<strong>Police</strong> <strong>Reform</strong> <strong>Programme</strong> (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 <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Reform</strong> <strong>Programme</strong> into these partisan efforts. Within this context, the Bangladesh <strong>Police</strong> has taken vital first steps towards reform. The PRP provides the Bangladesh <strong>Police</strong> 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 <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Reform</strong> <strong>Programme</strong> 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 <strong>Police</strong> itself benefits from PRP operations which increase police capacity, image and social standing, in addition to greater job satisfaction and morale. 12 <strong>Annual</strong> <strong>Report</strong> 2012
Section II: Key Achievements and Results