Bangladesh: Stop Denying Killings and Torture via Human Rights Watch News Releases
Address Rights Abuses and Hold Security Forces to Account
The Bangladesh interim government should use its last months in office to seriously address persistent rights abuses rather than deny that they are happening, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to the government. Human Rights Watch remains deeply concerned about continuing reports of torture and extrajudicial killings by state security forces and the government’s failure to hold those responsible to account....
from IRIN DHAKA, The annual “monga” season of deprivation has arrived in Kurigram, as well as six other northern areas, including Nilphamari, Lalmonirhat, Gaibandha, Rangpur, Panchagarh and Thakurgaon - some of the poorest of Bangladesh’s 64 districts. During the monga season - which generally begins at the end of September - there are no crops to be harvested and very little work, so many farmers rush to the cities to become temporary rickshaw pullers or day labourers in an effort to pay off loans and earn much-needed cash to take back to their families. However, many return even poorer than before, while others do not come back at all, running away from the hunger that awaits them at home. Flood-generated famine Each year, tens of thousands of people from hundreds of villages... 
from the New Nation Md. Mahbubur Rahman BulbulHuge number of MFIs are operating micro finance program in Bangladesh and World-wide with their good activities. Their prime focus is, to positive change of poor and help-less people in Bangladesh by their financial assistance and to make a poverty-free Bangladesh. ASA is one of them. ASA is the biggest MFI in the world. ASA is working their responsible job by the micro finance program with land-less poor people for their positive change in Bangladesh from 1992, as usual. AS a result in that time, ASA already has achieved a great success in MFI sector of Bangladesh, even all over the world. Now the total number of ASA's borrowers is 90 lacks. It is high performance in Bangladesh. Not only micro credit, ASA is doing their job for the... 
from the United News of Bangladesh About a quarter of the population of Bangladesh are in acute poverty and hunger. That stat comes from report that was presented at a "Understanding Chronic Poverty and Poverty Dynamics in Rural Bangladesh" workshop in Dhaka. - KaleChronic Poverty Research Centre (CPRC), Data Analysis and Technical Assistance Ltd. (DATA) and The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) arranged the workshop.Government officials, researchers and civil-society representatives attended the workshop with Dr Quazi Shahabuddin, Director General, Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), in the chair.CPRC's Study Coordinator Dr Bob Baulch and Dr Peter Davis presented the pros and cons of the findings.The study focused on three key aspects of poverty in... 
from the New Nation $130 million US dollars will go to Bangladesh to improve secondary education in the country. - Kale The credit from the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank's concessionary arm, has 40 years to maturity with a 10-year grace period and it carries a service charge of 0.75 percent, said a World Bank press release.The 'Secondary Education Quality and Access Enhancement Project' will finance activities in 121 Upazilas aimed at improving education quality and poverty-targeted stipends and tuition to girls and boys to increase access and retention.Although Bangladesh has recorded impressive achievements in the education sector significant challenges remain. Completion rate at the secondary level is as low as 20 percent and many poor children,... 
from the New Nation A round table discussion on the outcome of the recent G8 meeting stressed the need for repeated talks between rich countries and poor ones. - KaleSpeakers at a roundtable here on Monday underlined the need for holding regular dialogues between leaders of G-8 countries and Least Developed Countries (LDCs) for cutting poverty and achieving sustainable growth of the global economy.The large and small economies need to interact regularly to find out ways for facing the current challenges of food and energy security, climate change and price hike of oil and other commodities, they said.The roundtable styled 'Outcome of the G8 Summit in Japan' was organised by Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI) at its conference room at Gulshan here.BEI president Farooq Sobhan moderated... 
from the Daily Star This explores child labor to make high end clothing. Jamdani is the type of fabric used. - Kale Children from very poor families are falling victim to slave labour in the thriving Jamdani industry of the country as weavers are exploiting poor children as young as five years old.Poverty and hunger is pushing many parents to send away their children to work in the industry -- a handicraft legacy we are proud of as our heritage -- in return for little or no wages.While many in the world scream out for fair trade, refusing to buy 'cheaper' products that come out of a third world production unit akin to slavery, many children are losing their childhood here in our own country to weave the fine Jamdani material that is sold as higher end products in the clothes markets.A... 
from the Guardian The Guardian is running an International Development Journalism competition. This is an excerpt from one of the semifinalists. - Kaleby Luke TredgetOn an expanse of muddy beach in the Chittagong region of Bangladesh, a twisted mess of metal and concrete stands alone and adrift from any human development, as if a relic from a lost civilization. This is the brutalised remains of what only 10 years ago was a bold symbol of humanitarian development in the area.One of dozens of Red Cross anti-cyclone shelters built throughout the acutely vulnerable coastal regions, the stilted concrete structure towered proudly over a village and offered potential shelter to 1,000 people. Before it was built people had to battle tropical storms by clinging to trees while the scattered... 
from the Daily Star, Bangladesh CA hopes Nobel Committee to raise the issue in world forumsUnb, DhakaChief Adviser (CA) Fakhruddin Ahmed yesterday said poverty alleviation is a must for lasting peace and sustainable development, but climate change is a major factor in Bangladesh that casts adverse impacts on poverty.The head of the caretaker government made the remark when visiting Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee Ole Danbolt Mjos made a courtesy call on him at his office in the afternoon.The CA said developing countries, particularly Bangladesh, are least responsible for climate change but worst sufferers from adversities stemming from climate change. He mentioned the back- to-back floods and cyclone 'Sidr' that wrought havoc on the country last year.He cited a prediction... 
from The Daily Star, Bangladesh Adviser Rasheda K Chowdhury and Prof Muzaffer Ahmad were scathing about the country's non-government organisations' (NGOs) activities yesterday while urging them to become transparent, accountable and well governed.Primary and Mass Education, Women and Children, and Cultural Affairs Adviser Rasheda K Chowdhury, and Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) Chairman Prof Muzaffer Ahmad were addressing a convention of NGOs titled 'Institutional Good Governance of NGOs'.The convention was organised by Sushasoner Jonny Procharavizan (SUPRO -- Campaign for Good Governance) and was held in the LGED auditorium in the capital. Representatives from about 400 NGOs across the country attended the convention.The convention adopted a 10-point 'accountability charter'... 
from AFP via Google DHAKA (AFP) — Impoverished Bangladesh became the latest victim of surging global crude costs Monday with the government announcing it has been forced to hike state-set fuel prices by between 34 and 66 percent.Authorities said they had no alternative to the sharp increases because the country could no longer afford to sell petrol, diesel, kerosene and gas at subsidised rates that were set when a barrel of oil cost just 60 dollars.On Monday, oil was trading close to 144 dollars a barrel."Frankly speaking, we had no choice. It was unavoidable," Bangladesh's deputy energy minister M. Tamin told AFP."The oil subsidy still accounts for 40 percent of the government's development budget. Imagine a situation where crude oil goes up to 200 dollars a barrel. All development in... 
Shillon Mia, 9, works as a lathe machine assistant at a garage in Chuadanga town, 150km from Dhaka. "I get three meals a day here, plus 20 taka [US 30c] a week," he said.His father, Hayat Mia, 30, used to draw a pushcart in Chuadanga town. His mother Shahana Begum, 25, works as a domestic help. Shillon used to go to the free government primary school but when Hayat Mia had to have surgery for a stomach tumour, the family's finances were decimated."With rice selling at 35 taka/kg [51 cents], Shillon is better off at work than at home. The 300 taka [$4.40] I earn is our only income. His employers keep me free from worries about his food," said Shahana."I enjoy going to school, but can't. I have to earn money for my family. I will go to school again after my father recovers," said... 
from The Straits TimesDHAKA - BANGLADESH'S finance minister has urged company owners to spend some of their profits to subsidise food for workers to defuse mounting tensions over soaring prices.'It is the time for the rich to help the poor of the society,' Mr Mirza Azizul Islam said late on Friday, according to Bangladesh's state-run BSS news agency.'The poor will benefit if private companies distribute subsidised food to their workers,' Islam said.Existing corporate culture 'should be changed for the welfare of the deprived', he added.Bangladesh, which has a population of 144 million, is one of the world's poorest nations with 40 per cent living under the poverty line.Islam's call come amid rising tensions in the key garments industry, which accounts for three-fourths of the country's... 
from the Daily StarBss, DhakaBangladesh is very much 'on track' to achieve the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 4 on child survival, but is far away from the target of reducing maternal deaths -- the goal 5 of the United Nations set for 2015, according to a report available here yesterday.The 2008 report titled 'Tracking Progress in Maternal, Newborn and Child Survival' was released at the 118th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in South Africa on Thursday.The mortality rate of children under five years has come down at 69 per thousand in 2006 from 149 in 1990, marking a 4.8 percent average annual reduction, which is slightly over the final target to achieve the mortality at 50 by 2015.The maternal mortality ratio, however, remained 570 per 100,000 lives, indicating a very... 
from the EconomistA food crisis further complicates the army's exit strategy“OUR politicians were corrupt, but we had enough money to buy food,” says Shah Alam, a day labourer in Rangpur, one of Bangladesh's poorest districts, nostalgic for the days before the state of emergency imposed in January last year. He has been queuing all day for government-subsidised rice. Two floods and a devastating cyclone last year, combined with a sharp rise in global rice prices, have left some 60m of Bangladesh's poor, who spend about 40% of their skimpy income on rice, struggling to feed themselves.In the capital, Dhaka, a debate is raging about whether this is a famine or “hidden hunger”. The crisis is not of the army-backed interim government's own making. But it is struggling to convince... 
from IRIN NewsOver the past week the retail price of rice has held steady, offering a welcome reprieve to anxious consumers and government officials alike, and on 14 April the wholesale price of coarse rice came down by 15-45 US cents per 37.32 kg bag.But in Dhaka long queues continued outside government open market sales (OMS) centres - established whenever a food crisis or food price increases loom. At the same time there are frequent reports of corruption and mismanagement at various government-run distribution outlets.Standing in the scorching midday sun, Delwara Begum has been waiting at Dhaka's Karwan Bazar with her 11-year-old granddaughter, Sofura, since 7am."Now these people say there is no rice for us. What shall this kid eat? What shall we eat tonight?" the 65-year-old, almost... 
from the Peninsula On LineJESSORE, Bangladesh • Located in Jessore, approximately 35 minutes' flying time from the Bangladesh capital, Dhaka, the Resco Biscuit Factory makes cookies with a difference.It is not too often a biscuit factory gets a seal of approval from an organisation like the World Food Programme (WFP), but this particular manufacturing unit has received the recognition. The seal doesn't come easily as manufacturers have to pass stringent tests and moreover, Resco also supplies high-energy biscuits to Bangladeshis who are classified as living below the poverty line.The factory in Jessore cranks out 40 metric tons a day of biscuits and it should be noted the unit is also a commercial enterprise. Visitng journalists as well as WFP and FAO officials were given a tour of the... 
from The Daily StarDr Riffat Hossain LucyTuberculosis (TB) has been a major public health problem for centuries. It is a leading infectious disease that represents more than a quarter of the world’s preventable deaths. Increase in the incidence of TB in the developing countries and its re-emergence in the developed world led the World Health Organisation (WHO) to declare TB as a global emergency in 1993.Despite the availability of affordable, effective treatment, the annual total of 8.8 million new cases and an estimated 1.6 million of deaths from TB (WHO Report 2007) represents an intolerable burden of human suffering.TB can be completely cured through the Directly Observed Treatment Short Course (DOTS). DOTS is currently practiced as the most effective way of controlling the disease.... 
from Reuters Alert NetDHAKA, Abdul Ali Sardar, a fisherman in southern Bangladesh, never thought he would survive tuberculosis (TB)."One year ago, I caught a cold after returning home from a night of fishing along the Kirtankhola river. The cough continued for more than a month. Then came the fever. It would come every evening just before going out on the river for fishing," the 30-year-old recalled."I couldn't go out fishing. We poor people don't have the luxury of sitting at home without working," he said, lying on his bed at the Directly Observed Therapy Shortcourse (DOTS) centre (which specialises in TB treatment) at the Sher-e-Bangla medical college in the southern city of Barisal.Arriving in critical condition just three weeks earlier, Abdul is now on the road to recovery, but only... 
from the Daily StarPneumonia has been claiming the highest number of child lives in the country, despite a remarkable progress in under-five child survival for immunization and oral saline over the last three decades, pediatricians and health scientists said here yesterday.“Pneumonia is still the leading cause of childhood deaths in Bangladesh,” Steve Luby, agency head of Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), US Embassy in Dhaka, told a symposium.Bangladesh Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases (BSPID), a newly formed body of Paediatricians and health scientists, organised the two-day function at Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre, where experts from home and abroad are participating.BSPID President and former director of Dhaka Shishu Hospital Prof Manzoor... 
from The New NationDavid Miliband, MPDescending in a helicopter, through rain and mist, onto a crowded but remote 'Char' island, the enormous and immediate dangers of climate change suddenly, ominously, seemed very, very real. The island, in the middle of the massive Jamuna River, is a hostage to erosion, threatened by rising sea levels, and no stranger to severe flooding. On these shifting sands live some two million of Bangladesh's poorest and most vulnerable people: people for whom climate change is not a theory but a fact of daily life.The people I spoke to there appreciated the assistance being given by the UK's Department for International Development (DFID). More than just a livelihood, they believed that the DFID project had given them dignity and hope. Through 'asset transfers'... 
from The New NationFair trade, an economic partnership based upon dialogue, transparency and respect that aim for greater equity in international trade, is practised in Europe. But in Least Developed Countries like Bangladesh these are absent due to unknown reasons.Moreover, in Bangladesh, the rights of producers and workers are not guaranteed.In some 32 Least Developed Countries (LDC) out of 149 there is no social clause or labour standards.This was said at the inauguration of two-day workshop on 'Steps Forward to Fair Trade' organised by Ecota Fair Trade Ltd at Asia Pacific Blossom Hotel in the city yesterday.Malama Meleisea, Director of UNESCO Bangladesh, presided over the inaugural session, while Laura Giani, Country Representative of Terre des Homes (Tdh) of Italy, Arshad Siddiqui,... 
from the TennesseanBy KATHLEEN SMITHFor The TennesseanTwenty-five Vanderbilt University graduate students will spend spring break helping those at the "bottom of the pyramid," the people of Bangladesh.Students in the Project Pyramid Global Poverty Alleviation program, a class offered by the Owen Graduate School of Management, will travel Wednesday to Bangladesh for a firsthand look at some solutions to poverty.A highlight of the trip includes meeting with Muhammad Yunus, the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner and a Vanderbilt University graduate, whose Grameen Bank is changing the lives of the poor in Bangladesh through micro-lending."He is a man filled with not only deep experience but a ton of new ideas and inspiration for addressing poverty," said Bart Victor, director of the Cal Turner...