Transparency International - Bangladesh Chapter

Annual Report 1998

I. ESTABLISHMENT OF TIB

Transparency International Bangladesh came into being as a Trust in 1996.

II. INITIAL WORK

To-date TIB has conducted the following tasks:

1. Newsletter. TIB has published two issues of newsletter in English and in Bengali to increase awareness and encourage investigation of corruption in Bangladesh.

2. Essay and cartoon competition. TIB sponsored a contest for school children and college students in local newspapers in order to raise awareness about the problem of corruption.

3. Investigative journalism program. TIB sponsored an award to two journalists who have excelled in covering corruption in the country, one writing in English and one writing in Bengali. The award included an allowance for a sabbatical to take time off to develop a particular skill or investigate a specific story. It also included sending the winning journalists to the Thomson Foundation, a training center in Wales.

4. Developing membership base. TIB has produced a brochure and engaged in some additional marketing strategies to attempt to increase its membership throughout the country, including establishing a website on the Internet.

5. Coordinating a workshop. A workshop addressing various issues of corruption in the economic sector, as well as corruption in police, education, and the election process was sponsored jointly by TIB, Rotary Club of Dhaka, and Rotaract Club of Dhaka on May 6, 1997.

In 1997, TIB began formulating plans to conduct a survey to measure the extent and nature of corruption in Bangladesh. After discussion with various outside groups, TIB ultimately accepted the assistance of The Asia Foundation, which provided funding and advice on planning the survey in a manner that was consistent with TIB's own ideas and agenda. This support from TAF has made possible the following activities:

6. Corruption survey. TIB sponsored a three-tiered survey to gather detailed information about the impact that corruption has on the delivery of basic social services in Bangladesh. The three tiers were:

a. News scan and Annotated Bibliographies. An analysis of three national newspapers, two in Bengali and one in English, was conducted over a period of six months to compile data on how corruption is reported. The analysis has been published in both Bangla and English. Also three annotated bibliographies were prepared and overview essays written on the topics of corruption's impact on the economic, social, and political areas of the country. The main sectors affected, the victims, and the perpetrators of corruption as reported in the news were tabulated and analyzed.

b. Pilot study. Following an open bid for contractors, a survey institution was chosen and a methodology was devised under the supervision of board member Professor Muzaffer Ahmad. In the pilot study, a survey of 620 households was conducted. Subjects were asked to identify areas affected by corruption, and to provide information about the nature, extent, and intensity of corruption. Public services in six different sectors were addressed: police service, judiciary (including grameen shalish), land administration, financial, health, and education. The study included a demographic breakdown of persons most impacted by corruption.

c. Baseline survey. This research covered 2,500 households and included three sectors in addition to the ones addressed by the pilot study. These three were: municipal service, public transportation sector, and the news media.

7. Press conference. A press conference was held on December 3, 1997 to make public the findings of the three-tiered corruption survey. One of the key discoveries was the pervasiveness of the corruption in the police service and judiciary sectors. The collusion of police, court officials, and lawyers to demand bribes and favor those who pay them the most money forms an "unholy trinity" which causes a serious miscarriage of justice for common people. Significant problems were discovered in the land administration and financial sectors as well and less significant and more manageable difficulties were found in the health and education sectors. These findings were viewed as extremely important by the press, who provided highly visible coverage of the results. References are still being made in newspapers of the report nearly six months after the publication of the report. Consequently, TIB's public profile has improved dramatically.

8. Meetings with government officials. As a result of the attention given to TIB's survey by the press, TIB board members and the Executive Director have been able to schedule meetings with various government ministers. These meetings are intended to discuss the findings of the survey and to build coalitions and support for combating corruption wherever possible. TIB has been able to meet with the President, the Speaker of the Parliament, the Minister for Law & Parliamentary Affairs, the Attorney General, the Minister for Education and other senior civil servants.

9. Press workshops/focus groups. TIB has also been conducting focus group discussions with different groups, such as journalists, business people, NGO leaders, educators, health care professionals, and others using the survey as a springboard for dialogue about corruption and reform. Press workshops have been taking place in various locations throughout the country involving journalists.

10. Documentation center. TIB has set up a modest center to house literature about corruption at its permanent office in Dhaka. The center currently contains books collected from The Asia Foundation through its Books for Asia program as well as from other sources.

11. Attendance at other workshops/meetings. TIB has sent its Executive Director and/or other representatives to a variety of workshops sponsored by other organizations, including:

a. World Bank's "Government that Works"

b. SAARCLAW

c. the National Independent Commission on Human Rights by the Ministry of Law

d. Bangladesh Institute of Peace

e. Centre for Women and Child Studies

f. the launching of Human Development in South Asia by UNDP

g. the TI meeting on the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) in Cambridge, England

h. the launching of TI - India

i. the TI Annual General Meeting in Lima, Peru

j. British High Commission discussion of the report "A Strategy for the British Council in Governance 1997-2000" by Mr. David Watson (TIB had also provided evidence for preparation of the report) and the White Paper by DFID

k. the meeting in San Francisco sponsored by The Asia Foundation on corruption survey methodology

l. the workshop on "Report Card" methodology organized by the Public Affairs Centre in Bangalore, India

m. the seminar on Governance and Accountability organized by the Parliamentary Centre of Canada, EDI of World Bank, and the Consortium of Financial Management of Public Systems of India in New Delhi

n. the workshop on "Strategies to Counter Corruption" organized by The Asia Foundation in Bangkok

o. The Laurentian Seminar in Canada organized by the Parliamentary Centre of Canada and EDI of World Bank.

III. STRATEGIC PLANNING

In order to develop a comprehensive policy for the future TIB has undertaken a strategic planning exercise. As a first step an Ideas Paper was put together which became the main document for the workshop on 'Conscientization of the Civil Society and the Transparency International Chapters in Strategic Planning within the context of Strengthening Integrity'. The objective was to initiate an interaction between civil society members, media persons, parliamentarians and other TI chapter representatives, which will lead to the creation of a framework for combating corruption in Bangladesh.

IV. PLANS AND PROGRAMMES

Following the workshop TIB has formulated a framework for the future. This will be presented to the civil society, press and donors in the near future. In the meantime, a proposal has been submitted to USAID Bangladesh, entitled 'National Integrity Programme'. It is under consideration but it is envisaged that the project will be undertaken in the early part of 1999. In the meantime the following are some of the on-going activities of TIB:

1. Investigative Journalism: TIB received 24 entries and a panel (Mrs. Laila Kabir, Mr. Ataus Samad and Professor Sirajul Islam Chowdhury) has scrutinised and assessed them. The awards (Taka 50,000 and a fellowship in England each) will be announced soon. The next year's competition (two prizes for national and regional newspapers' journalists) will also be announced at the same time.
   
2. TIB is conducting a governance survey for the Human Development Centre.
   
3. TIB is to commence a diagnostic study for the World Bank looking at four sectors: banking/judiciary; customs; road and highways; and utilities.
   
4. TIB is coordinating a regional Laurentian Seminar involving parliamentarians of the region of South Asia. Partner organisations are the Parliamentarian Centre of Canada and EDI of World Bank.
   
5. TIB is assisting the British Council with its Law Week, particularly the input on Ombudsman. TIB is arranging the participation of Mr. Michael Barnes, Chairman of the Association of Ombudsmen of England and Ireland.
   
6. TIB and BLAST have proposed an international workshop on the Office of Ombudsman to the Royal Danish Embassy.
   
7. TIB has put together a group, after discussion with Dr. Kamal Hossain, to examine the issues related to the energy sector.
   
8. TIB's regional coordination includes setting up of an advanced website, which would include reports and analysis from South Asia and information data base. Also liasing with TI-Secretariat on a regional source book.
   
9. Compiling and editing of a book containing overview essays, corruption report and overview by Professor Muzaffer Ahmad to coincide with February 1999 Book Fair.
   
10. Developing groups of TIB membership for various activities.
    
11. Joint activity with Public Administration Reform Commission at the latter's invitation.
    
12. Four regional workshops with the assistance of the Asia Foundation.

V. CONCLUSION

TIB is concluding 1998 with a notable success. The Government of Bangladesh has granted TIB the status of a non-governmental organisation. TIB can now look forward to the coming years with greater confidence and commitment.