Bangladesh: A success story of MDGs

The 2015 has been a historic year for the global leadership and the United Nations (UN) that we all can be proud of.  It is the year that adopted the Post-2015 Development Agenda known as Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on September 25-27, 2015. The basic goal of it is to have a 'pro-people, pro-planet, more inclusive, more equitable, more peaceful and sustainable world for all where no one is left behind'. (That was also the spirit of the 'People's Empowerment and Development Model' resolution, proposed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and adopted unanimously by the UN in 2012.)  It is the year that adopted the Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA) in July, and it is the year that organised the Global Disaster Risk Reduction Conference in Sendai, Japan and more importantly, it is the year that adopted a consensus 'Resolution on Climate change' in Paris in December, 2015.  It is truly a historic year for the global leadership and the UN.  These successful events would be the legacy of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon whose term will expire by end of the next year.
The Bangladesh Mission to the UN adopted 4Ps strategy in 2010 and those are (1) Protecting and (2) Promoting national interest, (3) Providing global leadership and (4) help achieving global peace.  The UN has now adopted its 5Ps strategy for its 2030 Transformative Development Agenda or SDGs and these are (1) People, (2) Planet, (3) Prosperity, (4) Peace, and (5) Partnership and they are highly interlinked to achieve 17 SDGs and 169 targets that we propose to achieve by 2030.  More importantly, all the goals and critical issues of Bangladesh have correctly been incorporated in the 17 SDGs and 169 targets. Therefore, Bangladesh can rightfully claim the ownership of the 2030 Transformative Agenda.  
The Millennium Development Goals or MDGs of 2000 were mainly for the developing countries but the SDGs are for all - both the developing and the developed countries.  To achieve these goals, it is imperative to have more collaboration, effective partnership and most importantly, a rock-solid political commitment and will without which SDGs would remain as an 'unfinished agenda'. In the MDGs, Goal 8, relevant to partnership, was very weak.  There was no inbuilt mechanism of monitoring and evaluation of it or means of implementation. MDGs by and large remain an unfinished agenda.  Therefore, it is no wonder that SDG-17 specifically called for strengthening the 'means of implementation' and revitalising global partnership for sustainable development. The implementation of SDGs will require trillions of dollars, not billions as in the case of MDGs. Hence, innovative ways of mobilisation of resources and technology transfer to achieve goals and targets are essential.  
In addition, the potential of the South-South countries is needed to be fully realised. For example, the South-South countries in 2012 accounted for half of the world's GDP (gross domestic product) and their trade volume has almost doubled.  South-South produces half of world's economic output, hold $6.0 trillion in reserves and account for 47 per cent of the global trade and their overall consumption by 2025 will exceed $30 trillion. Therefore, with a view to crystallising and articulating the critical issues of South-South countries and also to monitor and evaluate the implementation of the SDG goals, Bangladesh has proposed to set up a Finance and Development Ministers' Forum of the Southern counties at the Dhaka High-level meeting of the UN High-level Committee of the South-South Cooperation and Development on May 17-18, 2015. It's follow-up of a high-level multi-stakeholders meeting was arranged in Macau on August  25-26, 2015 at the behest of Bangladesh Presidency and the UN Office of High-level Committee on South-South Cooperation.

MDGS: SUCCESS UNEVEN, AN UNFINISHED AGENDA: Although most of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) are off-tract on the majority of MDGs yet the MDGs are the best framework in the 70-year history of the UN to lift our fellow human beings from abject and dehumanising extreme poverty.  The MDGs helped to lift more than one billion people out of extreme poverty and hunger. They enabled more girls to attend schools and reduced infant deaths than ever before.  Yet until today, 57 million children cannot go to school, 942 million people live below the poverty level, 900 million lack access to clean water, and 2.6 billion do not have adequate sanitation.  Too many women continue to die during pregnancy or from complications related to child-birth. Disparity and inequalities persist all across the world. The progress is not enough - and uneven as well. Secondly, MDGs that are publicly funded and donor-supported appear to have performed better.  Naturally, unless means of implementation or adequate resources are mobilised for achieving SDGs, there may be difficulties in materialising the inspirational and transformative 17 SDGs and 169 targets.  MDGs are a building block of SDGs. It appears to be imperative to have an in-depth discussion on MDGs and revitalising efforts to accomplish the unfinished ones.  Let us hope that the mid-term review of Istanbul Programme of Action (IPoA) in Turkey in 2016 will correctly identify the gaps.
Fact of the matter is, the MDGs basically remain an unfinished agenda for the majority of the LDC countries that are most vulnerable and where majority of their population live below the poverty level.  For example, out of 32 LDCs in Africa, only four could achieve MDG-1 (reducing poverty by half) and in Asia, out of 12, only three could achieve them all.  In fact, out of 48 LDCs in the world, only 16 could achieve MDG-1a (reducing poverty by half), 17 could achieve MDG-2a (net enrolment), 21 MDG-4a (infant mortality), 13 MDG-5a (maternal mortality), 20 MDG-7c (safe drinking water) and only five could achieve MDG-7d (improved sanitation).  This is not a very bright picture. It is unfortunate that out of 48 LDCs, there has been either stagnation, reversal or low progress in 16 LDCs in MDG-1a (poverty), 11 in MDG-2a (net enrolment), 13 in MDG-7c (safe drinking water) and 32 in MDG-7d (sanitation). The number of 'undernourished children' is pretty high in 40 per cent of the LDCs (Table I).  Therefore, the global leadership cannot be complacent.  The challenges are as daunting as they were before adopting the MDGs in 2000.
ACHIEVING A MIRACLE: However, good news is that, Bangladesh, the largest LDC, a country of 160 million people with meagre resources and erratic climate change plus one of the highest density of population, has achieved a miracle.  It did pretty well relative to other LDCs.  Once Western pundits termed Bangladesh as a 'bottomless basket with no hope of survival', but now under the dynamic leadership of Sheikh Hasina and through its prudent and determined policy approaches, it has not only reduced its poverty level by half ---in fact, it reduced it from 57.6 per cent in 1991 to below 22.4 per cent in 2015, more than half, and it also achieved near self-sufficiency in food production. More importantly, it has been successful in reducing the poverty gap ratio from 18.5 per cent to 6.5 per cent against the target of 8.0 per cent through varieties of safety net programmes.   Currently, nearly 12 per cent people of Bangladesh live below 'extreme poverty' which it proposes to eradicate by 2021, much earlier than that of SDG-1 that proposes to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger by 2030.  
Commendable progress has been achieved in equitable access to education or MDG-2. Net enrolment ratio reached nearly 99 per cent, dropouts rate declined, and now more girls attend primary and secondary schools vis-a-vis boys - a real reversal.  This was possible due to a variety of target approaches to enhance enrolment.  Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina nationalised all primary schools. In 2013, she nationalised 26,193 primary schools and jobs of 104,776 teachers were nationalised also.  Under her leadership, nearly 332 million books were distributed to students free of charge on the first day of the year 2015, education up to 12th grade has been made free and varieties of scholarships and stipends are being given, especially for girl students.  As the coverage of luncheon at the schools increased, the dropout rate also declined.
MDG3 refers to Gender equality and women empowerment. Bangladesh has already achieved gender equality in both primary and secondary schools.  Now the enrolment of girl students in primary and secondary schools stand at 51 per cent and 53 per cent vis-a-vis boys' 49 per cent and 47 per cent respectively.  The number of jobs for girls have also dramatically increased from a single digit to 36 per cent.  For example, nearly 93 per cent of all jobs in the nation's main export-earner, the readymade garments and apparel sector, are women and girls.  The government created 10 per cent quota for women in government jobs  and no wonder, we have female judges, Vice Chancellors, Ambassadors, senior civil, military and police officers, and more importantly, Bangladesh is a unique country whose Head of government, deputy leader of the government, opposition party leader, speaker of parliament --- all are women leaders. That's not all.  Bangladesh Female police officers have earned great respect in the UN peacekeeping. A silent revolution in women empowerment is taking place, even at the grassroots level -- nearly 14,000 women got elected at the local elections.  Bangladesh ranks 10th out of 142 countries in closing gender gap and it received a Global Forum Award in 2015.
In MDG-4 (reduce child mortality), Bangladesh achieved the targets.  It reduced infant mortality rate by 73 per cent and it achieved a successful universal immunisation programme.  As it reached MDG-4 target, it was awarded MDG-4 Award in 2012.  
Bangladesh also achieved MDG-5 (improve maternal mortality).  The maternal mortality ratio declined from 574 per 100,000 live births in 1990 to 170 in 2013, showing a 70 per cent decline. The births attended by skilled health personnel increased 8-fold, and antenatal care coverage increased by 79 per cent in 2014.  These were achieved not by accident but by determined and targeted approach. Sheikh Hasina's government set up nearly 13,800 community health clinics to exptend health services to the grassroots levels in rural areas. Her innovative use of Information Technology (IT) connecting each health clinics digitally has been recognised and she was awarded the South-South Award for Innovative Use of Technology in Healthcare in 2013.  It may be mentioned that, only 13 countries have either achieved or are on track in achieving MDG-5 and Bangladesh is one of them.
MDG-6 (Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other Diseases) is about communicable diseases. Bangladesh performed well in this area also. HIV/AIDS in Bangladesh is less than 0.1 per cent. The prevalence of malaria per 100,000, which was over 800 in 2008, has now been reduced by more than half. The tuberculosis conrol programme is also very successful.
Although Bangladesh has achieved most of the MDG goals and received prestigious 'South-South Leadership Award' in 2014, yet it is afraid of their sustainability mainly due to erratic climate change.  If the sea level rises by one meter, it may displace and uproot 20 to 30 million of its population from their homes and from their traditional jobs and professions.  Bangladesh being one of the most densely populated country, it would be extremely difficult for it to rehabilitate them.  Therefore, it is necessary for the global leadership, especially those that are responsible for global warming, to take responsibility and help rehabilitate these 'climate migrants' gainfully and proportionately.  Bangladesh government has been trying its utmost for adaptation and mitigation.  However, singular effort is not enough. It needs affordable technology transfer, green climate fund and more importantly, a global binding commitment to help reduce carbon emission and a commitment to help rehabilitate the climate migrants.  
As per Sendai Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, each year the global community is losing at least $1.7 billion due to disasters and it cost US government nearly $65b just for its Sandy in New York in 2012. For a country like Bangladesh, opportunity cost of climate change and disasters is around 3.0 per cent loss of its GDP per annum. Therefore, climate and disaster risk reduction is highly linked to its development programmes.  Bangladesh, the most vulnerable country in terms of erratic climatic change, has been taking a leadership role in all climate discourse and advocacy.  It was Chair of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF), Friends of Climate Change at the UN and an active member of Ambassadors with the Responsibility to Climate Change (ARC).  Since climate is an existential issue, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina adopted a National Climate Strategy as early as 2009. Two Climate Funds have been set up and many programmes such as dredging, building embankments and cyclone shelters, aforestation, etc. have been initiated both for adaptation and mitigation.  Since the Prime Minister is a visionary and a doer, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) honoured her with its highest award the 'Champions of the Earth' in 2015.       
Dr. A. K. Abdul Momen, Professor Emeritus, is a former Ambassador and Permanent Representative of
Bangladesh to the UN.  
[email protected]