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The government of Bangladesh has published the National Strategy for Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction as an open document for discussion and we offer our sincerest thanks to the government for giving the scope for such participation. We believe that our national interest should be of topmost priority in formulating this paper, not the interests and timeframes imposed by external institutions like World Bank and IMF. The government of Bangladesh has already stated that it will submit the National Strategy as an interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP). Nevertheless, the process of preparing the existing draft has not been fully participatory or transparent. Thus, the finalisation of the PRSP has been extended up to March 2004. A route map has also been presented for completion of the National Strategy.

For country ownership and meaningful participation towards finalising the National Strategy Paper will require the involvement of all walks of people including men, women, urban and rural counterparts, journalists, political leaders, government officials, cultural representatives, representatives of local government institutions, NGOs, ethnic and national minorities, disabled groups and other members of society. We strongly believe that the government will extend cooperation towards fulfillment of these objectives.

We believe the Parliament should take a leading role in the approval and finalisation of the National Strategy. More so, the Party in power should take initiative to involve the Opposition Party in the process. We also believe that the Paper should not be formulated merely to gain concessional loans. Rather, this must be treated as our own Policy document for poverty reduction. Though World Bank waves the banner of participation and country ownership; there is no specification of these ideals in concrete terms. The World Bank should be held accountable for any losses incurred as a result of this Policy Paper as it is not possible for Bangladesh; with it limited resource capacity, to bear the losses.

Sushashaner Jonnya Procharavijan (in English Campaign for Good Governance-CGG) is a network of NGOs and civil society organisations. It started as a campaign against confrontational politics in July 2001. The vision of this campaign is to build up a people's republic of Bangladesh with true practice of democratic culture in all level. CGG's mission is to initiate strategically important activities to promote democratic culture within political system and governance process. It firmly believes that it is people's right to participate in any process of policy formulation by the government. CGG has taken steps towards people's participation based on their capacities.

During last week of September 2002, the National Strategy will be discussed in the yearly Board of Directors meeting of World Bank and IMF. We took the following steps to build public opinion on the National Strategy Paper:

i. We have translated the English National Strategy Paper into Bangla due to the need for wider participation and understanding. The GoB has, in fact, discouraged the process of participation by limiting the paper to English.
ii. CGG has also published a booklet on the experience of other countries on PRSP and the role of World Bank in order to inform people about PRSP.
iii. We have also conducted a series of district seminars and press briefings in 41 districts where the poor, local government officials, political leaders, journalists, academicians took part.
iv. The district position papers were prepared based on the local characteristics of livelihood and poverty in each district and these have been sent to World Bank and the Ministry for Finance and Planning.
v. Above all, today on September 14, we the representatives from 41 districts and leaders of political parties, women leaders, eminent economists, sociologists, NGOs and donor representatives are gathered here to promote people's rights in political process.

Some major areas linked with poverty reduction have been excluded from the National Strategy for Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction. We strongly recommend to include these areas in the PRSP.

1. Land issues: Poverty is inextricably linked with patterns of land use and distribution. Increasingly, influential people have occupied the khas lands, which could rather have gone to the poor who are much more in need of it. Only 26% of the khas lands have been distributed to the landless. If we include the land of the government (Water Development Board, Forests Department, Roads and Highways) and properly distribute these amongst the landless, the major portion of the landless i.e. more than 12 lac families will have been rehabilitated. Land ceilings should be lowered from the existing policy of 60 bighas to 30 bighas. Additionally, scientists have discovered the possibility of 40,000 square miles of land in the Northwest Bay of Bengal. There should be a policy for proper maintenance and distribution of these lands and a strong structural uniformity is needed to monitor the process. Initiatives for land reform such as proper distribution of land, participatory land policy and proper implementation of these policies need to taken up and addressed in the National Strategy.

2. Information and Communication Technology: This area can create a scope for poverty reduction through generating employment for the poor. If we do not give much concentration in this area, ICT may be used as an exploitation tool. Thus, there is a need to use this technology in aiding the poor. Without doing so will only deepen the digital and information divide between the rich and the poor. Already, technology has spawned a divide between rural and urban areas, men and women, etc. For instance, the growing telecommunication sector is still beyond the reach of common people. According to the ITO, 10% of telephones should be in rural level. However, in practice this is not the case. The use of computer and internet is very low. There needs to be increased concentration on how to use these types of technology to generate information flow and further develop human resources. An ICT policy needs to be formed based on the principle of technology as a right and not a privilege. The NSEGPR should include specific guidelines on how to use ICT for the poor.

3. Communication and Transport: In NSEGPR, there are no specific guidelines about this sector though it is mentioned as a thrust area for development. Infrastructural development of such things as roads and culverts is not the only area in communication. The system of aid and contracting out in this area is not transparent. World Bank-IMF is more than ready to provide loans in this area due to unproductively in this area. The pressure to privatise this sector is also increasing in the interest of IFIs who will no longer have to provide subsidies. Government should ensure that people's demands are taken into account and not yield to pressure from IFIs.

4. Water resources: Hardly any mention is made about water resources in NSEGPR though it is a very important emerging issue for poverty reduction. Bangladesh is one of the major countries where there was not a scarcity of pure water. Now however, the situation has taken a sad turn. In the dry season, water scarcity is a major problem in the agriculture sector and even in urban areas. Lack of pure water has also spawned many water-borne diseases. The price of water is also increasing, thus affecting the livelihood security of the poor. There is a growing conspiracy to privatise the water sector by multinational corporations, at the behest of WTO, Already multinational corporations have set their eyes on Bangladesh. The implications of this on a country where the poor cannot even eat three meals a day, but will have to buy water will be grave.

5. Disaster mitigation: Disasters such as cyclones and river erosion erode the livelihoods of the poor. During times of disaster, children and women suffer the most. The strategy paper needs to incorporate strategies for disaster mitigation, including contingency strategies directed at aiding these specific vulnerable groups. The government should take initiatives toward training for capacity building for disaster management. For instance, in the coastal belt, the green forest area can be further developed. The GoB should also take initiatives to rehabilitate those who are first to suffer during times of disaster such as the landless and disabled. People need to provide with timely information about disaster prevention and mitigation.

6. Labor and Production and Distribution systems: To reduce economic and social discrimination, the production and distribution systems of labor needs to be transformed. Existing systems of labor reproduce hierarchy and class segregation. Bangladesh is clearly in the interest of foreign corporations due to its abundance of cheap labor. This opening up of foreign investment has not opened the gateways of free trade, but has rather fueled greater levels of poverty for the workers. Policies need to be formed to take the workers' interest and bridge the gap between the workers and the owners. Although we speak of globalisation, this is limited only to the product and not the workers who are limited in scope for work in other places. World Bank and IMF should take steps to promote the free flow of labor with which the government should fully participate.

7. Corruption: Bangladesh has ranked for a second year as most corrupt country in the world. Sustainable economic development cannot be furthered without eliminating corruption. In the NSEGPR there has been mention of the establishment of an Anti-Corruption Commission. Notwithstanding this initiative, clear steps need to be outlined as to what the roles and functions of the Commission will be within a specific timeframe.

8. Law and Order: Law and order situation is significantly linked with development and poverty reduction of a country. Social injustice in the form of flagrant violence and hooliganism e.g. rape, dacoite, murder, snatching, violence against women and children etc, are hindering the nation's path towards development. Steps need to be taken towards the reconstruction of social capital with clear and meaningful guidelines. Though 'social capital' has been repeatedly used in the draft NSEGPR, how this capital will be generated needs to be spelled out further. We believe that an accountable, transparent and participatory management system can help reducing poverty by ensuring law and order situation peaceful. The GoB should also forge ahead in ensuring the accountability of both public and private institutions.

9. Local government: Local government institutions are overly dependent on the central government machinery. The Strategy Paper does include local government but how this tier of government can be strengthened, decentralised and made more effective needs to be mentioned. Field administration needs to be decentralised to the local level. Central government should not have sole agency in decision making of areas that can be handled by local government independently. There are no policy guidelines as to how the poor people in local areas will be involved in the formulation of local level policies and programs. Poor people's participation will be critical in a bottom-up, grassroots system of good governance. The NSEGPR needs to address the types of local structures and processes that can be generated to ensure that poor people's voice is ultimately captured in local level policies.

10. Education and Health: This is an important sector as a constitutional right. In no way, we should depend on the market to obtain services in these sectors. Qualitative education is imperative for all. People's access to proper quality education and strategies therein must be incorporated. Qualitative education is certainly included in NSEGPR but how this will be provided at all levels is still in question. There are many types of educational institutions in the country but no uniform standards through which to asses performance. These standards need to be developed. Development of school management committees and recruitment of quality teachers are also important for this sector. GoB should not yield to pressure to withdraw subsidies for education; rather budget allocation for education sector should be increased. Proper monitoring should be introduced to evaluate developments in this sector. Health sector suffers from a similar situation. This sector is completely dependent on the market rather than on the abundant indigenous resources such as herbal and medicinal plants. The Constitution guarantees people with right to proper health facilities. In practice, however, the existing status of health facilities is poor. Like education, there is also pressure to withdraw subsidies in this sector. This will only exacerbate the already deteriorating situation of poverty. Guidelines for development of these sectors need to be included.

11. Agriculture, Environment and Indigenous Knowledge: Agriculture, being the backbone of the economy, determines the livelihoods of a vast majority of the population of the country. The level of corporate globalisation in this sector, however, is eroding people's livelihoods. Multinational corporations and NGOs involvement in the seed industry, for instance, is taking away the indigenous systems of seed preservation that poor people, and in particular women, rely on for agriculture. This activity of seed preservation and exchange not only has an economic function but also promotes social capital in rural areas. The marketisation of the agriculture economy has also lead to the loss of
biodiversity in the country. At one point, 15,000 varieties of local varieties of rice were existent. This number has sharply declined to a mere 10 to 15 varieties. Agriculture has become a profit making enterprise enjoyed by only a handful of multinational corporations in the name of food security. The use of hybrid seeds along with the marketed fertilisers and pesticides has also brought about negative environmental implications. Multinational patents over indigenous plant varieties is also eroding poor people's ownership over their resources. The National Strategy should ensure that poor people's right to food takes precedence before MNCs profits.

12. Women's Empowerment: Although gender issues have been mentioned in NSEGPR, the concrete translation of this prioritisation in the form of budgetary allocations needs to be clearly mentioned. For women's empowerment to take place, a full-fledged social, economic and political transformation will be needed. Women's empowerment cannot be pigeonholed and taken on by NGOs alone. Government, at national and local level, civil society institutions, educational institutions all need to take a part in this process. Specifically, women in the political process and how their involvement can be enhanced needs to be addressed. For instance, female Union Parishad members are faced with numerous difficulties in asserting their functions due to ambiguity of roles and responsibilities and the negative attitudes of their male counterparts. These also need to be addressed.

13. Local characteristics of poverty: Livelihood pattern varies from region to region. For instance, in the coastal areas, the means of livelihood is significantly different from that of hilly areas or plain lands. In certain coastal areas, river erosion and cyclones has exacerbated the rate of poverty, where the number of shelterless people has increased dramatically. Livelihood security is also extreme in char areas. Same is the case between the urban and peri-urban areas with that of rural areas. These differences in the livelihood patterns and nature of poverty must be taken into account. More so, policies to address these concerns need to be pursued.

14. Globalisation and Livelihood Crisis: Without reviewing structural adjustment programs, these same polices should not be implemented as part of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper. The WB-IMF should remove these policy conditionalities. It is a constraint to the fundamental belief that development is freedom and a right. The role of Joint Staff Committee in approval of PRSPs should be removed as this is a policy paper that should be approved by the country and the Parliament, not the Boards of external institutions. For the World Bank and IMF to truly support Bangladesh, they should support the National Strategy for Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction. The onslaught of GATS into sectors which were once common property resources but are now under the realm of business will strip away people's livelihoods. To write about poverty reduction without addressing the policies of the WTO such as GATs, TRIPs and MFA will do a serious injustice to the poor who will bear the brunt of these policies.

A. GATS : Common property resources such as water, bioresources, telecommunications, transport, health, education should not be privatised regardless of pressure by external financial institutions.

B. TRIPs : No patents on life forms and the GoB must formulate a sui generis policy that takes people's rights into account.

C. MFA : An aggressive policy to develop backward and forward linkages in RMG sector must be formed and implemented.

D. TRIMs : GoB must take a stand against TRIMs and ensure regulation of TNCs working in the country.

The aforementioned requests are founded on the belief that poverty will not be eliminated until and unless critical engagement takes place with the institutions and processes that govern the status of people's livelihoods and more so, with the poor themselves who wield the greatest knowledge of their own condition. We trust that this day will mark the launch of a re-energised drive for a Bangladesh free from the grips of poverty, where each of us is fully accountable to the collective mission of a poverty-free nation.