Unheard Voices

A study by the United Nations children’s agency (Unicef) has revealed the sorry state of sanitation in Bangladesh’s schools.
Published in the capital, Dhaka, the study says in some cases, nearly 500 students share one school latrine.

The government says it is trying to improve the situation and that universal school sanitation will be achieved within the next five years.
The study surveyed nearly 4,500 schools across the country, officials said.
According to the Unicef study, Bangladesh averages one latrine to 152 pupils.
But in one of the worst cases, 479 students share only one school latrine. The study says the world average is 20 to 30 students per latrine.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4667466.stm

Video interview of Dr. Yunus

Why is Rang De Basanti(RDB), a bollywood flick, on the dp blog? See it and you will know. RDB rocks. I saw it today. It just didn’t rock. It shook me to the core. Rang De Basanti rocks and lives you pondering about your role to this world. If you have a theatre near you that is showing it, I really highly recommend you see it and talk about it. Even though the film was based on the Indian social backdrop but it is all the more true in today’s Bangladesh. Without spoiling anything for people who haven’t seen it, I think the last time I was so moved by a movie was when I was 14 and saw Dead Poet’s Society. When will our generation awake like this?

For those who have seen it, I am dying to share it with someone. What a movie!

Shumon and company’s success story was in Washington Post

So far we haven’t really heard the story on what really was wrong with Ekushey TV. With new channels popping up everyday, it is a good time to revisit the issues on which ETV was closed down. Uttorshuri is currently working on a detailed scoop on this. The inside story will be here soon as it is on the final editing phase. Stay tuned.

Will have a lot to say on this later as I have read the GS report in detail. But for now here is the news link.

Why Goldman Sachs may be right about Bangladesh?

Andy Mukherjee writes ,

“… With so much going wrong, why should investors care about Bangladesh? There are three good reasons. (a) Growth, Demographics, (b) Enforcing Contracts and (c) Middle Class…”

Coupled with the highest GDP growth last year of an astounding almost 7%, stars are alligning for us. Now we need meaningful policies and policy debates in Bangladesh.

He adds,

With sensible policies, the gap between Bangladesh’s promise and performance can narrow, if not disappear. If Bangladesh receives its demographic dividend in full, Goldman Sachs may be proved right in its prediction.

Asian Highway disaster is a perfect example of how politicians can derail this progress by bad policy

So what is really happening at the World Economic Forum (WEF)? Several participants send bbc regular Davos diaries, sharing their hopes, expectations and experiences.

Here

Whose there from Bangladesh?

A fantastic debate on Shariah — Jamate Islami vs Fatemolla (via SalamDhaka) This debate was organized in VOA thanks to Mr. Anis Ahmed. You will need a real audio player to listen to it.

The full transcription has now been made available via this website

It would be really good to get this translated into English. Any takers on helping with the translation?

We don’t think about it much, but what happens to all the medical waste from hospitals and health centers? Are infectious waste products such as used syringes, used gloves, and other products get quarantined, sterilized or disposed of properly, so as to avoid posing a public health hazard?

Read this chilling report.

“….70 percent of medical waste dumped in the local dustbins is infectious. Waste like used syringes, gloves and others are picked by scavengers. These are later sold to unknowing patients or their family members at a price lower than the price of an average syringe or pair of gloves…..”

and then this bit:

“….Infectious waste, at one time was dumped into garbage landfills of the city. Such waste decomposes with time and may seep into underground water supplies, cultivated lands contaminating soil and water. Gross incineration of this waste also causes pollution….”

Brac wins CGAP Financial Transparency Award 2005
Brac has been declared the winner of the prestigious Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) Financial Transparency Award 2005, says a press release.
Proving to be a shining exception to the rule that news regarding transparency and Bangladesh is usually negative, BRAC managed to secure the top prize for the 2005 Financial Transparency Award in a pool of 175 applicants from 57 countries all over the world.

More

Lucy Lawless takes us on an exotic and compelling journey as she travels to Bangladesh and meets some of the world’s poorest children and their struggling families.

Long before she was world famous as the star of the hit TV show “Zena, Warrior Princess,” New Zealand actress Lucy Lawless demonstrated her concern for children in need by sponsoring a Bangladeshi child through World Vision.

In “Five Days in Bangladesh,” Lucy meets the boy she has been helping for 10 years, and many other children like him.

She also talks with the people trying to make a positive difference in this troubled nation, and looks at what can be done to help it in its struggle with poverty.

More

New York had a visitor from Biralakkhi last November. Shamima Khatun wasn’t visiting the financial capital of the ‘free’ world to try out her luck; she’d made it already. She was after all the owner of the most innovative business in the world.

More here

From Human Rights Watch World Report 2006

Political and security conditions deteriorated in Bangladesh in 2005. The country saw nearly daily bombings throughout the year. On August 17, more than 400 bombs went off simultaneously in sixty-three of the country’s sixty-four districts, all of them targeted at government institutions. The country’s human rights record, already of pressing concern, worsened, as Bangladesh’s security forces continue to commit numerous abuses, including extra-judicial killings, excessive use of force, and custodial torture. Human rights defenders and journalists who report on the abuses continue to be harassed and intimidated. A culture of impunity, reinforced by 2003 legislation largely shielding the security forces from legal challenge, and by government praise for the Rapid Action Batallion (RAB), a specialized “anti-crime” unit responsible for many of the unlawful killings, means that abuses go largely uninvestigated and unpunished.

Authorities also continue to do little to protect the rights of religious minority communities, including Hindus and members of the Ahmadiyya community (a heterodox religious group that considers itself part of the larger Muslim world), even as Muslim extremist groups continue to target such groups. Tensions between the two main political parties, the Bangladesh National Party (BNP) and the Awami League (AL), continued, with frequent clashes between the two sides, as well as with police.

Corruption remained a serious obstacle for reform. For the fifth year in a row, Bangladesh headed Transparency International’s list as the most corrupt country in the world.

Rest of the post with links .

Someone has collated all the pieces of information of Mr. Nizami in one place. Mr. Nijami, as you know, is the Jamat Leader and industry minister. Just one among many, “Nizami called Shahid Matiur (who was later given the title of Bir Shreshtho) an Indian agent and sent condolences to the father of the Pakistani pilot who fought with him to bring the plane down.

The same Nizami is now concerned about the iamge of Bangladesh and blames the media for its image crisis. Also here he is blaming “indian agents” for the recent bombings.

Take a look at these documents from 1971

Thanks to MR Jalal for putting this together and pointing us to it.

Thanks Umar for pointing us to this…this story on Faces of the future is a refreshing read. Well done all. These are the faces that will change Bangladesh …not those of the ugly politicians.

Read here