Office Address
Centre for Peace and Justice, BRAC University, Green Delta Aims Tower (13th floor) 51-52 Mohakhali C/A Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh
Phone Number
01759750557
Email Address
[email protected]
Centre for Peace and Justice, BRAC University, Green Delta Aims Tower (13th floor) 51-52 Mohakhali C/A Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh
01759750557
[email protected]
This research was co-funded by the European Union under the ‘SUSHIL: Supporting the Unity and Sustainability of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to Uphold Human Rights, National Integrity and Rule of Law in Bangladesh’ project where ActionAid is the lead applicant and the Centre for Peace and Justice (CPJ), BRAC University is the co-applicant
Background: Despite the importance of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) as essential agents in the promotion of good governance, Bangladesh’s civic space has been gradually diminishing. This is mostly due to the limits to intellectual freedoms and a weakening democratic environment in which the CS operates. Also, the media organizations that try to maintain their independence in a strongly polarized political landscape are abused and intimidated when they try to expose the widespread human rights (HHRR) violations and rising autocratization. Increasingly CSOs are adopting a “see no evil” policy to survive in an atmosphere where the authorities have the final say (CIVICUS). Over the last few years, the CSO Sustainability Index (2020) for Bangladesh has deteriorated progressively in all the dimensions measured, in particular the “legal environment” in which CSOs operate. Bangladesh is also ranked Partly Free in the Freedom House Index 2022. Journalists and media outlets face many forms of pressure, including frequent lawsuits, harassment, and serious or deadly physical attacks. The Digital Security Act (DSA, 2018) has enabled the government to increase censorship of digital content and social media creating an atmosphere of fear and further threatening the freedom of expression. In this context, ActionAid (AA) as the lead applicant and BRAC University Centre for Peace and Justice (BRACU-CPJ) as co-applicants, have decided to join forces to propose this action based on their knowledge, expertise, technical capacity and complementarity. AA in Bangladesh has a long history of working in CSOs capacity building, deepening democracy and empowering communities to actively participate in civic space to demand tax justice, redistributive justice, and accountable, transparent and gender-responsive public services and governance processes. BRACU-CPJ is a multi-disciplinary academic institute with a core mandate to open civic space and society for the promotion of HHRR, democratization, and fostering tolerance.
The project, with a duration from January 2023 to December 2026, is a collaborative effort between the European Union and ActionAid Bangladesh. For communication and further details, please reach out to Dr. M Sanjeeb Hossain, Director of Research, at CPJ, BRAC University ([email protected]).
