NATIONAL CONSULTATION ON THE ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY IN AID EFFECTIVENESS

Embassy of Denmark attended national consultation on The Role of Civil Society in Aid Effectiveness at National Press Club, Dhaka, on January 26, 2010.

A national consultation on ‘ Role of civil society in Aid Effectiveness’ was held at the National Press club on January 26, 2010. It was organized by civil society organization VOICE. Journalists, representatives from different CSOs, and representatives from development partner organization participated at the consultation.

The Danish Chargé d’Affaires a.i. Jan Møller Hansen addressed the audience in this occasion and participated as a panel discussant. EU Ambassador Mr. Stefan Frowein also spoke at the consultation. Chaired by the Executive Director of VOICE, the discussion was addressed among others by Ms. Khushi Kabir, co-ordinator ‘Nijera Kori’ and Dr. Iftekharuzzaman, Executive Director, Transparency International, Bangladesh.

Mr. Hansen mentioned that aid effectiveness is not only about aid delivery and monitoring. It is very much about the good governance, performance of the public institutions and the relationship and interaction between government, people and the civil society. He also pointed out the importance of engagement of civil society in promoting and establishing democracy and poverty reduction in Bangladesh.



He also stressed on the pivotal role civil society should play to make aid more effective by keeping Government accountable to the people for their performance, decisions and actions. ‘Make your Government accountable for how it performs and how it spends public money. and facilitate that the voices of people are heard. Engage in policy dialogue, interact with Government. Pilot and innovate new ways of delivering development with and for the people. Do not work in isolation, but engage also with Government and other stakeholders.’’ stated Mr. Jan Møller Hansen.



The consultation was held as part of the process of developing a Joint Cooperation Strategy for Bangladesh and the upcoming Bangladesh Development Forum, which will be held in Dhaka on 15-16 February.