Effective Dev Activities
Coordination a must among NGOs
Speakers at a discussion yesterday stressed the need for more coordination among the international NGOs (INGO) and local NGOs to make development activities more effective.
They said it is unfortunate that there is no apex body of NGOs although the country has a long tradition of a vibrant NGOs and civil society working actively in different areas, including poverty alleviation, education, health, gender equity etc.
The speakers emphasised self-evaluation of NGOs activities to ensure transparency and accountability.
The discussion titled 'Transparency, Governance and Democracy: the role of international NGOs' was a session of five parallel sessions of a daylong programme organised by INGO Forum Bangladesh at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre marking 40th anniversary of Bangladesh's independence.
In his keynote paper, Barrister Manzoor Hasan, advisor of Institute of Governance Studies (IGS) of Brac University, said despite playing a notable role, INGOs major success area is confined to awareness raising and policy advocacy.
The INGOs have not been able to achieve the same level of success in the arena of policy change and implementation over the last 40 years in matters to governance and democratic institutionalisation, he said, adding a greater partnership with the national NGOs is a must for translating their success into policy reform.
Dr Badiul Alam Majumder, country director of The Hunger Project-Bangladesh, said there are many disagreements among the NGOs which need to be removed immediately.
“It is imperative to have a deep assessment on strategies we are working on,” he said.
Dr Iftekharuzzaman, executive director of Transparency International Bangladesh, said both the INGOs and national NGOs have to be accountable and self-regulatory mechanism within the organisation.
“It's a matter of great disappointment that despite having a vibrant NGO sector in the country still we are divided especially partisan politics,” he said, underlining the need for a forum.
Shaheen Anam, executive director of Manusher Jonno Foundation, said, “We have to ensure our governance, transparency and accountability otherwise we will not have the moral authority to play the role of watchdog.” (Related Story on Page 1)
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