Form people's body to deal with climate fund

Civil society urges govt

27 May 2010, 18:00 PM

Staff Correspondent

A democratic ownership comprising representation from the government, civil society, affected people and the media should be established to deal with the Climate Change Trust Fund created by the government, civil society members said at a seminar yesterday. They also suggested forming an autonomous foundation to manage the fund. The seminar was jointly organised by the Equity and Justice Working Group Bangladesh (EquityBD) and the Campaign for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods (CSRL) at the Jatiya Press Club in the city. The government has allocated Tk 700 crore for the Climate Change Trust Fund to combat the climate impacts. The speakers expressed concerns about the transparency of the fund as bureaucrats and ministers mainly dominate the trustee board. Md Shamsuddoha of the EquityBD presented the keynote paper at the seminar. Around 5,000 non-government organisations have submitted proposals for project funding, most of which don't have any prior experience. Dr Rashid-e-Mahbub of the National Health Rights Campaign said the ownership of the fund would not go to the people rather it would go to the government. There is a huge possibility of misuse of the fund, he said. The speakers said voices of the people in the affected areas should be taken into consideration and there representation should be included in the fund management. Tusar Rahman of the Citizen Rights Movement, Faroque Ahmed of the Media Foundation for Trade and Development, Syed Mahbub Alam of the WBB Trust, Nasimul Haque of the CDMP-UNDP, Mohammad Ali of the Bangladesh Trade Union Centre, Zakir Hossain of the Nagorik Uddyog and Ziaul Haque Mukta of the Oxfam GB, among others, spoke at the seminar.