<div dir="ltr"><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
line-height:normal;mso-outline-level:2"><b><span style="font-size:13.5pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";color:#0A8FBC">Bangladesh Social Forum Observed Bangladesh
Week 2008</span></b><b><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#606060"></span></b></p>
<div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid #B0B0B0 1.0pt;
mso-border-bottom-alt:solid #B0B0B0 .75pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:11.25pt;line-height:18.0pt;border:none;
mso-border-bottom-alt:solid #B0B0B0 .75pt;padding:0in;mso-padding-alt:0in 0in 0in 0in"><span style="font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";color:#2A2A2A">Posted by supro on October 13, 2008</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:11.25pt;line-height:18.0pt;border:none;
mso-border-bottom-alt:solid #B0B0B0 .75pt;padding:0in;mso-padding-alt:0in 0in 0in 0in"><span style="font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";color:#2A2A2A">@ </span><a href="http://supro.wordpress.com/2008/10/13/bangladesh-social-forum-observed-bangladesh-week-2008/">http://supro.wordpress.com/2008/10/13/bangladesh-social-forum-observed-bangladesh-week-2008/</a><span style="font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";color:#2A2A2A"></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:11.25pt;text-align:justify;line-height:
18.0pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#2A2A2A">Bangladesh</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#2A2A2A"> </span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";color:#2A2A2A">is passing through multi-faceted challenges in
the recent past propagated by its economic depression due to deregulation of
the state machinery dictated from International Financial Institutions.
Commoner's life and livelihood is highly suppressed from inflation,
unemployment and unprecedented risks. Triple attack of food, fuel and financial
crisis on the global economy is also affecting peoples' daily life as the
country is a net food importing LDC and its remittance mostly comes from by
exporting garments and frozen foods along with low skilled manpower. </span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#2A2A2A"> </span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";color:#2A2A2A">needs increased investment in food,
agriculture, employment generation along with spending in basic services. But
the govt. can not invest more as they have to pay back more than USD 1500
million for debt servicing per annum to World Bank, IMF, Asian Development Bank
and to other bi-lateral donors, which is more than 15% of it's national budget.
Besides new loan programs in the name of Multi Donor Trust Fund proposed to be
managed by World Bank will trap its citizens to new debt burden. Massive
awareness needs to be created to challenge this undemocratic venture of the
Bank.</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;font-family:
"Verdana","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#2A2A2A"> </span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";color:#2A2A2A">Bangladesh</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
color:#2A2A2A"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:11.25pt;text-align:justify;line-height:
18.0pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#2A2A2A">Many Bangladeshi
campaigners are protesting the economic and ecological debt burden targeting
the World Bank- IMF's AGM kicked off on</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";color:#2A2A2A"> </span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
color:#2A2A2A">October 13, 2008</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:
11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
color:#2A2A2A"> </span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#2A2A2A">in</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#2A2A2A"> </span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";color:#2A2A2A">in line with the spirit of Week of Global
Action Vs Debt, IFI and Climate Change. On the eve of Bank and Fund's AGM,
Bangladeshi civil society, NGOs, academia launched a week long campaign kicked
off onOctober 12, 2008</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:
11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
color:#2A2A2A"> </span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#2A2A2A">styled as Bangladesh
Week of Action against Hunger, Poverty and Development Disparity. The main
focus of the campaign is illegitimate debt and its relation to international
financial institutions and climate change. Activists from different
organization and capacity under the banner of Bangladesh Social Forum stated in
the press conference that, due to extreme climate change</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#2A2A2A"> </span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";color:#2A2A2A">and its people are exposed to high risk.
Unlimited consumption and over-burning of fossil fuel by the rich countries,
abusive exploration of oil-gas-mineral resources of the transnational
corporation have shattered the ecological and social balance. But they did not
take responsibility for this. The campaigners raised seven points demand. They demanded
compensation to the north and asked to cancel all foreign debts. The also asked
World Bank-IMF-Asian Development Bank to stop imposing policy conditionality on</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#2A2A2A"> </span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";color:#2A2A2A">govt. The activists said, climate change
adaptation fund should be kept out of ongoing pledges made to the poor
countries and demanded sufficient resources to combat climate change. They
strongly opposed World Bank's control over Multi Donor Trust Fund and demanded
a separate state run board to manage this fund.</span><span style="font-size:
10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";color:#2A2A2A"> </span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
color:#2A2A2A">BangladeshBangladeshWashington</span><span style="font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
color:#2A2A2A"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:11.25pt;line-height:18.0pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";color:#2A2A2A">VOICE, INCIDIN Bangladesh, SUPRO, Equity
Justice Working Group, Angikar Bangladesh, Wave Foundation, NRDS, Unnayan
Onneshan, SPS, Rupayan, Paribartan, Initiative for Right View, Humanity Watch,
Muktir Alo, MKUS, Sachetan, BUP and other organizations and networks announced
different programs like seminar, workshop, human chain, protest rally,
cultural program, mass gathering throughout the week to protest Bank and Funds
involvement in climate financing.</span><span style="font-size:8.5pt;
font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
color:#2A2A2A"></span></p>
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