Govt-NGO efforts must to protect rights

(From left) Sultana Kamal, executive director of Ain o Salish Kendra; Shaikh Md Wahid-uz-Zaman, prime minister's principal secretary; HT Imam, prime minister's public administration affairs adviser; and Nurun Nabi Talukder, director of NGO Affairs Bureau; at a discussion in the capital's Biam Foundation yesterday. NGO Affairs Bureau organised the discussion with support from Manusher Jonno Foundation. Photo: STAR

The government and NGOs need to cooperate for the country's advancement and for protecting rights of people as the two parties are complementary to each other, said speakers at a discussion yesterday.
They opined that transparency, accountability and monitoring by the government should be ensured for better performance of NGOs.
NGO Affairs Bureau (NGOAB) with support from Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF) organised the discussion titled “Role of NGOs in achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDG)” at the capital's Biam Foundation.
Addressing the function as chief guest, HT Imam, prime minister's public administration affairs adviser, said since the country's independence, Bangladesh has achieved successes in many sectors like education, health, sanitation, poverty alleviation and upholding human rights due to the government-NGOs partnership.
Sultana Kamal, executive director of Ain O Salish Kendra, said along with ensuring transparency and accountability, NGOs should work to establish human dignity and equal rights.
Iftekharuzzaman, executive director of Transparency International Bangladesh, said discussion between the government and NGOs should continue to remove “misconception” between the parties.
Shaheen Anam, executive director of Manusher Jonno Foundation, said NGOs should act like watchdogs to establish good governance and promote human rights.
Presenting a paper, Rawnak Mahmud, director of NGOAB, pointed out several challenges of NGO activities in achieving MDGs. These include lack of coordination among NGOs, dependency on donor agencies, keeping a large portion of hardcore poor people out of their programmes, lack of skills and quality.
Nurun Nabi Talukder, director of NGOAB, and Shaikh Md Wahid-uz-Zaman, prime minister's principal secretary, among others, spoke.