Civil society's concern about bureaucratic barriers
They urged for independent space
Civil society organisation (CSO) leaders urged for the elimination of bureaucratic barriers and urged for open and free space for raising voices.
They said these at a seminar organised by COAST Foundation, CDP and BDCSO Process at the CIRDAP auditorium in Dhaka today (18 January).
AHM Jahangir, additional secretary at ERD, chaired the seminar, while Rezaul Karim Chowdhury, executive director of COAST and South Asia Civil Society focal of Global Partnership on Effective Development Cooperation (GPEDC), moderated it.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
Dr Sohel Iqbal, COAST, Jahangir Hossain Masum, CDP, Ziaul Haque Mukta, CSRL, Luca De Fraia, co-chair of GPEDC, Ben Morgan as UNRC representative, Sardar M Asaduzzan, UNDP assistant resident representative, Dr Rezaul Bashar Siddique, additional secretary, Abul Kalam Azad, deputy secretary, Gawher Nayeem Warha, Disaster Forum, Sharif Jamil from DORA, Brigadier General Abu Nayeem (retd) from FBCCI, Taslima Miji a local female entrepreneur, KAM Morshed BRAC, delivered keynote presentation.
Ziaul Hque Mukta said the CSOs have to be critical of political society too, historically Bengal is a rich place for aboriginal civil society development.
Luca De Fraia said that an independent and proactive civil society is fundamental for SDG achievement.
Dr Sohel Iqbal in his keynote presentation mentioned key achievements from the conferences from Rome to Kampala, he elaborated five principles from Kampala conferences including local ownership, result orientation, accountability and transparency and leaving no one behind.
Jahangir Hossain Masum explained the monitoring questionnaires.
Dr Rezaul Bashar Siddique and Abul Kalam Azad, of ERD, emphasised the nonpartisan character of civil society.
Ben Morgan and Sardar M Asaduzzaman of the UN appreciated the Bangladesh initiative taken by the government on GPEDC.
KAM Morshed from BRAC gave importance to developing and implementing reform proposals to make development effective.
Most of the grassroots NGOs criticised the donor role as giving less importance to funding local organisations thereby to local civil society development.
Gawhar Nayeem Warha criticised the role of government agencies and district-level officials, creating barriers related to registration and funding clearance.
Sharif Jamil renowned environment and climate activist told his experience in international negotiation for getting pro-people decisions.
Rezaul Karim Chowdhury the moderator of the seminar gave different positive examples of the civil society movement in the country where government policy leaders took changes in decisions, but still, there are need for open and free space for civil society to raise voices.
AHM Jahangir, additional secretary and the chair of the session, urged for work unitedly for reform and a new Bangladesh.
