Finance and Planning Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury today stressed the need for building strong and institutional partnerships among NGOs, the private sector and the government to address development challenges and ensure sustainable financing, says BSS report.
“Strong and institutional partnerships among NGOs, the private sector and the government are important,” he said while addressing a seminar titled “Beyond Foreign Dependence: The Future of NGO Financing in Bangladesh” as the chief guest at the conference room of the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) in the capital.
The minister called for time-bound measures to ensure sustainable financing for NGOs. The government is working to address various crises emerging in the country and ensure accountability, he said.
“We do not want only to listen; we want to provide an effective response,” he continued.
Amir Khosru said Bangladesh needs an integrated framework that combines human development, preservation of local culture and private-sector participation.
He noted that NGOs and other stakeholders already work in various fields, including the creative economy, and stressed the need to give such partnerships a more institutional and policy-oriented framework.
The minister also highlighted the important role of NGOs in delivering government services directly to people at the grassroots level, said a Finance Ministry press release.
He urged the authorities to formulate and implement policies within specific timelines to facilitate sustainable financing for NGOs.
Referring to traditional handicrafts such as Shital Pati (traditional reed mats), he said Bangladesh needs to promote modern designs, value addition and marketing to take traditional products to international markets.
The minister also stressed four conditions for approving development projects: value for money, return on investment, employment or entrepreneurship creation, and environmental considerations and protection.
“No project will be approved unless it fulfils these four conditions,” he added.
State Minister for Planning Md. Zonaed Abdur Rahim Saki and Planning Division Secretary SM Shakil Akhter, among others, attended the seminar.