Security provision in Bangladesh
A public perceptions survey – executive summary
Summary
This report builds on Saferworld’s Human security in Bangladesh research (2007/08) and looks specifically at the main security providers in Bangladesh: the Police; the Rapid Action Battalion; the Army; Ansar and Village Defence Parties; and the Bangladesh Rifles, now known as the Border Guard Bangladesh.
It looks in detail at public perceptions of each of these security sector institutions through a comprehensive, 3,000-person household survey and combines this with expert opinions through key informant interviews with current and former security sector staff and nongovernmental experts to develop a picture of the capacity, priorities and needs of each institution.
The key findings of the research were shared with key stakeholders in January 2010 through four validation workshops, enabling them to comment and provide feedback on the research. On this basis, it identifies a number of salient issues for the future of the Bangladeshi security sector and makes some recommendations about how security providers can become more effective, more responsive and more accountable in the coming years.
