Monitoring Policy Making at the United Nations |
| ||||||||||||
Political Squall Stalls Bangladesh Development Projects - NGOs - Global policy Forum Political Squall Stalls Bangladesh Development Projects
By Saleem Samad
OneWorldProjects impacting the lives of nearly six million poor people in Bangladesh hang in the balance since the government blocked foreign funding to several nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) running poverty alleviation schemes, while a 16 month probe into their political links continued.
According to a senior government official, the NGO Affairs Bureau functioning under the control of the Prime Minister's Office had stalled funds totaling U.S $ 61.70 million to five of the country's large NGOs accused of financing Bangladesh's leading opposition party- the Awami League- in the end of 2001. So far the enquiry conducted by the south Asian nation's top investigative agencies like the Intelligence Bureau and the Anti-Corruption Bureau has made no apparent headway into allegations of corruption and misuse of foreign funds.
Much to the displeasure of the right-wing Bangladesh Nationalist Party government, the clutch of indicted development NGOs had earlier supported a pro-democracy movement in the country. Executive director of blacklisted NGO PRIP Trust, Aroma Dutt, demanded that, " The government should make the enquiry's findings public."
Due to the foreign fund crunch, projects of the targeted NGOs which include PROSHIKA, International Voluntary Services, BNPS and Center for Development Services, are moving at snails pace. For instance, a five-year program launched by Bangladesh's second largest NGO, PROSHIKA in 1999, intended to benefit an estimated 700,000 rural children remains only partly implemented after the government blocked funding.
The mammoth educational project was to be implemented through 600 small NGOs under PROSHIKA's guidance. In the fourth year, about 23,400 non-formal schools were expected to begin classes and then focus on expansion. In the first two years, the project reportedly encompassed 300,000 poor students in a non-formal primary education program. But in the third year, the project hit a logjam, with the NGO forced to take loans from other sources to continue.
Nearly 10,000 large and small NGOs in the under-developed nation are involved in poverty alleviation, women's empowerment, literacy, health services, and micro-credit programs among the rural and urban poor. Development expert Dr Atiur Rahman protested that the government's decision to block funds was in marked contradiction to its thrust on social development, poverty alleviation and employment generation.
Chairman of the apex body of NGOs, Association of Development Agencies in Bangladesh (ADAB), Dr Qazi Faruque Ahmed alleged that, " The government can take legal recourse if it can prove fund misuse, but it cannot hold back grants." Ahmed warned that donors would not keep their funds unutilized for much longer. " They will divert funds to other poor countries if they fail to send them here," he said. As part of the crackdown, the government also cut funds to an ADAB project for "Strengthening the Role of NGOs and Civil Societies Towards Sustainable Development."
Concerned about the probe's tardy progress, representatives of donor agencies met the government twice to enquire about clearance of their funds. They were told that action would be taken only after the enquiry's conclusion.
Local government and rural development minister, Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan assured representatives that the government would refrain from monitoring NGO activities. Four months ago, Bhuiyan claimed the government had drafted a new policy for social development projects, but it has not been released so far.
As proof of the increasing politicization of the NGO sector, early this month, the government led by Bangladesh Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia, motivated leaders of rival NGOs to form a pro-government NGO coalition.
The Bangladesh government boasts a long tradition of policing NGO activities. The first such move was initiated during the military rule of General Hussein Muhammad Ershad (1982 - 1990) while the second instance occurred during Khaleda Zia's earlier regime from 1991- 1996.
In all previous incidents, the situation was resolved through donor intervention.
More Information on NGOs
More Information on NGOs and States
FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Global Policy Forum distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
