With a shared agenda of establishing inclusive governance in between the Bangladesh government and civil society organisations, a good-governance event was held in Rangpur on Thursday.
The “Inclusive Governance and Social Accountability (IGSA) Forum” was organised by Platforms for Dialogue, a European Union and Govt of Bangladesh funded project in partnership with the Cabinet Division and is being implemented through the British Council Bangladesh.
Insisting on the importance of accountability across institutions, Md. NM Zeaul Alam, the Secretary, ICT Division of the Government of Bangladesh and the Chief Guest of the event said, “Without accountability, democracy can’t comprehensively be functional.”
Sultan Ahmed, additional Secretary, Cabinet Division and Project Director of P4D, urged the government officials to be more aware of accomplishing good governance along with ensuring social responsibilities.
“Without people’s participation and inclusive governance, democracy would become meaningless,” he opined
He also forewarns the government officials by uttering that establishing good governance is very much critical in a country like Bangladesh.
Emphasising good governance, K. M. Tariqul Islam, Commissioner, Rangpur Division said, “People are the owner of the state so their participation in the process of good governance and development is very important”.
The one-day IGSA Forum was a mixed methodology of plenary sessions, seminars, workshops and presentations. These sessions concentrated on the needs of national and regional civil servants overseeing citizen engagement and quality of service provision, with a particular focus on the effective implementation of Citizens’ Charters and the Grievance Redress System.
P4D is a three-year project that supports the promotion of inclusive governance at local and national levels. P4D emphasises mutual responsibilities to foster a more collaborative relationship between government and civil society. A major aim of Platforms for Dialogue is to promote a widespread application of social accountability tools. Part of P4D’s mission is to support government institutions to deliver on ambitions set out in the 7th Five-Year-Plan and policies centred on the National Integrity Strategy, the Right to Information Act, Citizens’ Charters and the Grievance Redress System.
As part of P4D’s intervention in 21 districts, CSOs and representatives of local government are receiving training that will inspire effective engagement and dialogue on local policy issues. The project is now developing new tools and policy platforms, both at the regional and national level, for effective and transparent government-civil society engagement on policy matters.
