Even before the recent change of government in the United Kingdom, its role in Bangladesh has evolved, particularly at the bilateral level. Although it continues to fund basic services and other programs through its contributions to the IFIs and UN agencies, as well as regional programs and other global initiatives including Bangladesh, such as the Fund for girls’ education and climate change, its bilateral spending has been reduced to a modest level. The lowest in 20 years. According to the Center for Global Development, a think tank based in Washington, DC and London, an additional £900 million will need to be diverted this year from the UK’s global aid budget to be spent on asylum seekers in the UK. United. This represents a diversion of aid away from overseas spending to respond to domestic asylum pressures, while continuing to classify such spending as ODA. Coincidentally, as Bangladesh moves closer to developing country status, its social protection needs are expected to be met through domestic revenue sources rather than aid. Due to the decline of its bilateral budget, UK Aid has placed greater emphasis on strategic technical assistance to support policy reform – in other words, on ideas and methods rather than money.

The UK technical team in Dhaka is focusing on strategic priorities such as climate change, the current Rohingya emergency, gender, poverty among minorities and concerns about their political rights, civil society and conditions of democracy, as well as macroeconomic policies for growth under the SDG mantra of “leave no”. a behind.”

So much for where we are in terms of British aid to Bangladesh. Given London’s desire to rethink its position in the world, this is the right time for the interim government of Bangladesh to “place orders”! At the time of writing, the new Labor government has yet to outline its approach to overseas aid. There are, however, some clues. Foreign Secretary David Lammy has ordered a review of DFID (i.e. UK Aid) and its current status at the Foreign Office. Also in a recent speech, he explained how he wanted to modernize relations with the Global South – more partnership, eliminating the paternalism of the postcolonial past. At the same time, former Permanent Secretary (2011-17), Sir Mark Lowcock, is set to publish a book with co-author Ranil Dissanayake, titled The Rise and Fall of the Department for International Development, attributing the “fall » from DFID to the capture of the British Conservative Party by its right-wing populist factions. The book will offer proposals for the new holders of Number 10 as they define the UK’s position in a complex international landscape.

It may be easier to explore this Bangladesh-UK partnership this side of August 5 than before. For me, as an independent observer, this includes the following: expanding geopolitical alliances on key international issues that build on existing collaborations, for example on the Rohingya, but also on migrant rights and protections of work; reform of global governance institutions (particularly regarding climate change, planetary boundaries and taxation of international financial transactions as Tobin has argued); corporate governance and responsibility, that is to say not referring only to the State or to corporate social responsibility, but to a more acceptable face of capitalism where the accumulation of private profits no longer benefits free of charge to public goods – the ready-to-wear sector is a good example, with its precarious and poorly paid employees “subsidizing” precarious and poorly paid Western consumers; and controlling and eliminating corruption – very common in Bangladesh and with implications for the UK; reduce the propensity and need to permanently distance oneself from one’s culture (thus fracturing family life and identity) by combining inwardly socially progressive FDI and human capital investments while facilitating temporary circular migration towards the West or elsewhere; knowledge building by encouraging academic collaborations (such as with India over the last decade through the UK-India Education and Research Initiative – UKIERI) and student internships and exchanges, perhaps be particularly within the Bangladeshi diaspora in the UK; investing in secondary education and equal FE skills provision, including access to training and apprenticeship opportunities; and share approaches to managing higher education and vocational training as these sectors develop.

We also disseminate the principles of inclusive democracy (including the link between taxation and citizenship, as a basis for active and functional participation); decentralization to sub-state political arenas, perhaps necessary in the past when communications were difficult, but again necessary for participatory citizenship as is the case in the United Kingdom; advanced options for Bangladesh in the digital age (for example in the field of health, but of course also for inclusive education, especially if the classroom teaching force remains underdeveloped); understand the distribution of poverty between systemic and idiosyncratic explanations, so important for political choices between budgetary levers and intervention at the household level; develop well-being indicators, and not just income/expenditure indicators, as a policy guide (for both partners); exploring the boundaries between state and market for the regulated pursuit of social goals; thus understanding the political settlement between rights-based rights; philanthropy; voluntarism; non-profit services; market opportunities, whether related to work or entrepreneurship; and support for the Bangladeshi diaspora in the UK, particularly young people and especially girls.

(Some aspects of this program could make an argument for DFID remaining within the FCDO to maintain diplomacy, development and humanitarian aid in mutual support, although I would regret the loss of ministerial rank for development international per se. The British Treasury has two ministerial ranks as a model for similar representation in foreign affairs and international development.)

No doubt other items could be added to this list. But its main characteristic is that these issues no longer represent the idea of ​​”aid” flowing in one direction, from a rich country to a poor country, in a postcolonial framework of institutionalized philanthropy, combined with an element of personal interest or historical guilt. On the contrary, this agenda takes place in a true framework of mutuality: these questions are shared questions, and sometimes interactive. Bangladesh, for example, has extensive contemporary experience in tackling poverty and has much practice to share alongside innovative action research aimed at supporting poor people’s access to market opportunities directly, not just through employment. And as Bangladesh moves closer to developing country status, any notion of “development” is replaced by a notion of “social policy”, implying public intervention financed by revenues derived from entitlements, not just over-targeting. narrow. The two countries must therefore explore together social protection regimes including the notions of citizens’ income, universal basic services and a Polanyian “decommodification” of work. I also interacted with keen minds in Bangladesh around the idea of ​​a smart economy, even a smart political economy.

There is a sense of creative enthusiasm here in Bangladesh, hence a jump to the list above. At the same time, the UK must overcome institutional baggage from its own development past, in terms of outdated business assumptions in a climate-sensitive world and investment priorities/practices overly influenced by global thinking. comparative advantage, which neglect “decent” work. Such baggage continues to fuel privileged “rents” via regional, class and gender inequalities, both globally and within the UK. Bangladesh’s future should not be about replicating this institutional baggage, while the UK, with its new Labor government, should now try to shed it. There is a rich partnership program. Let’s accept it.

Dr Geof Wood is a development anthropologist and author of several books and numerous journal articles, with a regional focus on South Asia. He is also Emeritus Professor of International Development at the University of Bath, UK.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author.

Follow The Daily Star’s review on Facebook for the latest reviews, comments and analysis from experts and professionals. To contribute your article or letter to the Daily Star Opinion, visit our submission guidelines.