B 59 Foundation Course, 2015

Module : 15
Assignment 1

Submitted to
Md. Masudul Haque
Deputy Secretary to the Government
&
Director, BIAM

Submitted By
Md. Abdul Waresh Ansary
Roll No : 08

Submission Date : 30 April, 2015

Millennium Development Goals: Bangladesh perspective

Analysed by : Md. Abdul Waresh Ansary

Introduction :
This paper is consist of contemporary analysis on Bangladesh Government Policy and
action on MDGs. The discussion will lie on two areas.
1. Present Condition of Bangladesh in context of Achieving MDGs
2. Is Bangladesh in Right Track ? An advisory Analysis
The study is done using secondary data. Information Sources are mentioned as annexure.

Looking Back ;
Millennium Development Goals are multidimensional development targets agreed by the
leaders of the UN member states in 2000, and are to be achieved by 2015. As a welfare
country, Bangladesh has been working seriously to achieve the MDGs. In line with the
Millennium Declaration, a framework of 8 goals 21 targets and 60 indicators have been
set to measure progress towards the MDGs over the period from 1990 to 2015.

1. Present Condition of Bangladesh : Goal wise Achievement

Goal-1: Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger.

The country has already achieved its targets on cutting the number of poor and poverty
gap ratio, but under the goal, employment to population ratio stands at 60 percent though
the target is 100 percent by 2015.

Goal 2: Achieve Universal Primary Education

The country is set to accomplish 100 percent net enrolment ratio in primary education.
But it may not be possible to increase the proportion of pupils completing grade-5 and
adult literacy rate to 100 percent by the deadline.

Goal 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women:

Ratio of girls to boys in primary and secondary education has already been achieved.
In the same category, the ratio of girls to boys in tertiary education, share of women in
wage employment and proportion of seats held by women in parliament may not be
achieved by next year.
Goal 4: Reduce Child Mortality
The country performed superbly in reaching, where it has either achieved targets in all
indicators or is on track to reach them.
The country is likely to reach targets on bringing down maternal mortality ratio, and
raising contraceptive prevalence and the proportion of births attended by skilled health
personnel.
But it might miss the targets on antenatal care coverage and family planning.

Goal 5: Improve Maternal Health

Surveys conducted by different UN organisations in 2013 reveal that maternal mortality
rate in Bangladesh stood at 170 per 100,000 live births. In 1990, the rate was 574 per
100,000 live births according to health directorate health bulletin-2013, while
Bangladesh maternal mortality survey by National Institute of Population Research and
Training (NIPORT) in 2010 records the rate 194 per 100,000.

Goal-6: Combating HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Other Diseases.

Five targets have been met while two are to be achieved under this Goal.
The country is far away from reaching its targets on increasing the rate of condom use
among high-risk groups, raising awareness about HIV/AIDS and reducing the number of
deaths from tuberculosis.
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Goal 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability:

Bangladesh also lags far behind in this regard.In terms of forest coverage, the country
now has less than 13 percent forest areas.
The proportion of people using improved sanitation facility stood at 55.9 percent in
2013. The target to reach 100 percent may not be attained by 2015.
Goal 8: Developing a Global Partnership for Development.
Under the goal, Bangladesh didn't get enough official development assistance as
promised by global development partners.
The country needs to develop a more open, rule-based, predictable and nondiscriminatory trading and financial system to achieve

Bangladesh has done well with regards to MDG targets in expansion of primary and
secondary education, reduction in many aspects of women's empowerment and gender
disparity, eradication of hunger, environmental sustainability, and reduction of maternal,
infant and child mortality.
Giving priority to gender equality as a human right, Bangladesh has done everything
possible so that women can live in dignity and freedom, and free from want and fear. It
has given priority to bringing down maternal and infant mortality rate to the desired level
through participation and coordinated efforts of the government and private
entrepreneurs. Apart from government efforts, various non-government organisations
including Unicef, UNFPA and WHO are jointly implementing different programmes on
mother and child health.

World Recognizes the Achievement of Bangladesh:

i.
Bangladeshs success in reducing under five child mortality rate (MDG-4) was
acclaimed globally and our Honble Prime Minister was awarded with UN MDG
Awards 2010.
ii.

Bangladesh was also awarded with the South-South Award 'Digital Health For
Digital Development' in 2011 for innovative idea to use the Information and
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Communication Technology for progress of the health of women and children

which had a huge impact on attainment of MDG-4&5.
iii.

Lastly in June2013 Bangladesh received the Diploma Award from Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations during FAOs 38th session
Conference in Rome, for its achievement in the UN Millennium Development
Goal (MDG-1).

iv.

Bangladesh also received awards from Global Alliance of Vaccination and

Immunization in 2009 and 2012 for its outstanding success in the regular
immunisation programme for children.

v.

Besides the Diploma Award, Bangladesh along with other 37 countries were
honored with the special recognition for their outstanding progress in fighting
hunger and poverty.

2. Is Bangladesh in Right Track ? An advisory Analysis

Lets look on some quotes ..
Bangladesh is on track for reaching both of the poverty Millennium Development
Goals (MDG). The depth of poverty was nearly halved over the 2000-2010 period,
allowing Bangladesh to attain the depth-of-poverty MDG target of 8 percent at least
five years in advance of 2015. Similarly, the poverty projections suggest that
Bangladesh will achieve the first MDG goal of halving the poverty headcount
sometime in 2013, two years early than the target.
Bangladesh Poverty Assessment-2013, The World Bank
Some countries have done well in human development indicators, and others have
done well in economic growth, but Bangladesh belongs to a rather small group of
countries that have done well on both fronts.
The World Development Report-2013, The World Bank (Jobs)
Bangladesh is among the 18 countries of the world that have made substantial
progress in achieving MDGs.
The Human Development Report-2013, UNDP (The Rise of the South)
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Bangladesh, which has been a role model in MDG achievement globally, has laudable
achievements in primary education, and reducing poverty and child and maternal
mortality. Child Act 2013 is a milestone for protection of vulnerable children. The act is
harmonised with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Child (CRC).
Even with the success rates, Bangladesh has struggled in the areas of environment
sustainability, nutrition and in certain aspects of gender equity and hunger. The next
goals in post-2015 should be in tune with the success of the country. Besides, it should be
something ambitious which we can achieve by a deadline.
So in a nut shell, Bangladesh is on track in reaching the first five MDGs, some
indicators in the goals show that the country still lags behind, and it may fail to achieve
them by next year.

In spite of the above achievements, attention has to be focused on poverty reduction and
employment generation; increase in the primary school completion rate and adult literacy
rate; creation of more wage employment for women; increase in the presence of skilled
health professionals at delivery; knowledge of HIV/AIDs, etc.

Bangladesh will not be able to reach some key targets under the Millennium
Development Goals before the 2015 deadline despite its laudable progress in achieving
most of the goals. The country will lag behind in some key areas such as providing jobs
to working age population, raising the proportion of pupils completing grade-5 and adult
literacy rate to 100 percent, increasing women's participation in non-agriculture sector by
50 percent and expanding country's forest coverage to 20 percent.

Conclusion :
The present government has been earnestly working to promote Information and
Communication Technology (ICT) among all sectors in order to fulfill the government
vision of 'Digital Bangladesh' by 2021.
This is the age of international cooperation. No country can work and survive alone.
Bangladesh is a developing country striving to achieve various socio-economic targets
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for the welfare of the people. In this connection, international cooperation is essential
along with government efforts. As signatories to the MDGs, developed countries should
come forward and assist Bangladesh and other developing/least developed countries to
achieve a sustainable future.

Annexure
Sources of Information :
1. Human Development Report 2013-The Rise of the South: Human
Progress in a Diverse World, UNDP, NY, 2013
2. Millennium Development Goals: Bangladesh Progress Report 2012,
General Economics Division, Planning Commission, GOB, June 2013
3. National Sustainable Development Strategy (2010-2021), General
Economics Division, Planning Commission, GOB, May 2013
4. Bangladesh Poverty Assessment: Assessing a Decade of Progress in
Reducing Poverty, 2000-2010, Bangladesh Development Series Paper
No. 31, The World Bank office, Dhaka, June 2013
5. 6th Five Year Plan (FY 2011-FY2015): Accelerating Growth & Reducing
Poverty, General Economics Division, Planning Commission, GOB, 22
June 2011
6. National Social Security Strategy (NSSS) of Bangladesh (4th draft),
General Economics Division, Planning Commission, GOB, May 2014
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7. The Millennium Development Goals Report 2013, United Nations, New

York, 2013
8. The State of Food Insecurity in the World: Economic growth is
necessary but not sufficient to accelerate reduction of hunger and
malnutrition, FAO, Rome, 2012
9. Global Hunger Index-The Challenge of Hunger: Building Resilience to
Achieve Food and Nutrition Security, International Food Policy
Research Institute, Concern Worldwide, Welthungerhilfe, Institute of
Development Studies, October 2013
10.
Bangladesh Country Investment Plan: A roadmap towards
investment in agriculture, food security and nutrition, FPMU, Ministry
of Food and Disaster Management, GOB, June 2011
11.
Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey-2011, National
Institute of Population Research and Training (NIPORT), Ministry of
Health and Family Welfare, GOB, January 2013
12.
Good health at low cost 25 years on. What makes an effective
health system? London: London School of Hygiene & Tropical
Medicine, 2011. Available at http://ghlc.lshtm.ac.uk
13.
Monitoring the Situation of Vital Statistics of Bangladesh(SVRC
2013),2015