Most influential stakeholder and most beneficial stakeholders with their roles and power imbalance
The most influence is held by the Government of Bangladesh and international donors, as they control funding, policy, and high level implementation. In contrast, the primary intended beneficiaries marginalized coastal communities stand to gain the most from the project's outcomes in terms of livelihood security and disaster protection, but only if the project is designed and executed with their needs at the center.
Government agencies implement and own assets, donors set financial and policy conditions, and contractors build infrastructure, giving them high influence and direct benefits like contracts and political credit. Local communities, who contribute labor and local knowledge, and NGOs, who facilitate and advocate, have medium to low formal influence, despite being essential for on the ground success and sustainability. Their benefits are more indirect and dependent on effective project governance.
Critical power imbalances exist, often overlooking the voices of the landless, ethnic minorities, and women within poor households. These groups are highly vulnerable but typically have the least say in project design. Their exclusion risks creating infrastructure that doesn't meet local needs, undermining the project's long term resilience goals. Power and influence were determined by analyzing control over key resources money, policy, labor, and land as well as by examining formal decision making authority versus informal community roles in the project's context.
I largely agree with your assessment of government agencies and donors as the most influential actors and coastal communities as the main beneficiaries. Where my mapping differs slightly is in how I position NGOs. I view their role more as intermediary influencers rather than actors with medium influence, as they facilitate participation and implementation but have limited authority over resources or final decisions. I also placed slightly greater emphasis on institutional authority and regulatory control as the primary basis for influence, rather than benefits such as contracts or political credit. Overall, our analyses align, but the difference lies in how influence is weighted between formal authority and implementation-level roles.