As a developing nation in South Asia, Bangladesh faces many challenges in achieving sustainable and inclusive growth in diverse sectors. A key strategy for achieving this goal can be ensuring active involvement of local communities in monitoring local development activities. This participatory approach can foster transparency, accountability, and efficiency in development projects. Here, we explore how Bangladesh can engage its local communities in monitoring and enhancing local development.

Community involvement in monitoring development works offers numerous benefits. Local residents possess invaluable knowledge about their community’s needs, priorities, and challenges. Their insights can guide the planning and implementation of development projects more effectively. It also contributes to ensuring accountability.

When communities are involved in monitoring, it increases transparency and reduces the risk of corruption and misuse of resources. Community members are more likely to hold project implementers accountable. Besides, it can help improve responsiveness. For instances, direct feedback from the community ensures that projects are responsive to local needs and can be adjusted promptly if any problem arises.

There are best global practices that can be studied and customised to the needs of Bangladesh. Several successful examples can be taken into account as models. For instances, Community-Based Monitoring Systems (CBMS) in the Philippines involves local residents in data collection and analysis to monitor poverty and development indicators. It has proven effective in enhancing local governance and in poverty reduction. Philippines also have employed social audits, where community members oversee government projects to ensure effective and fair development. 

Besides, in Kenya and Uganda, participatory budgeting has given local communities the power to directly impact the allocation of public funds, resulting in projects that better address the needs of the people. Moreover, Sweden and Denmark prioritise engaging stakeholders in dialogue, which involves a diverse range of community members and ensures that marginalised groups have a voice.

While community involvement in monitoring local development offers many advantages, it also presents challenges.  Some officials may resist community involvement due to fear of scrutiny.  Besides, limited financial and technical resources can hinder the effectiveness of community monitoring. Additionally, ensuring the participation of all community members, especially marginalised groups is challenging. Moreover, community engagement in monitoring local level development works in Bangladesh may face several practical and technical limitations. One significant challenge is lack of proper training and awareness among community members about the technical aspects of development projects, which hampers their ability to monitor and evaluate progress effectively. Additionally, there is often a power imbalance between community members and local authorities, leading to a lack of influence and voice in decision-making processes.

In order to leverage the benefits of community engagement, Bangladesh can adopt several strategies. Establishing community monitoring committees can be instrumental in this regard. Local monitoring committees can be formed, comprising representatives from various segments of the community, including women, youth, and marginalised groups. These committees can work alongside government and NGO officials to oversee project implementation. Currently, there are some initiatives in place in various names, such as Word Committee. These initiatives are mostly backed by NGOs or development partners. However, the effectiveness of these initiatives seem to be low or in some cases minimum.

Engaging retired person can be a good idea. Retired persons belonging to the local community can be engaged in the monitoring of the local development initiatives. Local level forums involving retired civil servants, teachers, business person and private sector personnel can be formed to oversee the local development initiatives. The forum needs to be linked with the local administration and can be financed by the NGOs operating the local level.

Opportunity of utilising technology is now opening up new windows. Digital platforms and mobile applications can be developed to facilitate real-time reporting and feedback from community members. These tools can enhance communication between local residents and project implementers, making the monitoring process more efficient and transparent.

The concept of citizen journalism is gaining recognition in some of the countries. Citizen Journalism can be promoted which can facilitate the scope of monitoring and reporting for mass people.  Participatory Planning Processes can be another way out. Involving communities in the planning stages of development projects ensures that their needs and priorities are considered from the beginning. Regular community meetings and consultations can be organised to gather input and foster a collaborative environment.

Moreover, information sharing is crucial. Providing communities with access to information about development projects, including budgets, timelines, and progress reports, can empower them to monitor effectively. Furthermore, training programmes should be lunched to build the capacity of community members in monitoring and evaluation techniques. These programmes can cover areas such as data collection, reporting, and the use of digital tools using simple techniques.  

In short, Bangladesh can ensure its effective, transparent, and inclusive growth by fostering active community involvement in monitoring local development projects. The country can harness the strengths of its local communities for that purpose through capacity building, committee formation, arrangement of training and participatory planning. With concerted effort and collaboration, Bangladesh can create a model of community-driven development and achieve sustainable development goals.
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The writer is a Public Administration researcher and practitioner.
Email: [email protected]