A roundtable on "Bangladesh Development Forum (BDF) 2010: Expectations and Outcomes" organized by Education Watch in cooperation with Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE) was held in the CIRDAP Auditorium on 17 February 2010. Mr. Kazi Fazlur Rahman, Chairperson of Education Watch and Former Adviser to the Caretaker Government presided over the function. Ms. Rasheda K. Choudhury, Executive Director of CAMPE and Former Adviser to the Caretaker Government welcomed the participants in the roundtable. Speakers of the roundtable said, "It is important that all actors work together right from the inception to the implementation of a project in order to ensure effective change especially in developing countries like Bangladesh". For the first time it was good to see the Government in the driving seat and taking a firm stand instead of giving in to donor pressure and prioritizing national interest added Ms. Rasheda K. Choudhury.

 
There are three areas of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) where Bangladesh lags in efforts to control child mortality, maternal mortality and ensure primary school education. Dr. Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad said in the roundtable, "Projects should not create scope for utilizing funds to pay international consultants in the name of technical assistance". He also said that "Private sector and NGOs were involved in the process for the first time, a move that will bring transparency to the public sector’s development works". Dr. Mustafizur Rahman said that "Development programmes should be based on national priority, not under donors’ pressure". Both Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad and Dr. Mustafizur Rahman asked the government to consult the private sector, civil society and NGOs before finalizing a development strategy. The speakers, however, agreed with the concerns expressed by donors over poor governance, corruption, centralization of power, weakness in bureaucracy and energy crisis.

Others present in the roundtable were Dr. Manzoor Ahmed, Member, Education Watch and Vice Chairperson, CAMPE, Mr. Kazi Rafiqul Alam, Chairperson, CAMPE & President, Dhaka Ahsania Mission and Mr. Enam Ahmed Chowdhury, Former Chairman, Privatization Commission. About 60 participants form different civil society groups, economists, educationists, and representatives from different print and electronic media were also present in the Roundtable.