The Institute has been involved with a number of projects and activities. Dr Shahnaz Karim, Assistant Director, met Development Alternative surrounding possible collaborative work surrounding their recently successful bid with USAID Bangladesh. Dr Karim also met a delegation from the Government of Norway as part of their fact-finding mission on the governance situation in Bangladesh.
The Institute held a workshop on the Compliance Review of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) with the Ministry of Law, Justice & Parliamentary Affairs. Senior government officials, along with stakeholders from civil society as well as the media, attended the workshop. Ms Gretta Fenner, Director of the Basel Institute on Governance was also invited to provide expert advice during the workshop.
The Institute also hosted its second seminar of the Seminar Series. Dr Paul Posner, Program Director, George Mason University (GMU) presented his paper on 'Third Party Governance: Transformations in Public Management' at the Conference Room of the Institute. All IGS faculty & staff, faculty attended this from BRAC University as well as others from surrounding Universities. The University also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with GMU; the VC signed on behalf of the University.
The students from the Masters in Governance & Development program began their month long international study tour to South Korea and China. The Korean Development Institute (KDI) hosted the students for fifteen days which included workshops and seminars aimed at enhancing and providing a rounded understanding of the processes of governance from an international perspective. After completing their trip to Korea, the students travelled to Sichuan Province, China, where they were hosted by Sichuan University. The students returned to Bangladesh on 1st December.
Mr Manzoor Hasan, Director, was part of a Government of Bangladesh delegation from the Local Government Division to Jakarta to attend the Regional Forum on Reinventing Government in Asia. Mr Hasan also attended a two-day brainstorming Workshop on Social Accountability (SAC) in Delhi with the view of making the Institute a regional centre for training on social accountability. In the final leg of his journey, Mr Hasan joined the Masters students in their trip to Korea where he met the Dean of the Korean Development Institute (KDI) where further discussions were held to strengthen ties between KDI and the Institute under the existing MoU between the two parties.