Reaching the most vulnerable—leaving no one behind

The sustainable development goals (SDGs) opened a new frontier of development for the world community including Bangladesh. The Constitution of the country provides for equal opportunities for all citizens and the present government is committed to implementing this, while mindful that this is a long vision commitment and continued efforts are necessary. This commitment is reflected in Vision 2021, the Perspective Plan of Bangladesh 2010-2021 and in the mid-term Five Year Plan documents. The commitment seeks to build on past progress with poverty reduction and further this progress by both addressing the root causes of poverty as well as by lowering the impact of vulnerabilities faced by poor population. How to implement SDGs while we have our own national planning document of five year plans? Means of implementation of SDGs are enunciated below.
MEANS TO IMPLEMENTING SDGS: SOCIAL PROTECTION: One of the core challenges to poverty reduction is to ensure that investments effectively reach their intended population. The credibility and effectiveness of development efforts is undermined when resources fail to reach those most in need. Social protection is an important tool for reducing poverty and inequality. Along with the implementation of the on-going programmes, the government has adopted a National Social Security Strategy (NSSS) with a view to strengthening the poverty impact of the public spending on social protection and to modernising the social security system aimed at addressing the challenges involved before a middle income economy.
The NSSS provides a sound strategy that defines the various life-cycle risks faced by poor and vulnerable population and seeks to mitigate those risks by instituting a well-designed income transfer system that reaches the poorest and most vulnerable segment of the population (the young children, school-going children, vulnerable women, the elderly and the physically challenged). The NSSS is inclusive of all population irrespective of race, religion, profession, location or ethnicity.
The 7th Five Year Plan (7thFYP: FY16-FY20) has the commitment to emphasise on human development, social protection and social inclusion as essential elements of a comprehensive poverty reduction strategy. In terms of spending on Social Protection, the 7th FYP target is to increase spending from 2.0 per cent of GDP in FYI5 to 2.3 per cent up until FY20 in a rapidly expanding national economy.
Education and training programmes have been strengthened to motivate the adolescent and youth to complete education and to enable the working youth and the older workforce to acquire required skills. it seeks to implement a strengthened work programme for the unemployed poor, explore possibilities of providing unemployment, sickness, maternity and accidental insurance as part of the National Social Insurance Scheme (NSIS) as proposed in the Bangladesh NSSS. Another important objective is to implement a programme of financial support to vulnerable women (widows, divorced, destitute, single mother, and unemployed single women) and facilitate their participation in the labour market. This will be done alongside the continuation of the old-age allowance for senior citizens who are aged 60 years and above and belong to the poor and vulnerable category.
In education sector, the achievement of Bangladesh is praiseworthy. Distribution of free textbooks 350 million (35 crores) to all primary and secondary students and provision of stipends for children in school has raised primary school attendance. The school feeding programme for 3.4 million students is also another incentive. Female Stipend Programme has played an important role in increasing girl's enrolment at secondary and tertiary levels. The stipend programme for the students with disabilities has encouraged such students to enrol with general educational institutions.
The government targets to provide all on-going support to the poor, especially female students, to encourage enrolment, retention and completion. The 7th FYP aims to provide financial facilities including stipend, scholarship and other subventions for students. It also targets to design special education loan policy and scholarship programmes to encourage students for IT education enrolment. All these initiatives will contribute to empowerment of youths.
FISCAL POLICY MEASURES: The government takes a number of fiscal policy measures so that the life and livelihood of the poor and the marginalised can be improved. In order to tackle hunger and food affordability, the government operates Open Market Sales (OMS) to provide necessary subsidised food items for the poor and vulnerable segment of society. Seventeen million tonnes of food grains have been stocked to meet any exigencies. The programme covers the vulnerable who are unemployed and ultra-poor and potential workers. It focuses on the bottom quintile of the beneficiaries in an attempt to increase their purchasing power and meeting their food demands.
Access to credit is an important determinant of income opportunities for the poor. Additionally, access to credit allows a smoothing of consumption that supports poverty reduction. Facilitating asset accumulation through better access to credit for the poor can be helpful for reducing income inequality. In connection with access to credit for the poor and vulnerable, the government targets to establish credit for small-scale and micro-enterprises by encouraging and supporting commercial banks to create special purpose facilities for poor groups, such as hawkers and petty traders; and lending to women and to savings groups. The government provides subsidies amounting to Tk 90 billion (9,000 crore) to all marginal, small and medium farmers. In the current budget (FY 2017) an amount of Tk 16.5 billion (1650 crore) has been earmarked for job creation for the ultra-poor in the rural areas.
ADDRESSING ISSUES OF BACKWARD REGIONS: Over the past four decades, Bangladesh has increased its real per capita income more than twelve times, reduced head count poverty by 70 per cent, and has attained most of the millennium development goals (MDGs). However, the underlying growth and development model could not ensure balanced progress across regions and communities.  As  a  result  and  in  the  absence  of  special programmes, two distinct regions emerged in the country  -  those lagging behind and  relatively  well-off  region. In order to reach the poor and vulnerable people of the lagging region, the government has adopted the following strategies:
* A separate fund would be kept in the Annual Development Programme (ADP) for infrastructure development, emphasising technical education and giving greater access for the lagging regions to wider economy. This will address regional disparity issues. backward regions would be supported with skill development, such as, establishing technical and vocational institutes.
* Transport system between the better-off districts and lagging districts would be improved in order to increase economic activities in the lagging districts. Both inter-district and intra-district road transport system would be developed to increase economic mobility within the lagging districts. Supply of electricity would be increased in the lagging districts on priority basis since development of manufacturing sector demands access to electricity supply. Currently, 76 per cent  rural households have electricity connection.
* Industrial policy would incorporate enough flexibility for incentivising investment in lagging districts with the help of tax breaks, lower interest rate and similar other policy interventions. Lagging region would get priority while setting up special economic zones.  Such zones would be established in lagging districts with adequate infrastructural facilities so that entrepreneurs can get benefit from economies of scale.
* Rural areas of lagging districts would get special priority in agricultural credit disbursement and agricultural subsidy programme. Microfinance institutions have been encouraged to operate in poverty-prone areas by providing special incentives. Non-farm economic activities would be promoted in the lagging districts through providing training and financing facilities.
* To increase positive impact of international migration on socio-economic development of the country, participations of youth  living  in  lagging  regions  have been  promoted,  providing  quality  skill trainings at minimum cost, ensuring further reduction in migration and remittance transfer cost and facilitating remittances into productive investments.
FOCUS ON DOMESTIC RESOURCE MOBILISATION: The government has a strong track record of expenditure control and prioritisation, given the limited public sector resource mobilisation and the need to maintain macroeconomic stability. It wants that public investment priorities will be determined on the basis of realisation of key targets with respect to real GDP growth, poverty reduction and social protection for the poor and vulnerable, human resource development, enhancing social equity through inclusive growth and sustainability of growth through continued macro-economic stability and rationalisation of public expenditures.  
Trade openness not only stimulates competition; it also creates access to global markets. Greater trade openness, sound exchange rate management, and import liberalisation in Bangladesh have stimulated exports by reducing anti-export bias while infusing greater competition into the import-substitution regime that largely dominated the domestic market. International markets have to be expanded further with diversified products and lifting trade barriers, if any. The linking of domestic production to export markets also creates the scope for employing vast reserves of unemployed or under-employed labour force. The government targets to raise Trade-GDP ratio to 50 per cent by FY20.
Much of the investment in the economy could be financed through national savings, although foreign investment is expected to play a bigger role. Out of the planned 7.5 per cent GDP increase in gross investment, about one-fourth would need to come in the form of Foreign Investment (FI). Increased levels of FI would also be desirable from the point of view of improved management and access to new technology and greater market access for Bangladeshi exports. Bangladesh seeks full implementation of 'Bali Package' so that the decision can be operationalised properly and much desired commercially preferential market access is achieved.
It is estimated that 12.9 million additional jobs will be available during the Seventh Five Year Plan period, including some 2.5 million jobs abroad for migrant workers. The government is concerned with promoting labour migration and improving the skills base for the development of new overseas labour market opportunities for Bangladeshi nationals, ensuring protection of migrant workers' human and labour rights. Access to foreign job markets is important because remittance sent by expatriates largely contributes to the economy of the country by direct productive investments and increasing consumption demand. Remittance amount received annually by Bangladesh is around US$ 15 billion.
ACTIONS TAKEN FOR ATTAINMENT OF SDGS: The government is simultaneously working on several tiers of administration with a view to ensuring timely implementation of SDGs. In order to ensure proper implementation of the SDGs, leaving no one behind, action plans are being developed for each targets related to poverty, hunger and inequality and other targets.
The strength here is that the development approach of Bangladesh underlying the 7th Five Year Plan (2016-20) is prepared, integrating the SDGs by targets. The Plan strives for just, equitable and inclusive economic growth with appropriate measures for protection of the environment. Preparation of the Implementation Action Plan in a phased manner for the following decade and a half by various ministries is under process in the Planning Commission which is scheduled to be finalised by December 2016.
As the 7th FYP is the means of implementation of SDG targets in Bangladesh in the first quinquennial of SDGs, ministries/divisions are to identify the actions/activities/interventions to achieve the SDG targets in accordance with the 7th FYP for the next five years. Further, ministries/divisions will comply with the action plans by preparing possible actions/interventions during and beyond the 7th FYP until 2030. The Action Plan will be finalised on consultation with all the relevant ministries/divisions. Additional required resources to implement the action plans by the ministries/divisions have been estimated and final report will come out by December 2016.
Dr. Shamsul Alam is a Member (Senior Secretary), General Economics Division (Government focal point for Poverty/MDGs/ SDGs evaluation and monitoring), Bangladesh Planning Commission.
[email protected]