Introduction
Bangladesh has made impressive gains in key human development indicators in recent
years. According to the 2018 UNDP Human Development Index Statistical Update,
Bangladesh ranks 136th among 189 countries with an HDI score of 0.608, placing it
among countries considered to have achieved medium human development. 8 million
people have moved out of poverty since 2010. The country is also on track to reach the
first Sustainable Development Goal of eradicating extreme poverty by 2030.
But even as Bangladesh has taken these considerable steps towards poverty alleviation,
many challenges remain. As of 2016, almost a quarter of the population (24.3%) still live
in poverty. The constant threat of shocks – natural, political, or economic – the uncertain
impact of globalization, and an increasingly competitive international trade environment
impede higher growth rates. In addition, structural changes in rural Bangladesh have
spurred rapid economic migration. This exacerbates urban poverty, creates a lack of
reliable work and leads to congestion and limited shelter in urban areas. The rate of
reduction in urban poverty has decreased in the last few years, only decreasing by 2.4
percentage points (from 21.3% to 18.9%). Bangladesh thus faces considerable
challenges to sustain and build on the achievements of the last decade, and to remain on
track to meet its targets under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
History
Civilization in the Bengal delta dates back more than 4,300 years. The borders of
present-day Bangladesh were established during the British partition of Bengal and India
in 1947, when the region became East Pakistan, part of the newly formed state of
Pakistan. It was separated from West Pakistan by 1,600 km (994 mi) of Indian territory.
Due to a desire for political, economic and linguistic self-determination, popular agitation
and civil disobedience grew against the Pakistani state. This culminated in the Bangladesh
Liberation War of 1971.
The People’s Republic of Bangladesh was founded as a constitutional, secular,
democratic, multiparty, parliamentary republic. After independence, Bangladesh went
through periods of poverty and famine, as well as political turmoil and military coups.
The restoration of democracy in 1991 has been followed by considerable advances in
economic, political, and social development.
Bangladesh straddles the fertile Ganges-Brahmaputra delta, and has a cultural heritage
that is proudly intertwined with the broader civilizational history of the Indian
subcontinent. It is a pluralistic nation of considerable religious and ethnic diversity.
Bangladesh is the world’s eighth most populous country and is also one of the most
densely populated. The elected parliament in Bangladesh’ parliamentary electoral system
is called the Jatiyo Sangsad. Bangladesh is a founding member of SAARC, the
Developing 8 Countries, the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and
Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) and the Bangladesh–China–India–Myanmar Forum
for Regional Cooperation (BCIM). It is also a member of the Commonwealth of Nations,
the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Non-Aligned Movement.
Bangladesh is also the world’s largest contributor to United Nations peacekeeping
missions.
Challenges
Bangladesh is undergoing substantial economic and social change, and this will intensify
in the coming decades. Fundamental forces are at play, involving rapid industrialization,
structural change in the economy, and substantial rural-urban migration. These processes
bring a host of developmental pressures, and a range of potential inequities. In 2018,
Bangladesh met the three UN criteria for LDC graduation, pending two triennial reviews
in 2021 and 2024. If the country is successful, it will have to face the challenges of
potentially losing preferential market access and other preferential trade concessions.
Bangladesh has a centralized governance regime and a complex geography. This poses
considerable challenges with regards to rapid urbanization and transboundary issues such
as water security. It is vital these inequalities are addressed if poverty is to be further
reduced, and a host of future problems associated with social exclusion avoided.
Environmental pressures, exacerbated by climate change, remain significant and could
easily worsen if remedial actions are not taken at the local and global level. While the
population is expected to stabilize at around 200 million, growing wealth and migration
will place further strain on ecosystems and the living environment.
Providing better social services, especially in health and education, is also key to
Bangladesh’s continuing ability to meet core welfare objectives. While the country did
well in meeting its headline MDG obligations, the quality and durability of some
outcomes remains inadequate in the current SDG era. Major service delivery concerns
must be addressed by more effectively improving the quality of governance in
Bangladesh. As inequalities get more profound and complex, there is a need to look
beyond aggregate data to see whether disadvantaged groups get access to the services
they need, as well as how performance varies geographically.
Successes
Bangladesh’s economic model has been consistently mindful of the poor and the
disadvantaged. Indicators of extreme poverty demonstrate that poverty has fallen from
around 50 per cent of the population in 2000, to around 24 per cent in 2016. Broad
improvements in social welfare have been secured, and social safety net coverage has
improved drastically. This is rooted largely in Bangladesh’s abundant supply of
inexpensive labour, and in successful government policies that promote macroeconomic
stability and growth. With the global economic recovery, favorable demographics and
improving investor confidence, GDP growth has accelerated above 8% in FY2019, with
an average of over 6.3% in the last decade.
Bangladesh retains a deep commitment to social solidarity and to a progressive
development agenda. The country was one of the most successful development
achievers in the MDG era and continues to do well in terms of the SDGs, including being
on target to have zero extreme poverty by 2030. The Government has also been
successful in identifying issues and using resources efficiently to solve them. This is
most clear in relation to maternal mortality, where Bangladesh successfully overcame a
significant challenge, and, as of 2015, has brought this figure down to 176 per 100,000
births. This bodes well for future interventions to capitalize on the current successes in
the development regime, to further improve access to healthcare and schooling.
Investment is another key area for Bangladesh, and the government’s efforts in terms of
setting up 100 Special Economic Zones (SEZs) throughout the country, as well as the
recent efforts to operationalise One Stop Shop (OSS) for the investors.
Ongoing government programs have targeted disaster preparedness and recovery, with
great success. Bangladesh’s vulnerability to disasters is significant, but the country’s
track record has been exceptional at improving human security and saving lives. While
extreme climatic events still tragically result in some deaths, numbers have fallen
drastically. This provides a sound foundation for addressing other pressing questions of
environmental sustainability.