“The subject of rural unemployment as well as of low
productivity rural employment remains relevant even now.”
Nurul Islam (2003) Exploration in Development Issues, page 4  .
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The BDRC has been founded in January 2007, by Dr. Bernhard G. Gunter, after more than 15 years of
research and/or development work at various universities and international organizations (including the
African Development Bank, the International Labor Organization, the United Nations Conference on Trade
and Development (UNCTAD), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and the World Bank).
Please click here for more information about Dr. Gunter. In order for the BDRC to concentrate on research,
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The BDRC supports the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. The BDRC believes strongly that the
Bangladeshi people are able to lead their country's development policies and strategies. The BDRC
supports capacity building as well as indigenous knowledge. Hence, even though the BDRC has its
headquarters in the United States, the majority of expenses for staff and research consultants goes to
nationals of Bangladesh. Non-Bangladeshi nationals are encouraged to volunteer their services to the
BDRC; resulting in extremely low overhead costs of the BDRC.

The BDRC is an independent research organization. The BDRC does not get involved in politics,
neither in Bangladesh, nor in any other country. Therefore, the BDRC does not accept any funds from a) the
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The BDRC is interested to cooperate with developmental research organizations, think tanks, and
foundations in Bangladesh and elsewhere. The first formal agreement for some cooperation has been
signed between the Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies (BCAS) and the Bangladesh Development
Research Center (BDRC) on August 28, 2007 in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The BDRC is interested to
cooperate with all bilateral and multilateral donors and development agencies working on and in
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