwhile, global civil society groups demanded a legal and institutional framework for protecting and rehabilitating 'climate refugees' who are being displaced due to climate change.

http://www.newagebd.com/2009/jul/16/home.html

Most of the dwellers in the Mymensingh municipality are out of water supply coverage and those who are under the supply network never get water round the clock, a study showed.

Only 22 per cent of the dwellers have access to the municipality water supply while the rest 78 per cent collect water from other sources, revealed the study of VOICE, a research group.
 The study showed that a large number of dwellers are pilfering water through illegal connections as corruption and mismanagement in water supply go rampant in the municipality.

‘The municipality supplies water only for four hours a day, leaving the dwellers in serious problems,’ Ahmed Swapan Mahmud, executive director of VOICE, said revealing the findings of study. He said the study was carried out recently to assess the current state of people’s access to safe drinking water in Mymensingh municipality.

Around 25 per cent respondents said, they fell victims to fake bills while 90 per cent of them complained about irregular supply of water. Most of them also had complaints about safety of the supplied water.

Neoliberal doctrines fail to cut poverty Seminar told

Privatisation and trade liberalisation instigated by neoliberal doctrines have failed to reduce poverty or ensure social protection for the poor, instead it increased concentration of wealth and disparity in the society, speakers said at a seminar yesterday.

Neoliberalism did not only cause a devastating consequence to developing countries like Bangladesh, it also has shaken the northern economy, they added.

A comprehensive set of social protection policies must be introduced to replace the unfocused and ad hoc social safety net as a strategy of addressing poverty, they said.

This should be looked into with rights-based approach instead of mere service delivery, they suggested.

Neoliberalism is a political view, arising in the 1960s, that emphasises the importance of economic growth and asserts that social justice is best maintained by minimal government interference and free market forces.

The seminar on 'Neoliberalism, Poverty and Social Protection Policies' was organised by VOICE, a research and public education organisation, at the National Press in Dhaka.