Bangladesh Development Forum, 2004

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Bangladesh Development Forum, 2004

• Enhancing Partnerships between Government and
  NGOs

Sunday, 09 May, 2004
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Background

• Over 75 people of Bangladesh live in the rural
  areas and depend on agriculture for their
  livelihood, which is primarily based upon human
  labor and animal draught power.
• Moderate increase in per capita growth in recent
  years has not resulted in any major impact on
  poverty alleviation because of highly uneven
  distribution of assets and economic
  opportunities.

Background
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Background

• The country heavily depends on foreign aid and on
  remittances from workers abroad.
• Foreign aid significantly contributing to the
  annual development budget.
• The NGOs bring almost US 275 million into the
  country every year from foreign donors.
• The funds used by the NGOs are intended to
  empower the poor, specially the women.

Background
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Establishment of NGOAB

• The NGO Affairs Bureau (NGOAB) was established in
  1990 to better facilitate the NGO activities in
  Bangladesh and to monitor and evaluate the
  performance of the NGOs to ensure accountability
  and transparency. However, the main objective of
  this department is to provide one-stop-service to
  the NGOs.

Establishment of NGOAB
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Classification of NGOs

• NGOs in Bangladesh are classified into two
  groups
• 1. NGOs operating with locally generated funds
• 2. NGOs operating with foreign assistance in
  addition to local contributions/ subscriptions.

Classification of NGOs
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Legal Framework

• The NGOs in category A are generally registered
  with the Department of Social Welfare (DSW).
• The NGOs in category B are foreign assisted and
  in order to receive foreign donations they have
  to be registered with the NGOAB.
• NGOs can also be registered under laws
  administered by the Registrar of the Joint Stock
  Companies under the Ministry of Commerce.

Legal Framework
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Roles of Government, NGOs in Service Delivery

• The Government requires support of the NGOs to
  maximize output through efficient utilization of
  its limited resources. Moreover, the NGOs have
  the ability to reach the hardcore poor and
  deliver different services to them efficiently.
• On the other hand, the NGOs require cooperation
  of the Government. Without cooperation from the
  Government it becomes impossible for them to
  implement the project.

Roles of Government, NGOs in Service Delivery
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Participation in Policy Making

• NGOs also participate in the policy making
  process of the government. They are involved in
  various task forces, committees to assist
  government for different policy measures

Participation in Policy Making
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Mechanisms for channeling Government/Donor funds
through NGOs

• NGOs spend quite a sizeable amount every year
  under the development budget of the GoB.
• NGOs are involved with the Government on
  sub-contracting in different sectors of
  development like health, education, sanitation,
  woman and child development and in priority areas
  like livestock rearing, community fisheries etc.

Mechanisms for channeling Government/Donor funds
through NGOs
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Mechanisms for channeling Government/Donor funds
through NGOs

• According to the Asian Development Bank report of
  2002, NGOs are taking part in implementation of
  more than 50 of the projects supported by the
  Bank.

Mechanisms for channeling Government/Donor funds
through NGOs
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Sub-contracting of NGOs

• Concerned Ministry/Division selects the NGOs with
  their own strategies.
• Usually a bidding process is followed to select
  the NGOs.
• Taken under consideration for selection are legal
  status, manpower strength, past experience,
  previous performance, capability etc. of the
  NGOs.

Sub-contracting of NGOs
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Governance of NGOs

• Theoretically, NGOs should follow the relevant
  laws but they are mostly self-governed.
• Internal management of the NGOs are governed by a
  general council which normally selects an
  executive committee of 5 to 9 members.

Governance of NGOs
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Governance of NGOs

• The CEO of the organization is usually the
  Member-Secretary of the executive committee.
• The tasks of the general council and executive
  committee are not well defined and usually the
  CEO holds full command.

Governance of NGOs
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Governance of NGOs

• There are no guidelines from the Government for
  the NGOs to follow to frame rules and regulations
  for their internal administration.
• As a result, different NGOs follow different
  policies regarding salary, hiring, firing etc.

Governance of NGOs
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Governance of NGOs

• The assets of the NGOs are not often well
  accounted for.
• A lot of assets simply disappear when an
  organization ceases to function or is dissolved.
• The NGOAB has a list of around 150 accounting
  firms from which the NGOs choose to audit their
  accounts.
• NGOAB also inspect the activities and audit the
  accounts of the NGOs.

Governance of NGOs
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Realism of proposed legislation need for
progressive and flexible legal regulatory
Framework for NGOs

• Just after the present Government took over in
  the year 2001, certain priority areas for reforms
  were identified, which required urgent and
  greater attention.
• In this regard, a number of Cabinet Committees
  were constituted by the Government to verify
  different legal and policy aspects and to make
  recommendations for potential improvements.

Realism of proposed legislation need for
progressive and flexible legal regulatory
Framework for NGOs
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Realism of proposed legislation need for
progressive and flexible legal regulatory
Framework for NGOs

• At that time, the need was felt to review the
  existing regulatory arrangements in the NGO
  sector.
• In this context, the Government appointed a
  Cabinet Committee to explore the existing laws
  and make necessary recommendations.

Realism of proposed legislation need for
progressive and flexible legal regulatory
Framework for NGOs
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Realism of proposed legislation need for
progressive and flexible legal regulatory
Framework for NGOs

• The Cabinet Committee reviewed in details the
  existing legal framework for operation of NGO
  activities in Bangladesh.
• It also studied the mode of functioning of the
  NGOs in the field level.
• This Committee also exchanged views with the
  donors as well as the NGO representatives.
• The donors were always kept informed about the
  outcome of the Cabinet Committee and the
  follow-up actions.

Realism of proposed legislation need for
progressive and flexible legal regulatory
Framework for NGOs
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Realism of proposed legislation need for
progressive and flexible legal regulatory
Framework for NGOs

• This Cabinet Committee submitted its report to
  the honorable Prime Minister in April, 2003.
• An implementation committee headed by the
  Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister was
  constituted to work out the recommendations of
  the Cabinet Committee.

Realism of proposed legislation need for
progressive and flexible legal regulatory
Framework for NGOs
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Realism of proposed legislation need for
progressive and flexible legal regulatory
Framework for NGOs

• Meantime, it was observed from press reports that
  some NGOs and the donors have reservations on
  some of the provisions in the recommendations.
  They were contacted and requested to give their
  considered views again.
• By this time they have given their comments and
  these comments are under consideration by the
  Government for further necessary action.

Realism of proposed legislation need for
progressive and flexible legal regulatory
Framework for NGOs
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Platform for Coordination The GNCC

• The Government-NGO consultative council (GNCC)
  was formed on 23-09-1996 with the Secretary to
  the Prime Minister in the Chair. Senior
  Government Officials from different
  Ministries/Divisions and representatives of the
  NGOs are its members.
• The main objective of the GNCC is to provide a
  forum for open dialogue between the Government
  and the NGOs with a view towards increasing
  mutual understanding and collaboration for
  poverty eradication and overall development of
  the country.

Platform for Coordination The GNCC
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Platform for Coordination The GNCC

• The functioning of GNCC started without any
  concrete decision regarding funding of its
  management and program costs.
• The GNCC has proved its worth as a useful and
  effective tool for GO-NGO coordination.
• However, the GNCC is now non-functional for
  certain reasons.
• The Government is actively considering to
  revitalize it.

Platform for Coordination The GNCC
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Institutional Strengthening of the NGOAB

• From the very beginning NGOAB is working with
  very little manpower. It is very poorly equipped
  and the workload has increased over the years.
  With the existing manpower, the NGOAB is unable
  to discharge its mandated tasks properly. A
  shortage of vehicles severely limits field
  inspections of the activities of the NGOs

Institutional Strengthening of the NGOAB
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Institutional Strengthening of the NGOAB

• The Government has taken steps to strengthen the
  resources of NGOAB. Automation of its functioning
  is in the process.
• A comprehensive monitoring system for the NGOs
  and regular flow of information from field to HQ
  and feedback mechanism need to be in place for
  efficient support to the NGOs.

Institutional Strengthening of the NGOAB
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Institutional Strengthening of the NGOAB

• A plot of land has been allotted by the
  Government for construction of office building of
  the NGOAB
• Divisional offices of the NGOAB are being
  commissioned within short time.
• The LGI-NGO partnership needs to be strengthened
  for better service delivery to the community.

Institutional Strengthening of the NGOAB
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Conclusion

• Over the time, it is well understood by all
  concern that a go-it-alone approach is beneficial
  to neither the Government nor the NGOs in their
  common goal of poverty alleviation.
• While the Government has the power and resources,
  the NGOs have the direct contact and the know-how
  of working with the poor in the field level. A
  well-coordinated GO-NGO collaboration will
  certainly yield good results.

Conclusion
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Conclusion

• In its pursuit for developing the conditions of
  the poor and the distressed people, the
  Government considers the NGOs as its able
  partners and recognizes that the NGOs are
  complementing the Governmental efforts quite
  efficiently.
• Effective collaboration and coordination between
  the Government and the NGOs is very crucial for
  their respective programs to achieve any degree
  of success.

Conclusion
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Thank You