Development in terms of growth and GDP might not result into a better quality of life in a country. That is why attaining sustainable development goals (SDGs) is important for the developing countries like Bangladesh.
In 2023, Bangladesh ranked 101 among 166 countries in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Index Rank according to the Sustainable Development Report 2023. The country received an overall SDG Index Score of 65.9 out of 100. This article looks into the UNDP’s SDG Bangladesh Progress Report 2020 and Sustainable Development Development Report 2023 to decipher where Bangladesh stands in accomplishing the SDGs today.
According to The Sustainable Development Report, around 30.9% of the SDG targets were ‘achieved or on track’, 41.2% are showing ‘limited progress’, and 27.9% of the targets are in a ‘worsening’ state in Bangladesh.
SDG Targets for Bangladesh
Source: The Sustainable Development Report
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The SDG dashboard provides insights on the trends of the SDG goals. The trends showcase where the goals are heading.
Significant Advances Made
in Quality Education (SDG 4) and Responsible Consumption and Production (SDG 12)
Among the 17 SDG goals, Bangladesh has made significant advances in 2 goals – Quality Education (SDG 4) and Responsible Consumption and Production (SDG 12). According to the SDG Dashboard, these two goals are ‘on track or maintaining SDG achievement.’
Moderately Improving
No Poverty (SDG 1), Zero Hunger (SDG 2), Good Health and Well-Being (SDG 3), Clean Water and Sanitation (SDG 6), Affordable and Clean Energy (SDG 7), and Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure (SDG 9)
While navigating their way through major bottlenecks, 6 goals are ‘moderately improving’: No Poverty (SDG 1), Zero Hunger (SDG 2), Good Health and Well-Being (SDG 3), Clean Water and Sanitation (SDG 6), Affordable and Clean Energy (SDG 7), and Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure (SDG 9).
Already Achieved
No Poverty (SDG 1), Zero Hunger (SDG 2), Responsible Consumption and Production (SDG 12) and Climate Action (SDG 13)
Bangladesh has already achieved 2 goals: Responsible Consumption and Production (SDG 12) and Climate Action (SDG 13). Five SDG goals are currently ‘stagnating’. These goals are: Gender Equality (SDG 5), Decent Work and Economic Growth (SDG 8), Sustainable Cities and Communities (SDG 11), Climate Action (SDG 13), and Partnerships for the Goals (SDG 17). Three SDG goals are ‘decreasing’: Life below Water (SDG 14), Life on Land (SDG 15), and Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions (SDG 16). The ‘trend information unavailable’ for Reduced Inequalities (SDG 10).
Policy Support and Advances Made
According to the Sustainable Development Report 2023, Bangladesh is moderately improving in ending poverty. The country has made significant advances in the path of eliminating poverty since 1992. In Bangladesh, the percentage of population below the international poverty line (poverty measure $1.90 a day) was 44.2% in 1992, which fell down to 14.7% in 2016. The population living below the upper national poverty has fell down to 24.3% in 2016 from 40% in 2005 and 31.5% in 2010. And the population living below the lower poverty line has also decreased from 25.1% in 2005 to 12.9% in 2016. According to the United Nations Development Programme’s Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) 2023, during 2015-19, nearly 19 million people moved out of poverty in Bangladesh.
Whereas in 2012, the percentage of households accessing improved sanitation was 56%, the number shot up to 84% in 2019. According to the Bangladesh Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) 2019. 75% of households received antenatal care. The primary school completion rate has improved to 82.6% in 2019 from 79.5%. In 2019, 98.5% of households in Bangladesh used improved sources of drinking water and around 92.23% of households accessed electricity.
In 2015, with the aim of leaving no one behind, the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) formulated the National Social Security Strategy to effectively mitigate life cycle risk and target the underserved segments of the population. The 8th Five Year Plan (2021-2025) heavily prioritizes on promoting prosperity and fostering inclusiveness while outlining policy measures such as establishment of a Leave No One Behind (LNOB) Strategic Fund, expanding public expenditure and eliminating all forms of social and gender discrimination. The country has also prepared the National Financial Inclusion Strategy 2020-2024 to facilitate financial inclusion of the lagre unbanked population of Bangladesh.
According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics’s (BBS) Household and Income Expenditure Survey (HEIS), the coverage of the country’s SSNPs have increased significantly. In 2016, the social safety net programs of the country covered only 27.8% which increased to 58.1%.
The Bangladesh government has undertaken a social transfer project “Strengthening Women’s Ability for Productive New Opportunities (SWAPNO)” targeting the ultra-poor women segment of the country by providing them employment opportunities.
Bangladesh is one of the climate vulnerable countries in the world due to its geographic location.. Each year, many people suffer due to riverine floods, river erosion, flash floods, tropical cyclones, stroms/wave surges, water logging, droughts, landslides, etc. In the past two decades, the Bangladesh government has adopted a bottom-up approach, involving all the pertinent stakeholders, i.e., central and local governments, NGOs, and community level organizations to deal with the threats and ameliorate the sufferings caused by natural disasters.
In light of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR, 2015-2030), Bangladesh’s Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief (MoDMR) has developed the National Plan for Disaster Management (NPDM, 2016-2020), accompanying with the ratification of other international protocols by the Bangladesh government.
The Overseas Employment and Migrants Act 2013 and Overseas Employment Policy 2016 facilitate overseas employment and migration for Bangladeshi workers which in turn generates huge remittance inflow for the country. In 2019, Bangladesh’s annual remittance inflow peaked to USD 18.32 billion.
Despite Bangladesh has a long way to go in achieving gender parity in the labor market, the country has already achieved gender parity in primary and secondary education.
The prevalence of undernourishment among the population stood at 14.7% in 2018. Along with expanding the program for children to receive vitamin A capsules, the government has also increased the distribution of postpartum vitamin A. The process of salt iodization is now better monitored. Health and family planning facilities give iron folic acid supplements to teenage females, nursing women, and expectant mothers. The length of maternity leave granted to working moms has been extended by the government from three months to six months. In addition, it intends to give zinc tablets to kids experiencing diarrhea and albendazole tablets in addition to a different deworming program. As part of the vulnerable group development (VGD) initiative, Bangladesh has also begun to distribute fortified rice, provide financial grants to poor women, and conduct behavior change communication (BCC) on nutrition.
The quality of water, sanitation, and hygiene—a combination of elements collectively referred to as WASH—have a significant impact on the nutritional status of both children and adults. Bangladesh has achieved the most progress in terms of sanitation out of the three WASH components, followed by access to safe drinking water (albeit somewhat tainted by arsenic poisoning). However, the country still falls short of ideal levels of personal hygiene. According to the MICS 2019, about 75% of households wash their hands with soap. In rural locations, the percentage is almost 71% lower. This demonstrates the vast opportunity that still exists to raise knowledge of cleanliness in rural places.
Bangladesh has made great progress in lowering Maternal Mortality Ratio. From 447 in 1995 to 165 per 100,000 live births in 2019, it has decreased. Though the difference has closed from prior years, the ratio in rural areas is still 68 deaths per 100,000 live births, significantly higher than in urban areas.
The proportion of newborns attended by medical professionals has increased dramatically from 9.5% in 1994 to 75.2% in 2019. Bangladesh still has difficulties with regard to the difference in access to qualified medical experts between urban and rural areas. According to MICS 2019, over 86% of people living in urban areas and roughly 72% of people living in rural areas have access to qualified medical professionals.
U5MR continuously decreased between 1995 and 2019 from 125 to 28 (i.e., more than four times), indicating Bangladesh’s accomplishment in meeting the 2020 objective of 34 for U5MR. Likewise, there has been an ongoing decrease in the rate of newborn mortality.
The neonatal death rate decreased from 28 in 2014 to 15 in 2019, according to recent data from MICS (2019), however there is still work to be done to meet the 2020 target. Nonetheless, during the previous five years, there has been a downward trend in the newborn death rate.
Bangladesh already has a low incidence and prevalence of HIV/AIDS. According to UNAIDS, the national HIV incidence in 2018 was 0.015 per 1,000 people who are not infected. Preventive measures aimed at high-risk groups, including injecting drug users, female sex workers in towns bordering neighboring countries, unprotected sex partners, and returning foreign migrant workers, are the reason for the low prevalence rate.
Only 44.23% of the population had access to electricity in 2005 which shot up to 92.23% in 2019. As of August 2023, Bangladesh’s total installed electricity generation capacity is 28,159 MW which was mere 4,005 MW in FY 2000-01.
The success of Bangladesh in energy could be attributed to the Bangladesh government’s comprehensive energy development strategy. As per the strategy, the country adopted a balanced approach that considered both supply and demand sides of the energy sector in the long run. To achieve SDG 7, GoB has developed an Action Plan up to 2030. The Power System Master Plan 2016 aims to effectively manage the electricity sector of Bangladesh till 2041.
The government has undertaken several initiatives to expand or upgrade the electric distribution line: constructing or upgrading sub-stations; undertaking switching station construction and river crossing tower construction; replacing overloaded distribution transformer; replacing electromechanical or digital meter by pre-paid meter; rehabilitating and intensifying distribution system; establishing gas allocation policy (including LPG and biogas alternative policy); domestic gas exploration policy; developing energy subsidy policy; promoting use of LPG in domestic and transport sector; adopting LNG import strategy. The government intends to provide 7 million new consumer connections and complete electrification of 30,000 villages.
As of 2019, Bangladesh government has established 38 protected areas in the country of which 8 are coastal and marine protected areas. In 2017, Bangladesh patented Hilsha (Ilish) as a Geographical Indication (GI) product for the country by Bangladesh’s Patent Authority. Where there were no marine protected areas (MPAs) in Bangladesh in 2014, in 2018 it jumped to 4,458.35 square kilometers when the government declared 4 zones in the Bay of Bengal as MPAs. In October 2014, the government established Bangladesh’s first marine protected area ‘the Swatch of No Ground Marine Protected Area’ in order to protect the life below water, including turtles, dolphins, whales, and sharks etc. The government has, subsequently, declared the ‘Middle Ground and South Patches’ of Bay of Bengal as MPA under the Marine Fisheries Ordinance 1983.
As per the Bangladesh Forest Department, the total area of forest land is 14.47% of the country’s entire area excluding inland water areas. In Bangladesh, whereas the proportion of terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity that are covered by protected areas was 1.7% in 2013-14, it increased to 3.08% in 2018. Excluding the wetland protected areas considered as fisheries sanctuaries, the government has labeled a total of 1,443,000 ha of land as the protected area which consist of 9.7% of the total land area of the country. The Bangladesh government has transformed all its forestland as parks. Extracting timber from these parks is prohibited except for firewood and other non-timber forests. In 2019, the total area of land under protected areas and parks in Bangladesh stood at 17.5%. As of 2022, the country has 51 protected areas (PA).
The Wildlife Preservation Act 1974 protects national parks, wildlife sanctuary and game reserves, and the Wildlife Conservation and Security Act 2012 defines protected areas as national park, sanctuary, ecopark, botanical garden, community conservation area, safari park and kunjaban. Bangladesh has also listed two RAMSAR sites such as Tanguar Haor and three wildlife sanctuaries of Sundarbands and one of the largest mangrove forests in the world, Sundarbans in the World Heritage Sites.
To facilitate the conservation of environment and biodiversity, prevention of cutting trees in reserved forests are quintessential. In November 2022, Bangladesh government extended the moratorium on tree felling in reserve forests until 2030. The Department of Environment has declared several geographic locations as ecologically critical areas (ECAs). In 2014, Bangladesh established vulture safe zones in the northeast and southwest regions of the country. In addition, the Bangladesh government declared Ratargul freshwater swamp forest as a special biosphere reserve in 2015.
The formation of the National Human Rights Commission was instrumental in building strong institutions in the country. The commission was pivotall in adopting the Child Marriage Restraint Act 2017. Bangladesh is also gradually becoming a feedback state by implementing and undertaking initiatives such as Right to Information Act, Annual Performance Agreements (APAs), Citizens Charters, National Integrity Strategy (NIS), and Grievance Redress System (GRS).
Partnership with foreign countries is instrumental in achieving SDG. Partnerships allow access to finance, resources, manpower and technological know-how. In 2018, Bangladesh was able to meet all three eligibility criteria for graduation from the United Nations Least Developed Countries (LDC) list.
The Economics Relations Division (ERD) of the Ministry of Finance has developed the National Policy on Development Cooperation (NPDC) to facilitate advantageous development cooperation for Bangladesh. Bangladesh actively participates in the High Level Political Forum (HLPF), Voluntary National Review (VNR), and High-Level Meeting (HLM2) of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation (GPEDC). In December 2017, Bangladesh was elected as the Co-Chair of GPEDC in HLM2. All these participation in global platforms enable Bangladesh to form beneficial and meaningful partnerships across the globe.
To mobilize and manage external assistance efficiently, the country organizes regular local consultative group meetings. The ERD has launched the Aid Information Management System (AIMS) web portal to provide a one-stop-solution for all the information pertinent to external assistance in Bangladesh.
Previously, the World Bank organized the Aid Consortium in their headquarters in Paris under the Bank’s chairmanship. Bangladesh was the first country in the world which negotiated with World Bank after the country’s independence and organized the Consortium as a recipient country inviting all the bilateral and multilateral donor bodies in Dhaka in 1973. In this way, Bangladesh pioneered and innovated the way we look into donor-recipient relationships and consortiums today. In 2018, the country organized the Bangladesh Development Forum (BDF) which hosted 700 delegates representing many donor agencies, including the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, OPEC Fund for International Development, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan.
The country relies on multiple sources to mobilize its resources. In terms of the internal sources Bangladesh’s revenue collection needs to improve to collect revenues from taxes and other sources. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) plays a pivotal role in enabling the country to mobilize resources. In FY18, FDI as a proportion of the government budget was USD 2.58 billion which witnessed a 50% increase and stood at USD 3.88 billion in FY19.
In recent years, the proliferation of fiber optics cable network and augmentation of Bangladesh’s optical fiber capacity has led to substantial improvements in other indicators of SDG 17 such as access to internet, and fixed broadband subscriptions by individuals. According to the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), in 2010, only 0.27 fixed internet broadband subscriptions were recorded for every 100 inhabitants which now stands at 4.80 in 2019. As of December 2019, the total number of internet users in the country is around 100 million.
About the Author
Shah Adaan Uzzaman is the Blog Administrator at The Confluence. A former Bangladesh Television Debate Champion and winner of several policy & debate competitions, he is currently a student of IBA, University of Dhaka.
1 comment
Within the SDG 16 especially child protection (SDG 16.2.) is relevant for a sustainable peace, says peace researcher Franz Jedlicka (“The forgotten Peace Formula”). I think that is true.
Angelica