CAMPE with the support of the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), organized a discussion titled “ODA Trends and Global & National Funding Scenario for NGOs: Challenges and Way Forward” on Saturday, 18 October 2025, at Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation Bhaban, Dhaka.
The program started with the solidarity for the people of Palestine, as expressed by a group of children and adolescents holding the flags of Bangladesh and Palestine and chanting slogans. They delivered a set of demands for justice and international recognition of a free Palestinian state.
The event was chaired by Rasheda K. Choudhury, Executive Director of CAMPE. In the keynote presentation, Dr. Mostafizur Rahman, Deputy Director of CAMPE, highlighted NGOs’ vital contribution in education, health, women’s empowerment, and climate adaptation etc. He noted that foreign aid is projected to decline, warning that the reduction already threatened around 50,000 development workers. He called for diversification through CSR funds, social enterprises, diaspora remittances, and local fundraising, and finding out new funding opportunities in various international organizations and countries ensuring transparency, digitalization and capacity enhancement of NGOs.
Dr. Wahiduddin Mahmud, Advisor, MoP of Interim Government and Chief Guest of the program recognized NGOs’ remarkable contributions to develop Bangladesh since independence, but cautioned that shrinking foreign aid demands a transformation of NGO operational models. He suggested harnessing community-based resources such as riverine Island, wetlands, and forests as commons for local livelihoods, while warning of potential tensions with local authorities if accountability and inclusion are not ensured. He also focused transparency, noting that “NGOs must strengthen governance to maintain public and donor trust.”
Dr. Hossain Zillur Rahman, Chairperson of BRAC and former Adviser to the Caretaker Government in his remarks as Special Guest, viewed the crisis as an opportunity for innovation. He urged NGOs to move from a volume-based to a quality-driven approach, aligning their missions with evolving national development priorities.
Panel discussants included Ms. Bitopi Das Chowdhury, Head of Corporate Affairs and Brand & Marketing of Standard Chartered Bank and Professor Dr. Syed Shahadat Hossain of Dhaka University and Dr. Khondaker Golam Moazzem Research Director of CPD. They underscored the need for stronger collaboration among government, private, and non-profit actors; digital project management; results-based financing; and a strategic shift toward domestic resource mobilization.
