Fellowship Programme 2005

The deadline for applications is 27 August 2004

Fellowship Application

The aim of the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights' Indigenous
Fellowship Programme is to give indigenous women
and men the opportunity to gain knowledge in the
field of international human rights in general
and on indigenous rights in particular in order
to assist their organizations and communities in
protecting and promoting the human rights of
their people.

The Indigenous Fellowship Programme for 2005 will
run from April to September. The Fellows will be
based at the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Geneva,
Switzerland for a period of five months. They
will also have the opportunity to establish
contacts with other inter-governmental and
non-governmental organizations.

After an introduction to relevant Geneva based
bodies and human rights instruments and
procedures, the Fellows have the opportunity to
gain practical experience with OHCHR and its work
with human rights through their practical work as
part of the Indigenous Project Team.

It is expected that each Fellow at the end of the
Programme will possess general knowledge about
the overall United Nations system, and knowledge
about the international human rights instruments
and mechanisms, in particular those with
relevance to indigenous peoples. Furthermore,
each Fellow should also at the end of the
Programme be capable of giving training within
their communities and organizations in the fields
of international human rights in general, and on
indigenous peoples rights in particular, and be
able to disseminate the information and knowledge
gained during the Fellowship Programme.

Five Fellowships will be awarded for 2005 including the following:

1. An economy class air ticket from the country
of residence to Geneva (return). 2. Modest
accommodation in Geneva for the duration of the
Programme. 3. Health insurance for the duration
of the Programme. 4. A monthly grant to cover
other living expenses in Geneva.

Selection process and criteria:

The final selection of successful candidates will
be made by the consultative group for the
Indigenous fellowship programme, which is
composed of indigenous persons. In view of the
large number of applications, we regret that only
successful candidates will be contacted.

The Advisory Group of the United Nations
Voluntary Fund for the International Decade of
the World's Indigenous People has adopted the
following guidelines and general criteria
pertaining to the selection of candidates for the
Indigenous Fellowship Programme:

The individual candidate:

1. Age should not be a limitation to
participation in the Fellowship Programme,
although preference should be given to candidates
in the age-bracket 25 - 35 years.

2. Formal education should not be a limitation to
participation in the Fellowship Programme given
the socio-economic barriers confronted by many
indigenous peoples that limit access to formal
educational institutions.

3. Candidates should have ability and willingness
to train other indigenous persons after the
return to their respective
communities/organizations.

4. The candidate should be supported by their
indigenous community or organization.

5. The Fellows should have a basic understanding of the English language.

The sponsoring organization/community:

6. The overall goal of the Programme is to give
indigenous persons the opportunity to gain
knowledge and skills in the field of
international human rights in order to assist
their organizations and communities in protecting
and promoting the human rights of their people.
Therefore, it is important that the candidate is
proposed and nominated by an indigenous
organization or community.

7. It is desirable that the sponsoring
organization has a firm constituency or
membership and that it is representative.

Other guidelines and criteria:

8. The selection of fellows should reflect a regional balance.

9. The general human rights situation in the
respective regions/countries should be taken into
consideration in the selection process.

10. In accordance with the general practice of
the United Nations, selection of Fellows should
reflect a gender balance.

11. Ten alternates should be selected in the
event that any of the first five preferences will
not be available for the Fellowship period. Five
alternates should be selected as first, second,
third, fourth and fifth preferences in the event
that any of the five first preferences will not be
available. The remaining five alternates could be ungrouped.

Fellowship applications will only be taken into
consideration if they are fully completed.

Fellowship applications must be faxed or sent by
regular post. E-mailed applications will not be
taken into consideration.

Fellowship applications or any questions
pertaining to the Indigenous Fellowship Programme
should be addressed to:

Indigenous Project Team
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
UNOG-OHCHR CH-1211 Geneva 10 Switzerland Telephone number: (+ 41 22) 917
9434 or 917 9272 Telefax number: (+41 22) 917 9010
E-mail: fellowship_prog@ohchr.org

Deadline for applications: 27 August 2004

PROBE INTO PROSHIKA ? 2 : Foreign education for Faruque?s son with donor money

New Age serialises the highlights of an NGO Bureau report on an official audit of Proshika, an NGO that allegedly misappropriated Tk 110 crore of money meant for development in the five years between 1996 and 2001.

Tuesday March 02 2004 07:43:57 AM BDT

NAZMUL AHSAN

Qazi Rubayyat Ahmed, son of Proshika president Qazi Faruque Ahmed, went to the University of Rochester in the US for higher studies, paying over Tk 74 lakh channelled from the NGO?s funds.

The money was released between 1996 and 1999 in favour of Faruque?s son in violation of NGO Affairs Bureau instructions and in a way that was not transparent, said an official audit report that found the NGO boss guilty of ?gross irregularities of fund?.

?The Proshika president awarded scholarships to his son and close ones abusing his authority,? it said.

As per the budget approved by the bureau in favour of Proshika, no outsiders other than employees of the NGO were entitled to get money for studies abroad from Proshika?s fund, the audit mentioned.

Of the amount disbursed for Faruque?s sons education, Tk 7,077,586 ($140,886) was sent from Proshika?s foreign currency account (No 01613129801) with the Motijheel branch of Standard Chartered Bank, while the rest of the money was transacted from ANZ Grindlays Bank.

The audit said Proshika had opened two FC accounts with those banks and transferred two per cent of all foreign donations to those accounts without any prior permission from the bureau.

?Opening the two FC accounts to bear the expenses of the Proshika?s top officials? dependents on heads like foreign study and foreign tours proves the ill motive of Proshika,? observed the audit report.

Rubayyat, in an application, sought a four-year ?scholarship? to enrol in an undergraduate course in electrical and computer engineering at the University of Rochester. The application did not mention the exact amount required.

?Faruque approved the application without specifying the amount of scholarship. The process was not transparent,? the audit report said.

The ?scholarship? money was drawn unlawfully from the operation fund of the NGO, although Proshika claimed the money was channelled from the staff welfare fund, the audit said.

Such heads of expenses were not found in the audited financial statements of the staff welfare fund.

The total amount spent from the FC accounts was over Tk 93 lakh during the period between 1994 and 1996, the report said. The remaining amount was spent unlawfully against the head of awarding foreign ?scholarships? in favour of dependents of other top officials of Proshika.

Anayet Karim, son of Proshika vice-president Mahbubul Karim, also received Tk 1,940,685 as ?scholarship? for studying at the University of Adelaide in Australia.

Anayet sought Tk 687,320 for a three-year bachelor?s degree in environment, but was given Tk 1,940,685, which the report termed as another irregularity committed by the Proshika chief.

Also, Tk 557,304 was awarded to the son of Monoranjan Saha, a top official of the NGO, for studying in India.
http://www.newagebd.com/front.html#8
New Age

PROBE INTO PROSHIKA ? 1
New Age serialises from today the highlights of an NGO Bureau report on an official audit of Proshika, an NGO that allegedly misappropriated Tk 110 crore of money meant for development in the five years between 1996 and 2001. Proshika chief?s pet dogs in lap of luxury
NAZMUL AHSAN
Proshika president Qazi Faruque Ahmed spent Tk 113,000 for his pet dogs in one year from donors? fund that was meant for the marginal people?s poverty alleviation, revealed an official audit.
This was one of the unusual heads of accounts on which the foreign-funded NGO ?misused? about Tk 110 crore in five years from 1996 to 2001.
?Spending from Proshika?s fund on housing, feeding, treatment and care of personal pet dogs of the Proshika president is contrary to financial discipline and a financial irregularity as well,? said the 160-page audit report with 10 volumes of annexure backing the findings.
Finance and Planning Minister M Saifur Rahman formally apprised the donors of such irregularities, but some of them seemed sceptical of the findings and suggested commissioning of international auditors to double-check the allegations.
The official audit, headed by a senior bureaucrat, detected 83 heads of expenses that also included sending dependents abroad on scholarship, depositing 2 per cent of the aid money against the foreign currency account, and exceeding the permissible limit of budget by Tk 75 crore.
Besides, irregularities in purchasing motorcycles worth more than Tk 1.28 crore have also been detected by the audit.
?In the name of poverty reduction, Proshika in fact is burdening the poor people with debt. The poor people are rather being exploited in this way,? the report said.
?Proshika is lending money it gets as grants from donors to the poor and charging high service charges from them to make profit,? it said.
Each of the ?fortunate? dogs was allocated Tk 111 to Tk 121 daily as food allowance while Tk 18,300 was spent for construction of a shed for them and Tk 25,570 for electrification of the shed.
Two German shepherd dogs were bought at Tk 19,700 for the Proshika boss on July 30, 2001.
The rest of the money was spent on vaccination, treatment, cleaning and some other heads for the welfare of the dogs, the audit report mentioned.
A sum of Tk 210,000 was spent on celebrating the birthday of the Proshika chief and other family anniversaries from the NGO fund, the report said, adding that spending such an amount of donor?s money, which is meant for the poor, for pets and birthdays is gross violation of terms and conditions.
Installation of a water pump at the Proshika chief?s residence cost Tk 79,481 and net grille Tk 56,375, while about Tk 650,000 was spent for furnishing his office and residence with security glass, the audit further mentioned.
The NGO?s fund was also misused on rates like paying residential electricity bills of Tk 40,051 against four vouchers between March 2000 and January 2001.
Installation of a security grille at the top floor of Qazi Faruque?s residence cost Tk 107,034.
Proshika also spent Tk 744,535 as salaries and allowances for 10 ansars deployed at Faruq?s residence between April 1999 and June 2001, which the report termed a serious financial irregularity and a gross abuse of power.
The Proshika president and his spouse spent Tk 1, 19,744.97 for treatment at the National Hospital, Singapore, without any advice of a specialist doctor, said the report, and termed it ?corrupt practice?.
Qazi Faruque borrowed Tk 10,73,401 from the provident fund unlawfully, the report further said, adding that the Proshika president took the loan by abusing his power.

Source: http://www.newagebd.com/mar1st04/010304/front.html#3

5 days before, A fourteen years girl walkin in the street of Dhaka. 6 mastan, done bad job with her. A gangrape. Police still not get the suspects.

It is happening all over in Bangladesh but the law don't take any response about it, Why?

Because the girl is poor. If you have money you can stop the case here in Bangladesh. Money is huminity, is that?

We can do something for them who don't their rights of living. Please come and join and share for fight for the girl who is recently raped by 6 gangstars!!!!