Accra Conference on Aid Effectiveness - Perspectives from Bangladesh

This paper seeks to articulate the perspectives from Bangladesh as an aid recipient country on the evolving international aid system and more particularly on the Accra agenda. Based on secondary information from various sources including the Economic Relations Division, Ministry of Finance (MoF), OECD DAC Survey and Economic Review of the Ministry of Finance this paper briefly discusses the changing aid scenario in the context of Bangladesh and highlights some of the key issues related to aid effectiveness during the run up to the Accra HLF3. The paper also draws information from interviews of Development Partners working in Bangladesh to understand their perspectives on the bottlenecks of implementation of Paris Declaration on aid effectiveness in Bangladesh.Bangladesh, Aid, Aid effectiveness, Accra, Accra Conference

Environment Related Trade Barriers and the WTO

This paper looks at some of the environment related trade measures which may appear to be trade barriers at times in the context of the WTO. It also briefly discusses WTO Agreements on environmental measures and the use of environment related trade measures. The paper finally articulates the interests of LDCs in the area of trade and environment and how their concerns can be protected.WTO, Environment, trade barriers

Urban design and social capital: lessons from a case study in Braunstone, Leicester, UK

A valuable asset in sustainable regeneration is the ‘community’ with their developed networks, bonds and ties or in other words its social capital which is a useful resource. Braunstone in Leicester is typical of many disadvantaged areas in the UK, with persistent socio-economic problems exacerbated by a poor physical setting. With a large regeneration programme funded by the New Deal for Communities coming to a close, we conducted a case study to explore the impact of improved local facilities and the effect of walkability on social capital. The lessons learnt suggests that responding to needs at a finer grain is vital in developing neighbourhoods for social capital such as responding to the needs of different user groups, responding to local patterns of use and needs of micro localities, and improving the perceptions of neighbourhoods. Local facilities and neighbourhood walkablity provides incentives for longer term residency, and facilitates interaction which helps social capital to grow. Accessing services by walking and using public transport proves vital to engage in social activities, while a poor physical environment, lack of accessible services and public transport negatively affects participation in social and leisure activities. Facilities and buildings provide a mediating role in developing social capital in a community, providing opportunity for social interaction which encourages people to reside in an area for longer. Improving connections beyond the neighbourhood is important to help retain people for longer term residency to develop social capital

Effect of Coupling on the Epidemic Threshold in Interconnected Complex Networks: A Spectral Analysis

In epidemic modeling, the term infection strength indicates the ratio of infection rate and cure rate. If the infection strength is higher than a certain threshold -- which we define as the epidemic threshold - then the epidemic spreads through the population and persists in the long run. For a single generic graph representing the contact network of the population under consideration, the epidemic threshold turns out to be equal to the inverse of the spectral radius of the contact graph. However, in a real world scenario it is not possible to isolate a population completely: there is always some interconnection with another network, which partially overlaps with the contact network. Results for epidemic threshold in interconnected networks are limited to homogeneous mixing populations and degree distribution arguments. In this paper, we adopt a spectral approach. We show how the epidemic threshold in a given network changes as a result of being coupled with another network with fixed infection strength. In our model, the contact network and the interconnections are generic. Using bifurcation theory and algebraic graph theory, we rigorously derive the epidemic threshold in interconnected networks. These results have implications for the broad field of epidemic modeling and control. Our analytical results are supported by numerical simulations.Comment: 7 page

‘Jibon Thekey Neya' (Glimpses of Life, 1970) : The First Political Film in Pre- Liberation Bangladesh and a Cinematic Metaphor for Nationalist Concerns’

The year 1970 was significant for Bangladeshi cinema. It was the time when the collective aspirations to construct a new national and cultural identity appeared on Bangladeshi screens, in tandem with the contemporary political situation. Just a few years earlier, in 1966, a new wave of a militant movement had swept over Pakistan when Sheikh Mujibur Rahman announced the Six Point programme. The Six Point, which was widely referred to as the Magna Carta of the Bengalis, drew strength from secular consciousness of the Bengali people and from the economic deprivation of East Pakistan. Slowly it cemented the struggle for a new nation. Jibon Thekey Neya (Glimpses of life, 1970), a film by Zahir Raihan, captures the crucial moment of Pakistani repression by presenting the national experiences and exploitation of Bengalis under the military dictatorship of Ayub Khan. This paper explores how the film, within a family melodrama, introduced a new cinematic style by transforming personal stories into collective and symbolic narratives. The paper argues that by presenting contemporary facts and the identifiable shared narrative of Bengalis through a metaphoric form of fiction, Jibon Thekey Neya can be seen as the first instance of ‘national cinema’ in Bangladesh, even before its emergence as an independent state. The author also looks at how gender difference is constructed, interpreted and entangled with the concept of nation in the crisis moment of history

Ongoing WTO Negotiations and Bangladesh’s Interests: Insights from CPD’s October 2002 Tracking Mission to Geneva

The paper is based on the participation of CPD delegation in Geneva and gives an insight into the particular issue of priority interest to Bangladesh in the context of the ongoing negotiations including GATS, AoA, TRIPS and Market Access.The paper provides an understanding about the important implications of the ongoing Doha Development Round negotiations for Bangladesh and other least developed countries (LDCs) both in terms of accessing the opportunities emanating from the evolving global trading system, and also from the perspective of addressing the attendant challenges.WTO-General Council, Tracking Mission, Geneva, Bangladesh