Bangladesh - Belgium

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Citizens’ Voice and Accountability Evaluation – Bangladesh Country Case Study C.4. Recent events that shape opportunities and risks for voice and accountability The range of interviewees met during the Inception Phase, (October 2007), concur on the view that Bangladesh is currently experiencing ‘uncertain times’. It is currently governed by a transition Caretaker Government which intends to stand down for national elections to take place by December 2008. This arrangement commenced in January 2007 as a response to months of violent protests by opposition parties over the electoral system and, in particular, the national elections which were to have been held in late 2006. The Caretaker Government initially enjoyed popular support as it vowed to ‘clean up’ politics, in particular, taking tough action against insidious corruption. However, the imposition of a state of emergency which included banning all kinds of political activities, protests and rallies as well as curtailment of freedom of speech was increasingly criticised with allegations of abuse of power. These criticisms came to a head in August, 2007 with a series of violent student protests. On September 10th, 2007.the Caretaker Government lifted the ban on indoor political meetings to pave the way for crucial negotiations between the Election Commission and the political parties on electoral reforms, planned over the following two months. As a consequence of the state of emergency all meetings regardless of the purpose or the convenor (NGO, Trade Union, CSO or Government Department) required police authorization, which included prior approval of all participants as well as the agenda. The impact of this continues to be felt and even government – led consultation processes have been curtailed 56 . The Caretaker Government is determined to stem corruption before the elections. Over 200,000 people have been arrested including 160 high-profile political leaders and the leaders of the two main parties, both former Prime Ministers who ruled the country for 16 years until October, 2006. The current situation thus provides both opportunities and challenges for promoting citizens’ voice and accountability: Opportunities • The suspension of parliament and de-emphasis on partisan politics which has in the past pervaded all aspects of life and livelihoods is regarded by many grassroots citizens as a positive step which empowers them to make demands of and lodge complaints with local service providers ‘we would not have dared to before for fear of politically motivated reprisal’ (comments made in field October 2007) • Consultations with citizens (Sida Reality Check 2007) indicates that there is a strong feeling that the Caretaker Government is ‘pro-poor’ as evidenced by timely resource distribution (e.g. benefits for the poor, school resources, resumption of free medicine provision in hospitals etc) and a crack down on corrupt practices e.g. broker arrangements (speed money) in health facilities, absenteeism among government officials etc. • The absence of political interference in the allocation of resources has led to a perceived fairer distribution. Processes such as the award of contracts at local and national level are regarded as more transparent and fair 56 e.g. Local Government Engineering Department has suspended its customary village consultation process on small infrastructure priorities and feels that their credibility as a participatory organisation is being undermined. 78
Citizens’ Voice and Accountability Evaluation – Bangladesh Country Case Study • The Caretaker Government is emphasizing the establishment and/or operationalisation of guardianship institutions (which support horizontal accountability e.g. Anti Corruption Commission, separation of the judiciary 57 , Electoral Commission etc), which are enshrined in the Constitution but were not enacted. Challenges: • The media, which in recent years has become more independent and neutral, has been encouraged to provide extensive coverage of the drive to bring corrupt officials to justice but there is evidence of interference and directives not to publish anti-government material. Private TV companies have been directed to suspend all their programming of current events and political debate • Civil society meetings, workshops and other forms of association are subject to police approval and censorship • There are allegations of serious incidents of human rights abuses by the security forces • The Caretaker Government is seen as promoting strongly secular interests to the exclusion of Islamist ones. There is much speculation regarding the future. It is feared that despite the efforts to prepare for elections at the end of 2008 including the preparation of a new voters list and ID cards and instigation of new qualifying regulations for candidates, the two main parties will boycott the election. The two year transition period is too short for the establishment of and mobilization of support for alternative political parties. Other scenarios suggest the possibility of an institutionalised and expanded version of the current Caretaker Government arrangement of advisors or further infiltration by the military. In principle, the Caretaker Government claims to support not only enhancing accountability (where the main opportunities appear to currently lie) but also voice. It has publicly endorsed the Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) which remains the key document for alignment of development aid. Under the title ‘Unlocking the Potential; National Strategy for Accelerated Poverty Reduction,2005- 7’, the document spells out a commitment to poverty reduction and the Millennium Development Goals. Along with growth and human development, governance is one of the three key elements of the policy triangle used in the PRS to determine priorities. The consultations leading up to development of the PRS gave high priority to improving governance and suggested a concentration on the local governance agenda, which is described in the PRS as ‘central to the critical issues of decentralized service-delivery, grass-root accountability and the newer focus on regeneration of local economies through relevant partnerships amongst local government bodies, CBOs, NGOs, private sector and central government agencies.’ (1.13). Local governance is thus one of the eight strategic agenda (1.15) Promoting ‘good governance by ensuring transparency, accountability and rule of law’ is also one of the four supporting strategies. The PRS identifies the “needs” of the poor regarding governance as:’ i) better service-delivery particularly in the areas of health and education, ii) reduction of leakage in targeted programmes, iii) access to justice, iv)regulatory support to the informal and un-organised sectors of the economy where a majority of the poor pursue their livelihoods, and, v) reduction of income erosion threats to the poor due to various forms of insecurity and improper application of power’ (4.29). It highlights a need for reformulating the decentralisation agenda to one of promoting local governance as a ‘political and institutional process which can contribute to the required scaling up of the rate of poverty reduction 57 Historically achieved on November 1 st , 2007) 79
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IV Relevant Primary and Secondary d
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II: Overall Assessment of Intervent
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Impact According to the 2007 Impact
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Model of change Assumptions Activit
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D.8. Bangladesh Sanjukta Sramic Fed
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Effectiveness BSSF provides 22 trai
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. Model of change Assumptions Activ
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D.9. Rupantar Grassroots Women’s
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Impact Phase 1 resulted in a cadre
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Figure 1. Rupantar CVA Model of Cha
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Table 2. Most significant change an
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D.10. Samata - Empowerment Through
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Lessons Learned Important lessons l
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Table 2. Most significant change an
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D.11. GTZ brokered dialogue within
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Sustainability GTZ feels that the f
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Project (Donor) Partners/ PIUs Inte
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Project (Donor) Partners/ PIUs Inte
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Annex F. Summary of Stakeholder Deb
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