Consumerism & NGO/CSOs in Coxsbazar

SHAME! this is hardly respect to the taxpayer’s money of Europe America. Some Local, national and international agencies organizing seminars with dinner or iftar party in 4/5-star hotels in Coxsbazar.

Even such dinner party happening in the name of 8th March international women day, pooled fund, localization and various refugee issues.

Here, they are paying per plate $15/20 while we are paying per refugee family for a month $10 now for basic food and basic survival.

Our studies shows that only one fourth of aid directly going to refugee families. We are expressing our worries on reduction of aid, telling to reduce these but we are hardly transparent and hardly speaking to reduce our management cost. Are we not SELFISH?

Our friend’s policy makers who are funding from international agencies and also attending on those parties, must think on these and turn these seminars or meeting to a systematic academic, influencing and productive culture.

These seminars or public events should not be the event of mere eating, drinking and talk show, without any study or research, without any direction, without appealing, without any problem posing and without solution suggesting.

Civil society is to raise voice on critical issues, not to be the sycophants to any establishment or to any agency. Any agencies especially donors and UN agencies must be cautions on this while their basic mandate is to create civil society for democracy and human rights.

There are some NGO / CSO organize public event like seminar or webinar, not in 4/5 star hotels both in Coxsbazar or Dhaka, to draw attention on specific problems thereby solutions, not on beating the bush.

They try best to organize voices from marginalized populations, civil society, media and high level policy makers from govt and non govt.

They give presentations slides, one page position papers, they send those to all prospective participants at least two days before, and again they distribute hard copies to the participants. They publish those in websites well in advance.

After the event they give English and Bangla press release by evening to all possible media. Usually those press release drawn attention from both local and national media.

During event they do video recording, then they make two minutes video of important speakers’ speech and post it in social media, ie, Facebook and x/twitter for mass circulation.

For all these systematic and productive culture opposites to consumerist and eating culture, you do not need any training, just apply your common sense, feel accountability to your own consciences, values of the taxpayers who are donating the money and life of the people for whom the money has come.

We / You all need to think on what the public acceptability is and what is public perception our NGO / CSOs, what is the level of our social and political acceptability.