Dhaka [Bangladesh], February 25 (HBTV): USAID bypassed the normal government channel to finance USD 29 million for a controversial project aimed at strengthening the political landscape in Bangladesh, a senior government NGO Affairs official said.

The NGO Affairs Bureau is a government body that facilitates the activities of NGOs operating with foreign assistance under the Foreign Donations (Voluntary Activities) Regulation Ordinance 1978 and ensures their accountability to the state.

‘Donald Trump said about 29 million dollars, we did not identify that amount has come through our NGO Affairs Bureau. Because if they can tell which NGOs were involved, then specially we can identify, but overall we can see that amount of dollars is not yet spent for NGOs,’ Md. Anwar Hossain, Director General (In charge) of the NGO Affairs Bureau, told ANI in an interview.

In response to a question on whether USAID (United States Agency for International Development) provided the funds while bypassing the NGO Affairs Bureau, he said, ‘I cannot speak about this.’

Md. Anwar Hossain stated that while the suspension of USAID funding has not immediately led to a crisis in Bangladesh’s NGO sector, it may have long-term negative effects on NGO funding.

‘Our NGOs get help from different countries around the world. So sometimes, at the time of COVID, at the time of disaster in Turkey, foreign funds decreased; but they diverted to another area, another country. I think this (USAID suspension) will have an effect, but they will explore other donors to recover from this situation,’ Hossain said.

There are 2,640 registered NGOs in Bangladesh, which provide various jobs in the country.

‘USAID has not suspended the Rohingya project. Nearly 70 NGOs are receiving US-based foreign donations,’ he said.

Earlier on Friday, speaking at the White House, US President Donald Trump targeted a series of USAID projects that were recently canceled based on recommendations from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk.

‘Twenty-nine million USD to strengthen the political landscape in Bangladesh went to a firm that nobody ever heard of,’ Trump said, adding, ‘Can you imagine you have a little firm? You get 10,000 here, 10,000 there, and then we get 29 million USD from the US government. They had two people working in that firm—two people. I think they’re very happy; they’re very rich,’ he said.

He went on to suggest that ‘they’ll be on the cover of a very good business magazine pretty soon, for being great scammers.’

According to the US State Department, over the past 50 years, the United States has invested over eight billion dollars to improve the lives of Bangladeshis.

(ANI)