Localisation, inclusiveness, and tolerance are necessary to create social capital, which is necessary for sustainable development in Bangladesh, speakers said at a virtual annual conference Wednesday.
Social capital has to be based on four principles of Bangladesh’s Liberation War of 9171 and international commitments like the Grand Bargain, Development Effectiveness, and the Charter for Change, they said at the concluding day of the Bangladesh NGO-CSO Coordination Process (BDCSO Process) annual virtual conference.
Dr Atiur Rahman, former governor of the Bangladesh Bank and executive director of Unnayan Shamannay, chaired the programme.
Judith Herbertson, development director of the British High Commission in Dhaka, Ignacio Packer, executive director of the International Council of Voluntary Association, and Johannes van der Klaauw, country representative of the UNHCR Bangladesh, attended the conference as chief guests.
Atiur said, “Although there are vaccine apartheid and a lot of conflicts worldwide, it is a matter of pride that Bangladesh, with its limited capacity, has given shelter to millions of Rohingyas. There is little effort from international actors and developed countries on repatriation. It is a huge pressure on our economy, but we are committed to their dignity.”
Johannes said they give high importance to the repatriation of Rohingyas. “UNHCR is fully with the government to contain criminal activities in the camp.”
Judith said, “British people are committed to assisting localisation and local civil society. There are already joint need assessment and coordination structures with local NGOs/CSOs. And the British government wants to see a vibrant civil society here.”
Sudhanshu Shekar Sing, executive director of Humanitarian Aid International India, Sharif Jamil, general secretary of Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon, Murshed Alam Sarker, chairman of Credit Development Forum, joined the conference as special guests.
Murshed Alam Sarker said international actors should not focus on the capacity deficit of Bangladeshi CSOs/NGOs. “They should leave the operational leadership to the local NGOs, instead.”
AHM Bazlur Rahman, chief executive officer of Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication, said: “Localisation is also necessary to gear the NGOs up to prepare them for Bangladesh’s post-LDC graduation.”
The three-day annual meeting of the network of around 600 local and national NGOs-CSOs began on October 23 and concluded yesterday.
Source: United News of Bangladesh