“Citizen’s Agenda 2023: Towards a Different Bangladesh” offers a counter-narrative to Bangladesh’s conventional development discourse, one that is grounded in the experiences of marginalised and left behind communities of the country. Prepared by the Citizen’s Platform for SDGs, Bangladesh, with the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) as its secretariat, the volume presents eleven policy briefs developed through a two-year nationwide consultation process involving key stakeholder groups.
Prepared on the basis of inputs derived from regional dialogues, town hall meetings, surveys and a public hearing held in Dhaka, the briefs reflect citizens’ perspectives and priorities across a range of economic, social and governance issues that concern the interests of particularly the weaker sections of the Bangladesh society. The publication offers practical policy recommendations with a view to ensure that development policies are inclusive, development praxis is accountable and service the demands of the most needy.
Whilst the exercise informing the volume was mostly carried out before the student-people uprising of July–August 2025, its publication comes at a time when there is a growing demand for reforms on the part of citizens of the country, and reform agendas are dominating public discourse and debates. This volume is not a mere collection of proposals and recommendations; it is a step towards the preparation of a Citizens’ Manifesto ahead of the upcoming national elections in Bangladesh.
First Published: December 2023