Annual Report - Police Reform Programme

Police Reform Programme
(Phase-II)
Section I: Context
Key Development Areas and Issues
Since the early 1990's, Bangladesh has achieved greater human development, economic growth, and
is currently on track to meet a number of MDGs. Despite remarkable achievements in a wide variety
of fields, Bangladesh still suffers from lack of access to justice, respect for the rule of law, and
knowledge of human rights, in addition to weak governance.
Inadequate law and order and wide spread crime and corruption remain deeply rooted issues in
Bangladesh, negatively impacting the safety of citizens and deterring national security. Overall, crime
remains underreported and insufficiently investigated by the police; the court system is slow and the
prisons are overcrowded. There is a growing desire from civil society, the media, government
ministries, and international agencies to establish a more coordinated Justice Sector in order to
strengthen channels allowing civilians to gain access to the judicial system. To this end, UNDP
supports projects aiming to harmonise the Justice Sector's outputs and deliverables and has
integrated the Police Reform Programme into these partisan efforts.
Within this context, the Bangladesh Police has taken vital first steps towards reform. The PRP
provides the Bangladesh Police with technical and financial assistance in order to undertake
operational, organizational, and legal reform; build training capacity; improve the quality of
investigations, operations, and prosecutions; consolidate community policing and crime prevention;
increase gender sensitive policing; and introduce cost effective and realistic information and
communication technology.
Development Goal and Purpose of the Police Reform Programme
The PRP's development goal focuses on strengthening security and stability in Bangladesh, while
promoting and protecting the human rights of its citizens, particularly the marginalised and
underprivileged, in order to aid in the attainment of MDGs, greater economic development and
access to social justice. The PRP's purpose is to improve the personal safety of the people of
Bangladesh, continue developing pathways to gain justice and assist in the realisation of human
rights for all citizens, particularly the vulnerable groups such as women, children and ethnic
minorities.
Target Beneficiaries
The PRP's target beneficiaries are the people of Bangladesh, particularly the disadvantaged and
marginalised and including women and children. The PRP has a national scope, providing support to
the police and the community in both metropolitan and rural areas and focusing on the impoverished,
ethnic and religious minorities and other vulnerable groups. These groups have traditionally suffered
from an inability and unwillingness to access justice due to the imbalance in power relationships, lack
of awareness and lack of trust in the justice system. The Bangladesh Police itself benefits from PRP
operations which increase police capacity, image and social standing, in addition to greater job
satisfaction and morale.
12
Annual Report 2012