» List of Grants, 2006
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The Bangladesh government's human rights record remains poor, and it continues to tolerate growing corruption and to commit serious abuses. The police, army and paramilitary forces often use unwarranted lethal force and operate with impunity. Police corruption, torture and killing of detainees, violence against religious minorities, and involvement in trafficking in women and children remain serious problems. Judicial corruption and lengthy pretrial detention are endemic. Violence against women remains widespread.
Bangladesh hosts hundreds of civil society organizations, and numerous donors supporting good governance and human rights work. However, the work of nongovernmental organizations is closely monitored and foreign funding to nongovernmental organizations must be approved by a government seeking to repress civil society voices. In this extremely repressive environment, although it is possible for human rights organizations to tackle important issues such as domestic violence and women’s economic empowerment, the majority are unable to challenge the structures of power that perpetuate human rights violations such as police abuse, public sector corruption, the growing political clout of private criminal forces, and extra-judicial assassinations by state security forces.
On a more positive note, there appears to be greater potential for small grants to make a difference at the local level. The Fund supports small and grassroots organizations operating at the local level in an effort to help strengthen and diversify the pool of resources and institutions capable of challenging human rights abuses in Bangladesh. We are also supporting field research and consulting other donors to map the existence of previously overlooked grassroots organizations throughout Bangladesh, including those doing indigenous rights work in the often overlooked southwest, as well as the Chittagong hill tracts (southeast) and areas in the north.
Please note that we are no longer accepting proposals from organizations in Bangladesh.
