SDG implementation strategy: Reaching the most vulnerable

The Constitution of Bangladesh provides for equal opportunities for all citizens and the 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 Plan documents. The commitment seeks to build on past progress with poverty reduction and further deepen this progress by both addressing the root causes of poverty as well as by lowering the impact of vulnerabilities faced by the poor population.
 SOCIAL PROTECTION: One of the key challenges to poverty reduction is to ensure that investments effectively reach the target 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 public spending on social protection and to modernise the social security system to address the social security challenges of 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 (7th FYP: 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 (gross development project) in FYI5 to 2.3 per cent of GDP by FY20. To facilitate human development, the tasks involved are to strengthen education and training programmes to motivate the adolescent and youth to complete education and to enable the working youth and the older workforce to acquire required skills and implement a strengthened workfare programme for the unemployed poor. For4 social inclusion, possibilities will be explored for providing unemployment, sickness, maternity and accidental insurance as a part of the proposed National Social Insurance Scheme (NSIS) for implementing a programme of financial support to vulnerable women (widows, divorced, destitute, single mother, and unemployed single women) and facilitating their participation in the labour market and continuing the Old Age Allowance for senior citizens who are aged 60 years and above and belong to the poor and vulnerable population.
In education sector, the achievement of Bangladesh is praiseworthy. Distribution of free text books (350 million) to all primary and secondary students and provision of stipends for children in school has encouraged primary school attendance. The school feeding programme for 3.4 million (34 lakh) students is also another incentive. Female Stipend Programme has played an important role in increasing girl's enrolment at secondary and tertiary level. The stipend programme for the students with disabilities has encouraged the students with disabilities to enrol in the general educational institutions.
The government targets to continue 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 in empowering the youths of the country.
FISCAL POLICY MEASURES: The government takes a number of fiscal policy measures so that the life and livelihood of the poor and the marginalized can be improved. In order to tackle hunger and food affordability, it operates Open Market Sales (OMS) to provide necessary food items to the poor and vulnerable segment of the society at fair price by providing subsidy. Seventeen million tonnes of food grains have been stocked to meet any exigencies. The program covers the vulnerable who are unemployed and ultra-poor and potential workers. It focuses 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 to 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 (micro-credit). The government provides huge subsidies (Tk.90 billion) to all marginal, small and medium farmers. In the last budget (FY 2017) an amount of Tk.16.5 billion was earmarked for job creation for the ultra-poor in the rural areas.
ADDRESSING THE ISSUES OF LAGGING REGIONS: Over the past four decades since independence, Bangladesh has increased its real per capita income by more than twelve times, reduced head count poverty by 70 per cent, and has attained most of the millennium development goals/targets. 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 Bangladesh  -  lagging region 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, emphasizing technical education and giving greater accessibility to the lagging regions in wider economy which will address regional disparity issues. Lagging 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 in priority basis since development of manufacturing sector demands access to electricity supply. Seventy-six per cent of rural households have electricity connection presently.
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 all 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  the  positive  impact  of  international  migration  on  socio-economic  development  of Bangladesh,  participations  of  youth  living  in  lagging  regions  have been  promoted,  providing  quality  skill trainings at minimum cost, ensure further reduction of migration and remittance transfer cost and facilitate 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. The government aims 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 ensuring the sustainability of growth through continued macroeconomic stability.
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 more exploited 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 of 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 accessing 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 the protection of migrant workers' human and labour rights. Access of migrant workers is important because remittance sent by the expatriates largely contributes in 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 THE SDGS: In order to ensure proper implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) leaving no citizen behind, action plans are being developed by the government for each target of the SDGs related to poverty, hunger and inequality and other targets.
The strength 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. At the behest of the Prime Minister, her office has created an inter-ministerial committee, "SDG Monitoring and Implementation Committee" which includes 16 key implementing ministries including Planning Commission (GED). Bangladesh has already done the mapping of Ministries/Divisions by SDGs targets (who to do what in terms of targets) which includes directly linked 49 Ministries/Divisions containing Prime Minister's Office and Cabinet Division also. Preparation of the SDGs Implementation Action Plan in a phased manner for coming one decade and a half by Ministries is under process in Planning Commission of Bangladesh and planned to be finalised by September 2016.
As the 7th FYP is the means of implementation of SDG targets in Bangladesh in the first quinquennium of SDGs, Ministries/Divisions are to identify the Actions/Activities/Interventions to achieve the SDG targets in accordance with 7th FYP for the next five years. Further, Ministries/Divisions will comply with the Action Plans by preparing possible actions/interventions during and beyond 7th FYP till 2030. Action Plan will be finalized by consulting with all the relevant Ministries/Divisions. Additional resources required to implement the action plans by the Ministries/Divisions have been estimated and final report will come out by next December.
Action Plan for SDGs implementation will be followed by preparing a Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Framework. A preliminary data gap analysis for monitoring SDGs has already been conducted by the General Economics Division (GED) of the Planning Commission. Existing survey, MIS, Census, national accounts and data generating system of several statistical organisations, including Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), are reviewed in the light of UN proposed indicators. Data gaps have been identified. GED will report on the performance assessment by the SDGs indicators. The General Economics Division (GED), Planning Commission in collaboration with United Nations Resident Coordinator (UNRC) in Bangladesh has organised dialogues with the NGOs, CSOs, Development Partners and Media to ensure private sector involvement in SDGs implementation. Development Partners of Bangladesh also have been requested to align their Country Strategies within the framework of the SDG targets relevant for Bangladesh. Thematic and goal-wise consultation with stakeholders from private sector along with development partners at a large-scale will also be carried out regarding action plan and monitoring framework. It is highlighted that the SDGs and its associated targets should be reflected in ministries' annual work plan as well as in Annual Performance Agreement (APA).
Prof Shamsul Alam is Member (Senior Secretary), General Economics Division (GED), Planning Commission.
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