Bangladesh - Belgium

Citizens’ Voice and Accountability Evaluation – Bangladesh Country Case Study
coherent and timely policy advice. Substantial chunks of CAMPE’s policy analysis
reportedly found their way into the National Poverty Reduction Strategy (NPRS)
Paper and the main primary education policy document, the Primary Education
Development Programme II (PEDP II). In recent year’s CAMPE’s policy advice has
included discussions on increasing women’s participation in school management
committees, setting a target teacher: pupil ratio at primary level and setting a 50:50
target for male: female teachers. CAMPE’s influence has been achieved through the
make up of its Education Watch members; these are highly respected educationalists
who “have to be taken seriously”.
Donors have also identified the agency of the media, who play such an important role
in highlighting performance and enhancing accountability using the mechanism of a
free press. The Danida/DFID-funded Mass-line Media Centre (MMC) has trained
local grassroots journalists and brokers an association with MMC Resource
Advocacy Centres and Information Centres at village level. They are encouraged
with financial incentives to write articles about local development issues and attend
public meetings to ‘put service providers on the spot’. Their acquired confidence and
style of questioning is said to encourage citizens to adopt a similar approach.
‘Naming and shaming’ in the local news media has had immediate and fruitful effect
although a question mark remains as to whether this leads to any lasting behavioural
change.
Donors have also supported civil society actors to use legal channels to advocate
and claim rights:
• The Bangladesh Sanjukta Sramik Federation (BSSF) successfully lobbied for
union rights for weavers, agricultural labourers and fishermen
• MMC is lobbying for the Right to Information Act
• “We Can” successfully lobbied for the Acid Crimes Control Act, 2002
• GTZ dialogues contributed to the reform of the Labour law
• Samata has championed the rights of the landless to claim their entitlement to
government khas land (see Box 4.8).
Box 4.8.
Samata: A grassroots movement for social justice
Samata evolved as a social movement from below which is motivated by a desire to repossess
land designated for the poor from land grabbers. It derives its strength from the
solidarity of huge numbers of poor people around issues of great concern to them. This
momentum is intrinsic rather than extrinsic as most of its staff are local and regard
themselves as local activists rather than field workers. The movement has gathered
momentum as its many successful land and water body acquisitions have fuelled the
confidence of its members to claim their rights to land. With this acquired confidence Samata
members have subsequently successfully negotiated for other rights, including fair distribution
of special provisions for the poor (relief, pensions, school stipends, distribution of subsidies
and so on), have demanded improved services (attendance of teachers, services of sub
assistant agricultural officers) and have been invited to participate in local arbitration, local
committees as well as successfully contesting seats in Union Parishads.
Source: Authors’ analysis
Few interventions have been at central government level. The notable exception to
this pattern was DFID’s FMRP and its predecessor project. DFID’s support to centreof-government
financial management is gradually opening up the possibility of
greater citizen involvement in public budget oversight at the centre of power rather
than at the margins of local government where budgets are small and therefore
where the potential marginal impact of oversight is low. We noted that the thrust of
the FMRP’s efforts to strengthen oversight have focussed on support for “internal”
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