Local NGOs demand launch of mechanism

Workers of local NGOs yesterday called for launching a mechanism that will ensure due compensation for victims of accidents, while working in partnership projects of UN agencies and international NGOs (INGOs).

They made the call during a press conference at the capital's Jatiya Press Club, says a press release.

Speakers said a similar mechanism is already in place between the UN agencies and INGOs.

Bangladeshi NGOs for World Humanitarian Summit, Cox's Bazar CSO NGO Forum, and COAST Trust with support of Oxfam arranged the press conference in observance of World Humanitarian Day.

They referred to an incident in which Rezina Akhter, worker of local NGO Mukti, died in a road accident on July 15 this year. She was going for work at a Rohingya refugee camp in Teknaf of Cox's Bazar.

Presenting a four-point demand, Shawkat Ali Tutul of COAST Trust said UN agencies and INGOs should declare a roadmap that will allow leadership to local NGOs.

They should also take long-term institutional development plan to support local NGOs developing organisational accountability, he said.

Rezaul Karim Chowhdury, executive director of COAST Trust; Emranul Haque Chowdhury, chairman of Credit and Development Forum (CDF); and Rafiqul Islam, director of Federation of NGOs in Bangladesh (FNB), spoke at the press conference, among others.