UNB, Dhaka :
Peace, security, human rights and good governance will be the key priority areas in achieving the new global development agenda, says leading economist Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya.
He said the government in the past has taken a number of policy and institutional initiatives to establish good governance in the social system but advantages of these initiatives are unfortunately yet to be reflected in people’s life. “This is why it is essential to increase citizen’s awareness, strengthen administrative capacities and make the political willingness visible,” Dr Debapriya said while speaking at a discussion at the Training Centre of Madaripur Legal Aid Association (MLAA), in Madaripur on Saturday.
The meeting on ‘The New Global Development Agenda: Peace and Security and Human Rights and Governance” was jointly organised by the MLAA and TIB’s Sachetan Nagarik Committee (SANAC), Madaripur, in partnership with the Citizen’s Platform for SDGs, Bangladesh. Eminent economist and Convenor of the Platform Dr Debapriya, who is also the Chairman of MLAA, made the keynote presentation at the meeting. Other guest speakers included TIB Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman and Honorary
Executive Director of BLAST Barrister Sara Hossain. The meeting was chaired by Vice-President of MLAA former Mayor Nurul Alam Babu Chowdhury, said a CPD press release. The meeting was attended by the current municipality Mayor Md. Khalid Hossain Yead, public representatives of various levels, government officials, lawyers, journalists, medical practitioners and other social organisation leaders of Madaripur.
Dr Debapriya, in his keynote, said that good governance and effective institutional structure can play important role in attaining inclusive growth. He said peace and security are two other development criterion, as they see conflict-affected regions all over the world face severe constraints in their development path.
The economist said human rights has even more critical role in development – protection of human rights is the fundamental element of sustainable development framework. He reiterated that there is a significant deficit of required data that could ensure accountability in the process of establishing rule of law, peace and human.
The government, as well as non-government organisations, needs to increase their spending in this area and be more innovative to attain more positive outcomes, he added. TIB Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman said that aligning with the international commitments, the government has formulated some important legal, institutional and policy framework that would be helpful in establishing good governance and control corruption. These include National Righteous Strategy and Right to Information Act. Now these need ‘actual implementation’.
Transparency and accountability of the political parties are essential elements of the democratic system that impact other institutions of democracy. “Attaining the mandate of ‘no one will be left behind’ will be impossible if the fundamental rights of citizens, freedom of speech in particular, is denied,” said Dr Zaman. Barrister Sara Hossain emphasized on rule of law, ensuring accountability of the security forces and child protection to attain the SDG 16 of the new global agenda. She said Child Marriage Restraint Act 2017 will be an important step in this regard. “However, concerns remain as regards its special provision, which has been voiced by almost all women’s and children rights forums. She also criticised some aspects of the proposed Citizenship Act.”
The MLAA Secretary Advocate Fazlul Huq said that the rewards of development will remain aloof if we cannot reduce the level of corruption. He called on everyone to take step against corruption from their respective positions.
Peace, security, human rights and good governance will be the key priority areas in achieving the new global development agenda, says leading economist Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya.
He said the government in the past has taken a number of policy and institutional initiatives to establish good governance in the social system but advantages of these initiatives are unfortunately yet to be reflected in people’s life. “This is why it is essential to increase citizen’s awareness, strengthen administrative capacities and make the political willingness visible,” Dr Debapriya said while speaking at a discussion at the Training Centre of Madaripur Legal Aid Association (MLAA), in Madaripur on Saturday.
The meeting on ‘The New Global Development Agenda: Peace and Security and Human Rights and Governance” was jointly organised by the MLAA and TIB’s Sachetan Nagarik Committee (SANAC), Madaripur, in partnership with the Citizen’s Platform for SDGs, Bangladesh. Eminent economist and Convenor of the Platform Dr Debapriya, who is also the Chairman of MLAA, made the keynote presentation at the meeting. Other guest speakers included TIB Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman and Honorary
Executive Director of BLAST Barrister Sara Hossain. The meeting was chaired by Vice-President of MLAA former Mayor Nurul Alam Babu Chowdhury, said a CPD press release. The meeting was attended by the current municipality Mayor Md. Khalid Hossain Yead, public representatives of various levels, government officials, lawyers, journalists, medical practitioners and other social organisation leaders of Madaripur.
Dr Debapriya, in his keynote, said that good governance and effective institutional structure can play important role in attaining inclusive growth. He said peace and security are two other development criterion, as they see conflict-affected regions all over the world face severe constraints in their development path.
The economist said human rights has even more critical role in development – protection of human rights is the fundamental element of sustainable development framework. He reiterated that there is a significant deficit of required data that could ensure accountability in the process of establishing rule of law, peace and human.
The government, as well as non-government organisations, needs to increase their spending in this area and be more innovative to attain more positive outcomes, he added. TIB Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman said that aligning with the international commitments, the government has formulated some important legal, institutional and policy framework that would be helpful in establishing good governance and control corruption. These include National Righteous Strategy and Right to Information Act. Now these need ‘actual implementation’.
Transparency and accountability of the political parties are essential elements of the democratic system that impact other institutions of democracy. “Attaining the mandate of ‘no one will be left behind’ will be impossible if the fundamental rights of citizens, freedom of speech in particular, is denied,” said Dr Zaman. Barrister Sara Hossain emphasized on rule of law, ensuring accountability of the security forces and child protection to attain the SDG 16 of the new global agenda. She said Child Marriage Restraint Act 2017 will be an important step in this regard. “However, concerns remain as regards its special provision, which has been voiced by almost all women’s and children rights forums. She also criticised some aspects of the proposed Citizenship Act.”
The MLAA Secretary Advocate Fazlul Huq said that the rewards of development will remain aloof if we cannot reduce the level of corruption. He called on everyone to take step against corruption from their respective positions.
