Dhaka stresses no strings, soft terms

The two-day Bangladesh Development Forum meeting began on Monday with a call from the government to donors to lessen conditions for assistance. Donors, on the other hand, stressed the need for more efficient execution of development projects, curbing graft and raising government revenue.

Dhaka, Feb 14 (bdnews24.com) – The two-day Bangladesh Development Forum meeting began on Monday with a call from the government to donors to lessen conditions for assistance.

The call came at the start of the day, as finance minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith suggested more grants and concessional loans, and again at the end of the day as agriculture minister Matia Chowdhury was firm on "assistance without conditionalities".

Donors on the day stressed the need for far more efficient execution of development projects, curbing graft as well as raising government revenue.

The meeting of host government, development partners and multilateral lending agencies, who make up the Local Consultative Group, was being held in Dhaka after a break of nearly four and half years.

Muhith, at the inaugural session in the morning, urged international donors to offer more grants and concessional loans to developing nations to help them offset the adverse impact of the global meltdown.

"To combat the adverse effect of the economic recession, the developing countries need, firstly, grants and concessional loans that are available now at much reduced levels, and secondly, rapid commitment of external assistance without elaborate conditionalities," he said.

"To combat the adverse effect of the economic recession, the developing countries need rapid commitment of external assistance without elaborate conditionalities,".

He called for continued support to Bangladesh's goal of becoming a middle-income country by 2021. The minister said they were committed to cut poverty level to 15 percent of the population.

He outlined his government's priority on human resources development and good governance. He said other important areas include power and energy, agriculture, poverty reduction, environment and climate change, transport and communications, and information technology.

Briefing the press at the end of the last session of the day, on food security, Matia was firm about "no terms".

She said just as 'donors' have become 'development partners' so 'aid' should be in the form of 'cooperation and assistance'.

The minister said when funds used to come as charity from donors, the government could not really do much.

"But now that we have become partners, cooperating with each other, there should not be any question of conditionalities."

DONORS STRESS EFFICIENCY

Meanwhile, donors at the first session of the day laid emphasis on greater efficiency in execution of development projects.

Muhith told a press briefing after the session on development strategy, good governance and human development, that development partners also asked the government to raise revenue, a fast decision on empowering local governments, and focus on the population issue.

Gender development, nutrition, maternal mortality, domestic violence and poor statistical data were also given weight by the development partners, said the finance minister.

Regarding donors' concerns about corruption, Muhith said they questioned recent talk of clipping wings of the Anticorruption Commission (ACC).

"We said that was not the case, reforms were going on regarding the procedures of the ACC and how to curb its arbitrary actions."

PM: DELIVER ON CLIMATE PLEDGES

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina at the inaugural session called on donors to deliver on promised funds to counter the grave impact of climate change on Bangladesh, alongside fulfilling their ODA pledges.

She listed her government's various measures for environmental protection and climate change adaptation and urged donors to disburse the funds promised to poor countries at the Copenhagen conference for mitigation purposes.

Rich countries pledged adaptation and mitigation funds of $10 billion in 2010, $30 billion a year for the 2010-12 period and set a goal of $100 billion a year by 2020 in a non-binding deal agreed in Copenhagen.

"Our development partners should … fulfil their ODA targets of 0.17 percent of GNI (gross national income) to developing countries and 0.2 percent to least developed countries as affirmed in the Brussels Programme of Action," the prime minsiter said.

"We also need quick disbursement of the fund promised in the COP-15 summit in Copenhagen last December for adaptation and mitigation particularly for least developed countries and low lying coastal countries".

Hasina hoped the outcomes of the development forum would give guidelines for development strategies, a better mechanism for effective coordination among development partners, and show a stronger alignment with the development vision and priorities of the government.

PROTESTS

Pressure groups on Monday, meanwhile, accused developed nations of trying to "bypass" climate fund pledges made at the Copenhagen climate change conference last December.

Equity BD, a network of 19 rights groups, formed a human chain at the National Press Club, and issued a statement: "Developed countries, specifically those of the G20, are also plotting to divert money from the UN Fund for Millennium Development Goals to deliver their climate fund pledges."

"This would obviously force developing nations to cut funding in education, health and poverty reduction," said the statement.

It also termed the Bangladesh Development Forum, being held in Dhaka after a hiatus of four and a half years, the "Debt Development Forum".

A different group of activists had also spoken out against the role of foreign lending agencies and development partners on the eve of the forum.

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