ABOUT PROKAS
PROKAS (Promoting Knowledge for Accountable Systems) is a UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) funded programme designed to support the government and civil society initiatives to improve transparency and accountability in Bangladesh. PROKAS commenced in April 2015 and will continue until December 2021. PROKAS is implemented by the British Council in partnership with Palladium.
PROKAS is a politically smart programme that increases transparency and reduces corruption in Bangladesh by supporting action in areas where there is strong potential for change. PROKAS works with issues where there is an opportunity to bring groups together – civil society, government, academia, the business community – to solve complex accountability problems through coalition building and collective action approaches, supported by political economy and other analysis. Whilst PROKAS awards grants to participating partners, particularly civil society partners including youth, IBPs are not traditional ‘grant projects’; regular reflection and learning enable projects to flexibly adapt to accommodate new ideas, skills or new partners, or changes in the external context.
PROKAS is currently delivering the following issue-based projects:
- Climate finance: supporting a coalition of partners to strengthen both supply and demand aspects of climate finance transparency and right to information. Through applying the comparative advantages of government, civil society and private sector, the project aims to demonstrate that climate projects that are transparent, accountable and inclusive, will increase the effectiveness, efficiency and economy of climate change interventions, thus increasing opportunities for national and global financing and increase the wellbeing of communities
- Labour migration: government, civil society and private sector partners are collaborating to strengthen mechanisms, policy and legislation to provide greater safeguards to labour migrants from Bangladesh, many of whom fall prey to bribery, corruption and other exploitative practices. Partners are collaborating to pilot grievance and compensation mechanisms for victims of exploitation
- Food safety: through multi-stakeholder engagement the project aims to increase transparency and accountability in the food sector leading to informed policymaking, safer production and distribution of food products and economic benefits for small-scale farmers (including women farmers). As an entry point into the wider issue of food safety, PROKAS will continue to focus on poultry production, whilst engaging with actors who work across food safety more broadly
- Climate-induced migration: a coalition of partners are collaborating to identify alternative cities to Dhaka where climate displaced migrants can settle with dignity. By bringing together a coalition of actors that supports the private sector, government and civil society interests, the project aims to demonstrate that collective working which is more transparent and accountable, brings benefits to all parties – including green financing opportunities for private sector growth and employment for climate displaced migrants to enable them the opportunity to rebuild their lives.
KEY INFORMATION
Duration of the project: April 2015 – December 2021