The first consultation session will be held today at Cirdap Auditorium in Dhaka.

The eight goals are: i) To become a participatory democracy, ii) To have an efficient, publicly accountable and transparent government, iii) To become a poverty-mitigated middle-income country, iv) To have a skilled and a creative workforce, v) To become a health-endowed nation, vi) To be globally integrated and to be a regional hub, vii) To be environmentally sustainable and viii) To be a more equitable society.

Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), the Prothom Alo, The Daily Star and Channel-i have been jointly organising regional civil society dialogues at various places of Bangladesh over the last few months. Cross-section of people has been attending these dialogues showing keen interest.

The representatives of Nagorik Committee 2006 have been actively taking part in every dialogue noting down the citizens' aspirations extensively. The draft outline of Vision 2021, which will be presented for expert group consultation, has been prepared based on the opinions expressed at regional dialogues.

Nagorik Committee 2006 was formally initiated early this year in Dhaka at a national dialogue entitled "Civil society initiative for accountable development." Its objectives are to conscientize people for ensuring politically accountable development and prepare Vision 2021 for Bangladesh, targeting the year which will coincide with 50 years of independence.