Title:
Strengthening Parliamentary Oversight (SPO) in Bangladesh
Start Date:
April 2012
Completion Date:
June 2014
Client(s):
Government of Bangladesh
Funder(s):
World Bank
Location:
Bangladesh, Southern Asia,
Key Contact:
Andrew Wyatt
Summary:
Parliamentary oversight is widely considered an essential pillar for ensuring the financial accountability of the executive, and, in Bangladesh, as in many Parliaments, this responsibility is discharged primarily through the work of committees. The three public finance-related committees in Bangladesh are the Estimates Committee (EC), Public Accounts Committee (PAC), and Public Undertakings Committee (PUC).

All three committees have been facing huge difficulties in undertaking their respective oversight functions. These are mainly due to limited operational facilities, inadequate secretarial support, lack of skills and training for the existing support staff, and the constraints imposed by their conventional business processes and procedures.

OPM and its partners, the Parliamentary Centre of Canada and HB Consultants Ltd of Bangladesh, will provide support to the Strengthening Parliamentary Oversight project in Bangladesh, from 2012 to 2014. The aim of this work is to contribute to improvement of financial accountability and governance in the country’s public sector by:

• Institutionalizing the permanent secretariat support for the financial oversight committees, within the existing structure of the Parliament Secretariat;

• Improving the process of legislative scrutiny of the use of public funds;

• Enhancing public access to information about the work of financial oversight committees.