Citizen’s Platform in 2025: Tracking Reforms, Embedding Voices and Supporting Transition

Citizen’s Platform for SDGs, Bangladesh strategically advanced its mandate to promote inclusive development amid evolving national and global contexts. Through a series of high-level engagements — from embedding citizen’s voices into electoral debates to introducing Bangladesh Reform Watch, we share some of the activities that kept us busy throughout the year:

Bangladesh Reform Tracker: Are Bangladesh’s Reforms Stalling at the Starting Line?

An online platform designed to systematically track, monitor and disseminate progress on reforms across key sectors. The first phase focused on selected reform proposals in four critical areas: the Electoral System, Anti-Corruption Commission, Media and Labour.  The Reform Tracker serves as a dynamic repository of policy measures, legislative actions, institutional changes, and implementation milestones, thereby promoting transparency, accountability, and evidence-based dialogue.

Click here to track reform progress in Bangladesh

Bangladesh Reform Watch: A Citizen’s Initiative for a Country in Transition

On 1 September 2025, Bangladesh Reform Watch was launched to ensure that reform efforts are inclusive, accountable, and citizen-driven. Marking its inauguration, leaders and key representatives from diverse citizen groups came together to reaffirm a shared commitment to an inclusive reform agenda. The initiative seeks to strengthen accountability in the implementation of reforms while assessing the financial implications and feasibility of key socio-economic initiatives. Click here to read more on the initiative

Before the Ballot: Takeaways from Eight Regional Consultations

To anchor the Citizen’s Manifesto in lived realities, Citizen’s Platform organised eight regional consultations across Sylhet, Rajshahi, Barishal, Khulna, Rangpur, Mymensingh, Chattogram, and Rangamati. The consultations surfaced enduring concerns around good governance, electoral credibility, access to quality education, employment generation, decentralisation of public resources, women’s safety, climate vulnerability, and regional disparities. More than 1200 people from 32 districts were consulted in this process. The insights generated now constitute a core pillar of the Citizen’s Manifesto, intended to inform political party agendas and shape post-election policy priorities.

Click on the links below to read more

Sylhet (23 October 2025) | Rajshahi (15 November 2025) | Barishal (19 November 2025) | Khulna (20 November 2025)| Mymensingh (24 November 2025) | Rangpur (29 November 2025) |  Chattogram (10 December 2025) | Rangamati (11 December 2025)

What Do Youth Voices Demand Ahead of National Election?

Strengthening NHRC for Safeguarding Human Rights and Civic Space in Bangladesh

Citizen’s Platform has long worked to safeguard human rights and civic space, particularly for marginalised communities. With the draft National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Ordinance 2025 now open for discussion, the Citizen’s Platform convened a dialogue on 27 September 2025 to gather and consolidate diverse stakeholder perspectives, with special emphasis on civil society inputs. Click here to read more

Democracy Thrives when Discrimination is Eliminated: Reviving the Anti-Discrimination Bill 2022

Although an Anti-Discrimination Act was drafted by the previous government under public pressure, it was never enacted due to political hesitation and conflicting interests. Citizens’ Platform, in partnership with Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST), Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF) and Naogrik Uddyog organised the discussion on 8 November 2025 to explore the opportunity for enacting a comprehensive and effective Anti-Discrimination Act. Click here to read more

 Understanding Extreme Poverty from the Ground: Lived Experiences Across Bangladesh

Citizen’s Platform supported the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) in conducting multi-stakeholder consultations across Khulna, Satkhira, Sreemangal (Moulvibazar), Sunamganj, and Dhaka. These consultations were held as part of the research initiative Reaching the Furthest Behind First: A Human Rights-Based Approach to Confront Extreme Poverty in Bangladesh, which adopts a human rights and capability-based perspective to examine extreme poverty beyond income-based metrics. Focusing on female agricultural labourers, tea garden workers, climate-vulnerable populations, Dalit sanitary communities, and urban floating populations, the study explores the multidimensional challenges faced by these marginalised groups.

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Khulna | Satkhira | Moulvibazar | Sunamganj | Dhaka

National Solidarity Begins with Addressing the Concerns of Marginalised Communities

Citizen’s Platform collaborated with the White Paper Committee 2024, formed by the current Interim Government of Bangladesh, in organising a symposium titled White Paper and Thereafter: Economic Management, Reforms and National Budget. The committee’s report, White Paper on State of the Bangladesh Economy: Dissection of a Development Narrative, outlined key economic concerns and policy recommendations, but the questions remained regarding how the findings and recommendations would be acted upon. The day-long symposium engaged policymakers and key stakeholders ahead of the 2025–26 national budget to build consensus and outline possible action plans.

Click here to read more about the symposium

National Budget FY2025–26: Missed Opportunity to Protect the Marginalised

The Interim Government presented its first National Budget for FY2025–26. Ahead of the budget, Citizens’ Platform organised a multistakeholder forum to bring together diverse voices to assess recent economic performance, review reform agendas from the White Paper and Task Force reports and identify key fiscal priorities. The discussion emphasised improving public expenditure efficiency, addressing institutional weaknesses and ensuring that the perspectives of marginalised communities were incorporated.

As a follow-up, a post-budget dialogue was convened to critically examine the national budget through an LNOB lens, assessing whether it effectively addressed economic stabilisation, employment recovery and the needs of marginalised communities.

Click on the links below to read more
Pre-budget Forum | Post-budget Dialogue

VNR Process Needs to Delve Deeper into the Concerns Impacting the Left-behind

To assess the progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in a new national context and ensure that the Voluntary National Review (VNR) process is inclusive and nationally representative, Citizen’s Platform; Office of the Principal Coordinator for SDG Affairs; Chief Adviser’s Office, Government of Bangladesh; and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Bangladesh, jointly convened a national dialogue and two dedicated discussions—one with leading business leaders and another with around 100 diverse youth representatives.

Click below to read more
VNR 2025: Addressing the interests of LNOB communities
VNR 2025: Perspectives of Youth | VNR 2025: Perspectives of Business Leaders

Advancing Bangladesh Through Strategic Negotiation

To effectively navigate discussions at the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4), Bangladesh must adopt a strategic and proactive approach to secure its interests. In preparation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Bangladesh and Citizen’s Platform jointly organised a stakeholder consultation to gather insights to guide the country’s negotiations during the 3rd Prep-Com meeting. Click here to read more

Budgeting for Equity in Bangladesh’s FfD4 Outcomes

Building on Bangladesh’s preparation for FfD4, and ahead of the country’s FY2025–26 National Budget, Citizens’ Platform, in collaboration with UN Women Bangladesh, convened a dialogue on Advancing Gender-Responsive Budgeting. The discussion underscored gender-responsive budgeting (GRB) as a critical instrument for inclusive and equitable development and highlighted the importance of embedding gender perspectives into fiscal planning to strengthen social protection, enhance service delivery, and ensure that development gains are accessible to all. Click here to read more

Need for a High-level Committee for TVET Sector Persists

In April of this year, students nationwide protested for the reform of the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) sector. In response, Citizen’s Platform organised a media briefing addressing the current situation and suggesting potential policy measures. The briefing presented findings from a social audit and subnational dialogues in Panchagarh, Sunamganj and Satkhira, as well as a national conference in Dhaka. Click here to read more

Empowering Youth to Accelerate SDG Delivery in the Asia and the Pacific

Citizen’s Platform hosted a virtual side event of the 12th Asia-Pacific Forum for Sustainable Development (APFSD) titled NextGen Partnerships: Empowering Youth to Accelerate SDG Delivery. The session brought together five distinguished speakers from across the Asia-Pacific region, featuring four youth leaders and a government representative, offering a balanced mix of ground realities and institutional perspectives. Click here to read about the side event

DigiWave: Strengthening Digital Advocacy for Youth Engagement

Big Blue Communications, in partnership with the Citizen’s Platform for SDGs, Bangladesh and with support from the Porticus Foundation, has launched DigiWave — a 15-month initiative designed to enhance the digital advocacy capacity of the Platform’s partner organisations. Focusing particularly on organisations working with diverse youth communities, DigiWave will offer targeted training, real-time application opportunities, and collaborative learning to strengthen online civic engagement efforts. By building advanced digital communication skills and fostering inclusive civic spaces, this initiative aims to amplify youth voices and reinforce the Citizen’s Platform’s network for sustainable and inclusive development.

Year-long Consultations and Meetings on Civic Space and Policy Activism

Citizen’s Platform continued its consultation process with its key stakeholders – Partner Organisations (13 January, 05 February and 15 April, 11 August and 29 October), International Development Partners (19 January, 17 May, 11 August and 17 November) and Core Group (19 January and 29 April). These consultations were pivotal in designing, strategising and delivering the initiatives of the network in the backdrop of the evolving context of the country.

Knowledge Products

Citizen’s Platform published five following briefing notes in Bangla, under the initiative “People-centric Reform for Good Governance: Aspirations of Disadvantaged Communities”:

• Briefing Note 45: সুশাসনের জন্য জনসম্পৃক্ত সংস্কার: অসুবিধাগ্রস্ত জনগোষ্ঠীর আকাঙ্ক্ষা
• Briefing Note 46: স্থানীয় সরকারি কার্যক্রমে নাগরিকদের অংশগ্রহণ ও ক্ষমতায়ন নিশ্চিতকরণ
• Briefing Note 47: সরকারি সেবা প্রদানের উন্নতি করতে নাগরিক নেতৃত্বাধীন তদারকি ও জবাবদিহি প্রক্রিয়া
• Briefing Note 48: জাতীয় নীতি নির্ধারণ প্রক্রিয়ায় নারী ও পিছিয়ে পড়া জনগোষ্ঠীর কণ্ঠস্বর, অংশগ্রহণ এবং ক্ষমতায়ন জোরদারকরণ
• Briefing Note 49: সুশাসনের জন্য জনসম্পৃক্ত সংস্কার: অসুবিধাগ্রস্ত জনগোষ্ঠীর আকাঙ্ক্ষা

We have recently published our print edition of

• Citizen’s Platform for SDGs, Bangladesh: The Journey and the Learnings (Print edition)
• Citizen’s Agenda 2023: Towards a Different Bangladesh (Print edition)

Networking, Outreach and Digital Presence

In 2025, Citizen’s Platform welcomed 16 new partner organisations, bringing the total to 166. During this period, all national dialogues and conferences were live-streamed on Citizen’s Platform’s Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn pages, attracting over 331.6K digital viewers on Facebook, 152.1K on Youtube and 61K on LinkedIn. Additionally, more than 5,000+ participants attended these events in person, including over 2000+ representatives from left-behind communities.

Citizen’s Platform has significantly expanded its digital presence, with an increase of 38.8K subscribers on YouTube, 1.3K followers on LinkedIn, and a growing engagement on Facebook with 30K followers. Amid a changing national context and evolving civic responsibilities, Citizen’s Platform remains steadfast in amplifying voices, advancing interests, and advocating for the rights of the disadvantaged citizens and communities across Bangladesh.

Programme Partners of 2025

Citizen’s Platform extends sincere gratitude for the unwavering support it has received from 92 organisations who joined us in our journey in 2025.

We wish all our partners and well-wishers a very successful and rewarding 2026.