A total of USD 29.9 million was allocated from government funds to Democracy International (DI), a US-registered organisation, for strengthening the political system in Bangladesh.
The funds were disbursed in phases under the Strengthening Political Landscape in Bangladesh (SPL) project, which was funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the now-defunct British organisation Department for International Development (DFID).
The information was published by HigherGov, a platform that tracks US government contractors and grant recipients. After reviewing HigherGov’s data, multiple government and private sources in Dhaka and Washington confirmed the allocation and release of funds to DI.
Several diplomatic sources told Prothom Alo that USAID and DFID jointly financed Democracy International’s SPL project in Bangladesh. Initially planned as a five-year initiative, the project was extended twice - first by two years and later by an additional year and seven months.
However, DFID eventually withdrew from the financing process, leaving USAID to directly oversee the project’s implementation in collaboration with Democracy International in Bangladesh.
When asked about the project’s funding, Foreign Affairs Advisor Touhid Hossain, referring to the US President’s statement, told newspersons at the ministry on Monday, “I have no clear information on who received the money and how it was spent. I read in the newspaper that the funds were allocated to a US-based organisation. The NGO Bureau has stated that there is no such entry in their records. For now, we have to take their word for it. However, if any new information emerges, we will look into it.”
Notably, on 15 February, the US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) announced via its verified X (formerly Twitter) handle that the US had cancelled funding for various projects in multiple countries, including Bangladesh and India.
The Strengthening Political Landscape in Bangladesh project, which aimed to improve Bangladesh’s political environment, was among the initiatives affected, with USD 29 million in funding cancelled.
Last Friday, former US President Donald Trump reiterated the decision, highlighting the project’s termination.
Diplomatic analysts and experts from international organisations state that the process of canceling funding for the Strengthening Political Landscape in Bangladesh (SPL) project, which US President Donald Trump recently mentioned, actually began in 2017 - during his first term in office.
Since the project was funded by US taxpayers, its financial details were publicly available and not classified information.
Additionally, no grants or development assistance from the project were allocated to any domestic non-governmental organisation (NGO) registered in Bangladesh. As a result, the project was not subject to exemption through the NGO Affairs Bureau.
According to the HigherGov website, since the project’s inception in 2017, funds have been allocated for various programmes, scheduled to conclude between 2022 and 2025.
Of the total funding, approximately USD 20 million was allocated in 16 installments for projects that ended in 2022, while around USD 9 million was earmarked for projects ending in 2024.
HigherGov also reports that after an agreement was signed in March 2017, the SPL project officially commenced the same month. The US Embassy in Bangladesh facilitated the agreement, which secured USD 29.9 million in assistance.
Under USAID’s foreign assistance programme, the project’s duration was extended multiple times, ultimately reaching a total of 8 years and 7 months. According to the most recent decision, the project is now set to conclude in September this year.
Main objectives of the project
In the description of the SPL project, Democracy International on its website said, the programme is “designed to (1) enhance grassroots participation, with a focus on women and youth, (2) improve the parties’ access to and use of information, and (3) improve the environment for responsive politics.”
It further said that DI established regional centres for women and youth in each of the seven regions of Bangladesh to increase the political engagement of women and youth in political parties and in national political activity.
One of the main objectives of the project was to improve the internal democratic structure of the political parties, and encouraging the rise of more inclusive and representational leadership. After observing the political violence, it included the university students, grassroots activists of political parties to publicise a peaceful alternative to challenge the political violence. As a partner in the project, Asia Foundation would help Democracy International.
A campaign titled “Shantite Bijoy”, as part of the project, was run in 40 districts in September 2018.
It could be noted here that there was a furore in the political arena over a survey of Democracy International in December 2016. Nearly 1,500 people were interviewed in a week in October that year through In-house Computer Assistance Telephone Survey System.
The findings said 38 per cent people would cast a vote for Awami League at the time of conducting the survey while only 5 per cent people said they would cast a vote for BNP. However, 35 per cent of the people did not take the name of any political party in the survey.
Democracy International’s co-founder and the then chief executive officer Glenn Cowan led a delegation to Bangladesh six months before publishing the survey report and met the then prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
During the meeting with Sheikh Hasina, Glenn Cowan praised Awami League’s research wing, Centre for Research and Information (CRI).
Asked, former Bangladesh ambassador to the US M Humayun Kabir told Prothom Alo an organisation needs to have registration with the USA if it wants to get financial assistance from USAID or any other US-based organisation.
According to him this assistance is not supposed to be given to anyone outside. Besides, it is compulsory to follow the US government’s financial management in cases of assistance.
Humayun Kabir pointed out that the audit process in cases of financial assistance is followed rigorously. The documents must be saved even after a few years of the completion of the project.
There are instances of taking the money back in cases where irregularities were found in the re-audit, he said.
This former ambassador also said there is no actual basis for the way President Trump spoke about financial assistance of USD 29 million to an organisation, whose name is unheard in Bangladesh. Apart from this, Democracy International is a US-registered organisation.
* This report, originally published in Prothom Alo Bangla version, has been rewritten in English by Farjana Liakat & Shameem Reza