The State of Governance in Bangladesh Report was an annual flagship publication of BIGD that explored critical governance issues by analyzing the context and underlying dynamics and highlighting systemic strengths and weaknesses. It provided theoretical frameworks for understanding these issues and finding future pathways.
The SOG Report 2020–21 assessed the COVID-19 governance in Bangladesh during the first year of the pandemic—how the government responded to the crisis, the challenges, and constructive recommendations at a policy and programmatic level. With comprehensive mixed-method research across major dimensions of the COVID-19 crisis, that year’s report provided insights into governance challenges in managing the pandemic. The report identified gaps in critical governance areas such as healthcare, relief distribution, and lockdown management, and explored these issues from a political economy angle.
We believed the insights from this study could be highly relevant and valuable. But more importantly, we were hoping to engage with high-impact MAGD alumni like yourself, and learn from your reflections and practical experiences from the field. The discussion would have helped us immensely in better contextualizing and improving the governance analysis framework proposed in the report.
Dr Mirza M. Hassan, Senior Research Fellow and Head of Governance and Politics Cluster, BIGD, and Syeda Salina Aziz, Senior Program Manager, BIGD, presented insights from the study. It was followed by reflections from MAGD alumni Farzana Khanam, Deputy Director of IMED, Ministry of Planning; Deputy Secretary Mohammad Moniruzzaman Bakaul, Director of Anti-Corruption Commission; and Md. Tareq Mahmud.
