Bangladesh - Independent Evaluation Group - World Bank

4.28 The work of the Senior Governance Advisor/Specialist has helped pioneer a new
approach to analytic and advisory activities (AAA) by partnering with a local institution,
BRAC University’s Institute of Governance Studies, where it staged workshops that pulled
together the key stakeholders in different “institutions of accountability” series. The State of
Governance Report has been published each year since 2007. The report is of high quality,
but its impact is difficult to judge.
4.29 Work relating to the return of stolen assets is inconclusive. Seven seminars and an
exposure visit regarding anti-money laundering work was carried out. A Mutual Legal
Assistance unit was set up in the Attorney General’s Office, with support from the United
States Agency for International Development (USAID). Seven requests received by the unit
were being pursued in the United Kingdom as of December 2008. Progress since then is
unknown.
4.30 The work with the Padma Bridge task team has led to a number of innovative
measures, including compulsory asset disclosures by all principals involved in the project
and appointment of an Integrity Advisor reporting directly to the Prime Minister. These
measures apply to all components of the project, not just those funded by the Bank.
4.31 In addition, an assessment of the effectiveness of GAC in projects was recently
completed by the Bank’s Country Office. Based on a 2010 survey of task teams,
approximately one-third of the 67 GAC mechanisms embedded in active projects were
judged to be fully implemented. Others were partially implemented. Education (67 percent)
and rural roads (43 percent) had the highest rates of fully implemented measures. The work
of the Senior Governance Advisor/Specialist has been flexible in responding to opportunities
and challenges facing the Bank, and to the demands of the three Country Directors. This
flexibility is appropriate given the uncertainties inherent in working in this field.
4.32 The demand for good governance measures, including those supported under the
Local Government Support Project, made some progress at the community level in roads and
education. Other successful experiences include the use of NGOs in the solar power
component of the Rural Electrification Project and the use of NGOs in the Padma Bridge
Project to carry out social benefit and resettlement programs.
4.33 Making additional progress in the future will be a complex process. As discussed
above, civil society organizations focus much more on service delivery than advocacy, both
because the former helps to generate income, and because the latter can put livelihoods and
lives at risk. Government ministries are also accustomed to a directive approach and resist
the extra effort, time, and risks of expanding transparency and participation. Demand for
good governance measures has also been constrained by weak NGO capacity, the co-opting
of NGO partners by political interests, and government interference in subcontracting NGOs.
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