Bangladesh - Belgium

Annex F.
Summary of Stakeholder Debriefing Workshop
Bangladesh Citizen Voice and Accountability: Stakeholder Debriefing Workshop
Hotel Crystal Garden, Wednesday 19 th December, 2008
Break-out
Group
Donor
Group
Break-out group questions and summary of discussion
How coherent is the donor theory of change about CVA in Bangladesh? Is the
total effect of donor activity in CVA more than the sum of the parts?
• Theory of Change: Agreed that this is important
• Results-Based Management: How to measure?
• Core funding among some donors already exists but it maybe that we are a little
bit pushy on this > too directive: How can we be more supportive to the wishes of
local stakeholders?
• Challenge to find a local counterpart on the government side: it is not clear who
are the (potential) change makers with authority to make decisions. This is why it
is often easier to stick to the lively demand side (while acknowledging that the
demand side actors themselves are not always accountable)
• Joined up approach: Analyse activities and assess what works and what does not
(i.e. just like this workshop, so we are looking forward to the findings of this
evaluation and hoping for recommendations)
How does the donor concern with poverty reduction/MDGs impact on their CVA
interventions?
• Poverty reduction focus links to our concern with scale and outreach. This is a
significant influence on our approach (e.g. Challenge Fund which is a step back
from understanding the reality on the ground. It is much more indirect which is a
risk. Reflects tension of reaching MDG goals
• Awareness amongst donors that multiple funding through different channels to
NGOs creates distortions, perverted incentives and risks: “we are very aware of
this and our discussions are ongoing… we put much of the blame on ourselves
for creating these distortions”
Govt
Group
Civil
Society
Group
How can government reform itself towards enhanced CVA?
• National reform Commission and Local Government Reforms represent CVA
enhancement
• Change requires incentives and sanctions for a “listening culture” to develop
• Union Parishad infrastructure development for one-stop services is good but
people need political space as well as physical space.. so this is good, but not
enough
Are we witnessing an emergence of a “citizenship culture” in Bangladesh and
have the donors played a role in this?
• Yes, a citizenship culture is emerging, especially in our capacity to articulate
demands for change and its impact in the supply side.. but there is a long way to
go
• Yes donors have played a role, albeit that it is homegrown
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