Speakers at a seminar yesterday said the government of Bangladesh has formulated its National Integrity Strategy (NIS) as a comprehensive good governance strategy to prevent corruption and improve national integrity in all spheres of life, reports BSS. They said the NIS has identified 10 state institutions and six non-state institutions for implementation of its action plans for prevention of corruption and ensuring integrity. Dr Gowher Rizvi, advisor to the Prime Minister for International Affairs, was present on the seminar as chief guest while Masato Watanabe, ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary (tentative) of Japan, and Mikio Hataeda, chief representative JICA, Bangladesh office were present as special guests.
Muhammad Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan, cabinet secretary, presided over the seminar held at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC). Different ministries, departments, Bangladesh Bank and Anti-Corruption Commission made presentation on good practices of their respective organizations for the implementation of NIS. A panel discussion was also held on the “Role of the Civil Society in Supporting Good Practices in Public and Private sector”. The seminar was organized under the NIS Support Project which is being implemented under the technical Cooperation project of JICA. JICA decided to support the implementation of the NIS, since the strategy is crucial to realize good governance in Bangladesh. The NIS Support Project started in October 2014 aiming at establishing a framework for effective implementation of NIS. The project has successfully completed the groundwork such as formation of Ethics Committees, assignment of Integrity Focal Points, awareness building of corruption prevention among the Integrity Focal Points, formulation of NIS work plans by fifty-three institutions, drafting an NIS Road map, and formulation of NIS Monitoring Guidelines. The project has established a framework for implementation of NIS. All government and non-government institutions, constitutional authorities and statutory bodies concerned with the matter will have to make a concerted effort for prevention of corruption and promotion of integrity in the country.