BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD), BRAC University, organized a breakfast meeting for visiting International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada team on March 3, 2016 at Dhaka. BIGD Executive Director Dr. Sultan Hafeez Rahman welcomed IDRC team led by IDRC President Mr. Jean Lebel.
The discussion at the meeting included contemporary development issues and challenges of Bangladesh and that of BIGD. President Lebel noted that this was his first visit to Bangladesh and he was very impressed by the ‘energy’ and vibrancy he felt in exchanging views with different stakeholders. He felt Bangladesh has great potential and seemed confident that it would achieve its development goals. He was committed to keeping IDRC fully engaged in Bangladesh and welcomed any ideas BIGD might have in this regard. While the future of Think Tank Initiative (TTI) beyond the current phase was not yet determined, he said that IDRC is doing its best to shape future thinking about fund raising for think tanks in an environment of shrinking ‘resource space’. He appreciated IDRC’s relations with BIGD and was encouraged by its recent accomplishments.
BIGD ED mentioned that for sustaining development, the country needs to address issues related to good governance and institution building. He highlighted and stressed on the importance of IDRC funding which is playing a crucial role in strengthening BIGD’s capacity. BIGD researchers explained how BIGD’s research is contributing in development and policy advocacy issues.
The visiting team also included Joanne Charette, Vice-President, Corporate Strategy and Communications, and Anindya Chatterjee, Regional Director, Asia. Among others, Simeen Mahmud, Head (Ad interim), Gender Cluster & CGST; Shanawez Hossain, Research Fellow, Wahid Abdallah, Visiting Fellow, and Sarwar Jahan Chowdhury, Head of Operations, from BIGD attended the meeting.