Bangladesh has a great future because of its energetic, resilient people, says British minister Swayne

The State Minister for International Development from the UK, Desmond Swayne, who was in Dhaka to look at how British-aided projects were doing, has hailed “outstanding” achievements of “energetic, resilient” Bangladeshi people.

His three-day visit also aimed to expand on the UK government’s view on development challenges, and the role of the development partnership.

Swayne arrived on last Sunday on his first tour of Bangladesh and visited clothing factories, Korail slum and Kurhigram river islands to inspect UK-aided projects

His impression was ‘very positive’.

“I have rarely met a people who are so energetic, resilient and hard-working. We all know how big the odds are for them but they have achieved so much that it’s outstanding.

“I believe given the evidence of its past, Bangladesh has a very promising future.”

He continued: “Wherever I visited, I felt that things were moving. It’s very easy to point out the gaps, the missing parts in such efforts, but progress is markedly obvious.

“In two decades, Bangladesh has taken great strides despite the difficulties every developing country faces,” said Swayne who worked for the Department for International Development (DfID).

It was pointed out that there were several concerns including the nutritional status of people, particularly children, and the weak rule of law; problems Bangladesh has failed to cope with properly.

The minister did not deny the challenges in food security management and nutrition status, particularly of the poor, but he argued that much had also been achieved.

“Twenty years ago, many starved in difficult times and areas, but today starvation is history in Bangladesh. This no longer exists and in my opinion, a great success.

The Conservative MP was ready to “agree that low nutrition status continues to be a problem”, but said “it’s also one of the last big problems that Bangladesh faces”.

“It will eventually win and soon, and that is why Bangladesh is such a great success story.”

The former banker navigating the world's most complex humanitarian issues on the UK's behalf then went on to give his take on the law and order, and human rights situation.

"A more complex issue is that of a weak law and order regime due to which several breakdowns are noticed, including what tops the list: ‘extra-judicial killings.’

“How does high aid volume deal with the problem of such obvious cracks in the system relating to human rights and governance?"

“We do business with many countries and obviously raise our voice on all weakness that contributes to HR failures. I have said that extra-judicial killing must stop,” said the war veteran who served in Iraq.

“However, we also don’t think we will deal with the issue that will negatively affect the poor, the marginalised, and the victims.

“We don’t want the vulnerable to suffer, and so our position is that our priority is to help the underprivileged, whenever and wherever we can, and we condemn extra-judicial killings.

“We shall support the poor when they need it the most while maintaining our position that we wish to uphold the highest standards of human rights,” Swayne, who supervises security department, further said.

Bangladesh is a major recipient of UK aid, so the point about aid utilisation came up. Do they track the way UK money is spent on various projects?

Swayne responded: “We are not the sort of a donor that hands over the money and then looks the other way. We have reliable and continuously improving monitoring systems in place...

“...and the fact that so much has been achieved by almost every project that  we have supported is a good indicator that it’s money well spent. We have confidence in our development partners.”

It was also pointed out that the readymade clothing sector was a topic of concern and the pricing and wages were key and connected matters that were often left unattended.

The British minister who also oversees working on trade, conflict, humanitarian departments said: “I think it’s a matter of commercial negotiation and both parties will exert their positions as much as possible which benefits both.

“This is only natural and we encourage this because commercial negotiations work best when both parties benefit.

“However, from our side we have supported hiring of a large number of supervisory cadres who are working to ensure both fair wages and proper working conditions.

“I am confident and evidence says so that things are improving and will improve more.

“Does it mean that the sector has solved the problem? No, it hasn’t. There is a long way to go, but again I would say the first big steps have been taken. Yes, it’s a commercial issue and yes it’s an equity and fairness issue as well and we are focusing on all of them.”

Speaking on the future development relations with Bangladesh, the minister said the achievement of the majority of the MDGs is a testament to the journey that Bangladesh was taking on achieving a better future for all.

“In the post-MDG scenario, many more targets will be set, so it’s an exciting and challenging time and within that frame climate change is a major factor.

Swayne said: “Bangladesh has played an admirable role in bringing the voice of the most affected countries to the forefront. And it is a model for that kind of international advocacy.

He said Britain will “continue to lend our support not just for adaptation projects but mitigation initiatives as well”.

“We shall be focusing a lot more on governance issues which we think are critical for sustainable development, so the area of interest will in fact increase and so will co-operation.”

The DfID minister sounded a note of caution on mobilising domestic resources.

“Bangladesh can do better and should do better in this. I was assured by the finance minister that much more efforts will be mounted to increase the tax collection level so that Bangladesh is in a better position to reach its development targets more effectively.

“And so governance development will play a major part in this scheme of things,” said Swayne who taught economics.

“We will support Bangladesh in every way possible. We shall provide aid, we shall offer the skills that we have, but Bangladesh will have to deliver its political will.

“Together much can be done on top of what has already been done.”