In 2001, Hasibur Rahman founded Management and Resources Development Initiative (MRDI), an NGO focused on building capacity in media organisations. MRDI trained journalists in best practice and taught them to hold the powerful to account. Rahman soon realised, however, that the tools available to journalists in Bangladesh were woefully inadequate against pervasive corruption.
A culture of secrecy protected those involved, and lack of information prevented people from participating in decisions that affected their daily lives. Political and economic processes and the ability to make informed choices were the sole preserve of a privileged elite.
In the early 2000s, Rahman was at the forefront of a civil society movement to persuade parliament to pass a right to information law.
With their thinking shaped by the Official Secrets Act – introduced during the colonial era, and still in force – Bangladesh’s monolithic bureaucracy immediately pushed back at the concept of a citizen’s right to information. The government shelved the plan.
Despite the setback, Rahman’s organisation played a leading role in holding consultations to cobble together a coalition of rights activists, anti-corruption campaigners, media personalities and civil society members.
Their advocacy bore fruit in March 2009, when the Right to Information Act (pdf) was finally passed by parliament.
The act was hailed as a groundbreaking piece of legislation. Sheikh Hasina, the prime minister, said that it would ensure “the development of poor, marginalised and disadvantaged peoples”.
Challenges remained. The media was split on the effectiveness of right to information as a journalistic tool. Government officials tried to hide behind national security exemptions. Whistleblowers were afraid to come forward, since the law did not protect them.
MRDI kept up the advocacy, lobbying politicians and civil society members to plug loopholes in the act. In response, the government amended the rules and, in 2011, the landmark whistleblower protection act was passed.
In the past two years, the use of right to information has increased sharply; hundreds of applications are filed every day, according to the information commission.
Since 2008, Rahman, 47, has led a campaign calling on companies to use their corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds in a transparent manner. MRDI has urged corporations to look beyond obscure and opaque charity causes and use CSR as an alternative development fund – a new concept in Bangladesh. Rahman has worked with the government and the central bank to create a policy framework that has brought greater transparency to the way CSR funds are raised and spent.
Source: The Guardian
