Netherlands signs grant agreement with TIB

The Kingdom of the Netherlands, represented by the Embassy of the Netherlands in Bangladesh, signed a  Grant Agreement with Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) on 19 January.

This is the first time that the Netherlands has partnered with TIB to support the social movement against corruption, read a press release.

The grant agreement was signed at the Embassy of Netherlands in Dhaka by Ambassador Anne Van Leeuwen and Executive Director of TIB, Dr. Iftekharuzzaman, as respective signatories. Cor Stouten, First Secretary of the Political Wing, Jasper Kort, Financial Officer, Jager Folkert, First Secretary Water Management and Food Security, and Namia Akhtar, Policy Advisor on Political Affairs and Public Diplomacy of the Netherlands embassy were also present.

Under the grant, TIB will implement its core 5-year project, Participatory Action Against Corruption: Towards Transparency and Accountability (PACTA), which has been ongoing since January 2022. In addition to the Netherlands, the other development partners of the project till date are the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) of the UK, the Swedish Embassy, and the Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC) of Switzerland. Netherlands will contribute BDT 42.5 million to the project, read the PR.

The PACTA project aims to contribute to promoting better governance and curbing corruption towards a more inclusive, equitable, and non-discriminatory society consistent with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

In addition to research-based policy advocacy and stakeholder involvement, the project will deepen and widen participation of people, especially the youth,  in the social movement against corruption supported by data-driven community monitoring to identify and amend  governance deficiencies, promote transparent and accountable public service delivery.