A Balance Sheet on Fighting Human Poverty

Achievements Challenges

I . d . . fe .,. How to achieve sustainable reduction in

ImpressIve re uchon In rhllty L

tu ?ru reo

. Bangladesh has achieved impressive success in reduc- . The progress in reducing fertility rate has visibly

ing population growth. Total Fertility Rate (TFR) has slowed down in the recent years. TFR has changed verydeclined from 6.3 in 1975 to 4.3 in 1991, dropping further little over the last three Bangladesh Demographic Health

to 3.3 in 1997-99. Accordingly, population growth rate has Surveys (BDHS) done in 1993/94, 1996/97, and 1999/00,

gone down from 2.9 per cent per annum in the mid-19705 the matched figures being assessed at 3.4, 3.3, and 3.3.,

to 1.6 per cent in the late-1990s. Per capita income groW1;h respectively. The nature of this slow down needs to be

and saving rates have been considerably higher in the ~plored further.

nineties compared to the eighties, which may be partiy , ,

due to the positive influence of the demographic factor., . The slow down in the reduction of fertility rate shows, that the earlier focus on providing low-cost family p~.

. By the late 90s Bangladesh is well into the third phase fling services cannot be de-emphasised. The surveyshOW5

of the demographic transition from a "high mortality-high, that the incidence of use of traditional method iso~,

fertility" regime to a "low mortality-low fertility" one. ThiS ,increase in recent years, rising from .7.7 per centi!1

transition in Bangladesh departs from the classic Westen-. 1996/97 to 10.3 per cent in 1999/00. This may be due topattern in that the significant decline in fertility was the fact that the dominant strategy of fertility control

achieved at a rather low level offficome. A number of fut. through the use of temporary method such as oral pill

tors have contributed to this outcome. They rangefrorr\ may be approaching a plateau, possibly because 0

,favourable public policy with low-cost supply of family 'increased awareness of side effects. This may call for the

planning services and awareness raising campaign to high greater adoption of permanent method (as in the case 0

opportunity costs of child-bearing associated with rising West Bengal, which has made active use of this). In short,

levels of female education and labour force participation there is hardly any case for complacency in view of the

including the increased "agency role" of women"s success achieved so far in this area. In 1997 Bangladesh

empowerment and greater "voice" over reproductive had the highest population density in the world with 920

rights persons per square kilometer, excluding the smallcity-

states. The proportion of women in the childbearing agesUnder-five mortality has registered (15-44 years) remains large (44.7% in 1995), resulting in

significant drop huge numbers of births each year even with fairly high

. Mortality is often considered as the criterion for judg- contraceptive prevalence rates of 54 per cent in 1999/00.

ing economic success and failure of nations. Bangladesh The country has to go a long way to reach the replace-

has displayed considerable success in this respect, espe- ment level of fertility. All these mean that Bangladesh

cially in reducing infant and child mortality. he progress in needs to pursue vigorously population policies encou,~g-

reducing mortality has been particularly rapid sinc~ the ing fertility control. ,

mid-eighties. According to the Bangladesh Demographicand Health Survey, infant mortality has gone down from Maternal mortality remains high, with per-104.6 in 1985/89 to 92.8 in 1990/94, declining further to sisting gender-gap in life expectancy

: 66.3 in 1995/99. Similarly, under-five mortality has ., dr d f 1515 94b 1985/89 d 1995/99 . Whlle there has been some Improvement ill maternal~, oppe rom. to etween an . .. .! Th. . d . f I. h b mortality ill the ninetIes, the overall progress has beenI" IS success ill re uctlon 0 morta Ity rate as een

I Th bl f aI h I h ( I d. " . sow. e pro em 0 matern ea t antenata an.

brought about by favourable public policy wIth emphasIs I d ds " . B IriA" h' . . " neonata care) eman pnonty attention. ang ..ues,,' on preventive and promotive care. The rapid expansion 0 k h. h . h W Id Tabl aI aIi1: " '.. ran s very Ig ill t e or eon matern mort tyI child Immurnsatlon programme--from less than 1 per cent . '. .

. 1981 90 . h I 1990 . I with estimates varying from 4.8 to 4.4. This may be com.~, In to over per cent ill t e ear y s--was Imp e- "'.., d h h II b . t k b b- pared wIth 3.4 In Pakistan, about 3.5 In IndIa, and 2.4 ,~ mente t roug a co a oratlve lramewor etween pu . S . ka . t .b . h ho' " ". In n Lan . A major lactor contn utlng to suc a Igh~ IIc agenCIes and NGOs, and widely regarded as a success

f aI aI.. . B gI d h . h I~ rate 0 maten-. mort Ity In an a es IS to e preva encestory. f il '

I h f h0 ch' dbirth at home, large y outside t epurview 0 t e. The rural-urban gap in mortality is closing, especially formal system of health care, .with even very littleassi$-

over the recent years. The BBS estimates show that th~ lance from the trained birth assistants (TBAs).

Achievements (Contd.) ""~ Challenges (Contd.) I1g,

crude death rate, ()f the rural area during the first half of The poor health (are f()r mother ;llso lead" to very highthe 1980s was 12/13 per 1000 population against 7/8 for incidence of low birth-weight babies in Bangladeshurban area, By 1996, the rural crude death rate reached a (exceeding over 50%),level below 9 indicating about 4-point decline, In 1996, . Thh be d I' '

h, , ere as en a reporte s Ippage In t e coverage 0the urban crude death rate was still Just below 7, Thus, the, ,,' , ,, " aI 5 ' d'a b raI b ' Immurusatlon In recent years In some areas, leading toInltl points Ilierence etween ru our an areas In , " ,

d d h d 2 ' d h' , partial vaccination, undercoverage, and low effiCIency,cru e eat rate came own to points, an t IS was pn-marily due to relatively higher improvement in mortality. Although the gender gap in mortality has come down,condition of the rural area, it is still persisting, as reflected in higher male life. D I,' '~ d h ' ld I. h I d expectancyoverfemalelifeexpectancy(59,lvs, 58,6 years

ec Inlng Inlant an c I morta Ity rate as e to an ' 1996) I h h h aI b ' I ' al,,' , In at ou women ave a natur 100 C

appreCIable Increase In average longevity of the "I' g( bo fi ) I h gl

d" ," propensity to Ive a ut ve years onger t an men 0,Bangladeshi population, The matched indicator-life S' 'I I ,~ I' d ' , f all ' ,

b ' h h d d 55/56 ' th Iml ar y, Inlant morta Ity con Itlon 0 Irrespective 0expectancy at Irt - overe aroun years In e , ,

1980 ' , d 577 ' 1993 d 60 . residence, background and gender had Improved overs. It Increase to ,years In an to years In ,

1999;00 the recent years, but the Improvement was least for urban, female infants, Hence, a larger gender gap in infant mor-

. Although the morbidity rate of the rural area is still tality favouring women noted in the early 80s for urbansomewhat higher than that of the urban area, the rate is area disappeared largely by mid-I990s, Indeed, by mid-declining, especially since the mid-1980s, The BIDS sur- 90s the gender gap in infant mortality favouring girls invey for successive years show that, in the case of acute ill- both areas had reached a minimal level,ness, the estimated point prevalence rate of morbidity . A ' al ' ds b ' ad ,

I", h d f 4 3 ' 1995 Specl attention nee to e given to repr uCtiverelemng to t e ay 0 survey was , per cent In, , "

h ' d ~ ~ 162 ' 1984 d 115 health concerns since they constitute an Important causeaVing roppeu lrom ,per cent In an ,per fill fth f d ' Th'

, 1987 0 nesses 0 e women 0 repro uctlve ages, IS causecent In , accounts for 18 per cent of their acute illnesses, 24 per

Child anthropometry shows that malnutrition cent of their repeat illnesses, and as high as 35 per cent 0is declining in recent years the major illnesses,

I~ Malnutrition is often singled out as the major cause 0 . The access of the poorest.of the poor to health carepersistent poverty syndrome, Nutritional status of chil- services remains a burning issue, The children of thedren has strong implications for economic growth and poorest income have double the mortality risk than thosefaster income-poverty reduction, Child malnutrition leads belonging to households in the top income bracket, Theto poor schooling performance, thus influencing future burden of morbidity also falls disproportionately on theoccupational choice and productivity, BBS Nutrition poorest, The latter (the lowest two deciles) spend aboutSurvey, BDHS anthropometric data, and periodic surveys 7-10 per cent of their income on meeting private healthcarried out by Helen Keller International (HKI) show con- expenses, while they receive only 3 per cent of theirsiderable improvement in the nutritional status of chil- income as public health subsidies,

dren during the entire decade of 1990s, Thus, according. Although the rural-urban differential in mortality isto the BBS survey, the rate of stunting at the national level declining, other forms of spatial differences in mortalityhas decreased from around 69 per cent in 1985186 to rates-osuch as between infrastructurally backward andaround 51 per cent by 1996, indicating long-term advanced areas and communities persist and deserve pol-improvement in the nutritional status of children, There is icy attention,some initial divergence between rural and urban areas inthis respect, In the rural areas, the rate of stunting The incidence of low birth-weight babies isdeclined secularly from 70 per cent in 1985/86 to around ". tl h " h I" k d /. I oth' persIs/en y very Ig, m e c ose y WI53 per cent by 1996, In the urban areas, however, the rate °

f t t ' d ' d t ' b t 1985186 d poor maternal health care, mother malnutrl-0 s un fig I no Improve e ween an 0" "

1989/90, but fell sharply to 46 per cent by 1996, Similar tlon, and hIgh gender-based mtra-household

improvement is displayed by the prevalence of under- inequality in food and health care

weight, which combines both the short term and long .. Bangladesh is characterised by very high incidence ofterm consequences of malnutrition, low birth-weight babies (believed to be about 50 per

. BDHS data indicate continued-and faster-trends 0 cent), This'is mainly due to the poor nutritional care 0improvement in the nutritional situation in the second mothers, an area desiring much to be improved,

half of 1990s, Thus, the rate of stunting among children. High incidence of low birth-weight babies is an impor-under-five years has sharply declined from 54,6 per cent tant determinant of child malnutrition, especially

Achievements (Contd.) Challenges (Contd.)in 1996/97 to 44,8 per cent in 1999/2000, The percentage during the fil'st two years, As a result, the incidence of

underweight has dropped from 56,3 per cent to 47.8 per malnourished children still remains very high notWith-

cent during the same period, While the figure for under- s!:;!nding some trends of progress in the nineties.

weight is still higher than the corresponding numbers in 8M f h ' f h . .hh' . .' ost 0 t e Improvement 0 t e nInetIes t at as

Sn i.anka and Pakistan (about 38-39 per cent m the early k I ' h.ld ..al . d . hh. . ta en pace m c I nutntlon status IS to 0 WIt t e

1990s) , they compare favourably WIth the IndIan average .'.

f 6 . 1994194 d b 60 ' N I progress made m preventive and promotive health care0 5 per cent m an a out per cent m epa, , . . , ,

, , . ,combmed wIth considerable Improvement m expandmg

around the same penod, The other mdicator of wastlng d ,. Chil' d,. ' k f '. al c d. .. water an SanItatIon, s mta e 0 nutntlon 100(which is reflective of short-term changes m the nutn-

(d ' al ) h ' d d .d. ., ,; an.. not Just cere s as not mcrease at a eslre pace

tlonal status) also shows progress, haVIng declined from d . h ' , d Th ' I ' h h '.. . ..unng t IS peno, IS may exp aln w y t e progress m

17,7 to 10 per cent over the same penod, suggesting that d . h . ld I " h b ~ h' . . re ucmg c I ma nutntlon as not een last enoug ,

a large part of the Improvement occurred m the mter-sur-

vey years, 8 Considerable gender gap persists in the nutritional

. , , , status, as documented by the recently released data of the. The above trends of Improvement m the nutntlonal

1999"00 BDHSTh f d .h (b I' / ,e percentage 0 un erwelg t eow

status of under-five children are also supported by .the.

d d d ' . 2SD f h c'. . mmus two stan ar eViatlOns, or - , rom t e reler-

similar quantum of changes recorded m the data generat- d' ) hild ' b 498 '. . .. ence me Ian c ren IS a out, per cent m case 0ed through bl-monthly surveys done by HKI smce 1990, c

al hil d d 45 9 ' f I hild d" lem e c an ,per cent m case 0 ma e c un erThus, the rate of stunting. has declined from 70.3 per cent "

,99 192 63 9 ' 1993194 Th five years, This YIelds a gender gap of 3,9 percentage

In lito, per cent m . e pace 0 ' Th C I d. d ' '. al'I d d h ' h pomts, e lema e Isa vantage m nutntlon status

Improvement s owe own somew at m t e next tWo " "

. d be , d d 62 3 shows very little vanatlon even if one focuses on the

years proportion stunte mg assesse ataroun , . , ,' , , .. extreme depnvatlon such as severe underweightper cent m 1995196 (Sen 1997), The rate of Improvement ( ' h 3SD ) I h .

h h d be. . . WIt -, n t IS caset e matc e gap turns out to

has been remarkable m the second half of the nInetIes, 27 ' M h f h ' d .. . ' h' , percentage pomts, uc 0 t IS epnvatlon IS teOverall, 54,7 per cent of children 6-59 months of age were I f I d""

T h th f'. . resu t 0 ong-term IScnmmatlon, us, e rate 0 StUnt-

found stunted In 1998, while the correspondmg most. h h h ' .d f . ( "' h' ,", mg sows t at t e mCl ence 0 severe stUnting WIt

recent figure available for October 1999 IS 54,4 per cent,lt

3SD) . d 19 4 C h d fi ' !-' IS assesse at . per cent lor t eun er- Ive glrs

follows that between 1995196 and 1998, the pace of reduc,d 17 3 C h d fi b Th ' , . , , ,as oppose to ,per cent lor t e un er- ve oys, IS

tlon In long-term malnutntlon has been m the orderof3,6 , fl ' f ' d bl d b d . h h I'dIS re eCtlve 0 consl era' e gen er - ase mtra- ouse 0

per cent per annum, . al'. h alh d . , al h. hmequ Ity met care an nutntlon support, w IC. Similar improvements may be nGted in case of other needs to be addressed socially and via appropriate

indicators of acute nutritional deficiencies such as night empowerment supporting policies strengthening status

blindness among children, According to the 1982/83 of the women,

Bangladesh Nutrition Blindness Survey, prevalence 0, ,,' ,' h bl ' d h I h.ld . al 8 Pnonty attention must be gIven to al health care and

rug t In ness among pre-sc 00 c I ren m rur' , .. .,

Ba I d h 353 Th' C bo h mother s nutntlon to ensure better nutntlonal status 0ng a es was , per cent, IS was lar a ve t e , . ,

\VIU O bl. h d ,. f 1 h . al I.. children and hence, protect and enhance productiVIty 0

WC1 esta IS e cntenon 0 percent t at sIgn a prou- ",.

I f hi' h al h " fi A d. h 1997 future generations, Smce mother s well-bemg cannot beem 0 pu IC e t slgm cance, ccor mg to t e '.', , ,, , . , " seen m Isolation from the ISsue of ensunng well-bemg 0

HKl Survey on nIght blindness, the correspondmg mdlca-

( d . ! h .ld) , raI h h all Ch d d 062 women an glr c 1 m gene, t e approac c slortor a.~ roppe to, per cent

I ". II C f C al d ' d . , , e Immatlng a lorms 0 lem e Isa vantages m nutntlon,

. . health care and schooling, Ca.ring for women while impor-

ClosIng the rural-urban gap In growth and ( tant in its own right thus becomes also an issue of policy

human development choice, an instrumental means, for promoting economic

. Average urban performance has a clear edge over the growth and broad-based social development.

rural one in respect of major economic and social indica-

tors, However, the rural-urban gap is fast closing over Growing mismatch between income and non-

time in respect of non-income indicators, The catching up income dimensions of poverty, between

by the rural sector is mainly due to the higher public allo- advanced and backward areas in both rural

cations of social development along with the NGO-led tar- and urban sectors

geted programs, ... S 'c f h I ' d 'h- uperlor perlormance 0 t e soCIa In lcators at t e

. Public policy can playa critically needed equalising average urban level conceals significant variation by

(re-distributive) role in reducing further the observed poverty status, In many non-income respects, the si~ua-

rural-urban gap in human development, Strategy for tion of the urban poor may be worse than their ruralaccelerated rural growth and social development must counterparts.. This is because there is a visible lack of

,,~chievements (Contd.) Challenges (Contd.)- """,include a combination of elemtnts of advanced tech nolo- social sector (including safety net) programs targeted togy (including bio-technology, medical technology, and the urban poor and the poorest, For instance, many of the

Iinformation technology), public investments in physical targeted education and health programs are in operationinfrastructures, institutions for good governance, and in rural areas but missing in urban areas,social mobilisation of the poor (including the women and . H d I d b 'allIa''" , , uman eve opment ten s to e speCi y gglngthe margtnallsed soCIal groups and ethrnClty), NGOs canbh'd' '~IITh' 'II, , e m m mlrastructura y poor areas, ere IS Stl per-playa CruCIal role m the process as catalyser of new devel- "b'fraildddbkI' " , "slstmg gap etween m rastructu y a vance an ac-opment Initiatives from below, The nch expenence 0d'h'bhraIdbOf, " , war areas Wit m ot ru an ur an sectors, par-Bangladesh m the area of grassroots mobilisation through 'I" 'hbdbhaI'hNGOhb' tlCU ar Importance IS t e gap 0 serve etween t e met-extern agenCIes suc as s as een Important part, '" ,fhdI' '"fh" ropolltan and non-metropolitan (murnCipallty) areas, as0 t e new eve opment Initiatives 0 t e nIneties,II b I d all P Ii ' d ', " , we as etween arge an sm towns, 0 Cles an mcen-However, that IS not enough to expedite the process ml-,h Idb '

1 d, d f tlve structures s ou e put m p ace to encourage ecen-tlate so ar, tral' d b "

d I IIse ur arnsatlon an empowering oca governmentIncidence of income-poverty has declined with adequate investments in social and physical infra-IIhIIdJfII.. structures of smaller agglomerations,t roug out t e ecaue 0 t e nIneties. Both HES and PMS data show decline in the income- How to raise the rate of income-povertypoverty rates in the nineties, Though the pace of reduc- reduction?tion was modest, this was not a mean achievement given . . , 'hhks'dbbksdbId' . The very slow plogless In Income-poverty reduction

t e s oc tnggere y set ac cause y natura ISas-, , ,, , , , , , sInce the early eighties stands out as one of the most chal-ter, seasonal crop-failure, and political InstabIlity, I 'c f B gl d h'dINhAd'hHESdh' 'dfraI' engmg leature 0 an a es seve opment, ote t atccor mg to t e ata, t e mCi ence 0 ru mcome-, ,dI'd fr 534 ' 1983/84 511 per capita GDP growth has Increased from about 2 perpoverty ec me om , per cent m to, , ,,1995196'd"04cent per annum between the early eightIes and the early

per cent m , m Icatmg a , per cent per year "d Th h d d ' C h fi half f h nInetIes to 3,8 per cent over the last three years, Nearrop, e matc e re uctlon lor t e rst 0 t e, '", , ,I'h I h' h ( bo 08 doubling of the per capita Income growth rate did notnInetIes IS slg ty Ig er a ut , per cent per year, , , ,b1991192d1995196)AsChdhalfresult m signIficant dent on poverty, \\I1lile the povertyetween an ,lor t e secon 0 "h' ,h PMSd 'Iblh'hhreduction rate Improved from 0,4 to 0,8 per cent per yeart e nInetIes, t e ata are avaJ a e, w IC sows abh'd' 'dfabelh, , , etween t e same peno , It remaJne r ow t edecline of 3 percentage poInts m three years, as the rurald'df23bd'fas, , eslre rate 0 - per cent per year 0 serve m tIncome-poverty rate has gone down from 47,9 per centm " , ,1996(A'I)449'1999(M)poverty reduCIng economies, Part of the answer lies m thepn to ,per cent m ay ,If'h'Iffld'h' s ow rate 0 economic growt Itse, as re ecte m t e

. The rate of urban income-poverty reduction was slow growth of agriculture in the first half of the ninetiesfaster than that of rural poverty, This is primarily because and sluggish growth of manufacturing in the second halfper capita income in urban areas grew at a much faster of the nineties, In none of these sub-periods does one wit-rate compared to the rural areas (3,2 vs. 0,8 per cent ness a sectorally balanced growth, as the economy wasbetween 1983/84 and 1995196). always "limping on one leg",. Although the rate of poverty remains still high, . The other factor underlying the slow progress inBangladesh has been able to maintain a food security rea- income-poverty is linked with the sharply rising trend insonably well even in the face of unanticipated natural dis- economic (and not just income) inequality, Withoutaster of the scale of 1998 flood, Major risks of entitlement addressing the issue of economic inequality infailure could be averted largely because of an effective Bangladesh society, the goal of faster poverty reductioncombination of public action, NGO efforts, and communi- cannot be achieved, The dimension of economic inequal-ty awareness, Committed public policy with emphasis on ity is, however, a broader issue than mere tackling of thetarget~d food distribution and via post-flood rehabilitation burden of absolute income-poverty, Economic inequalitysupport played a major role in preventing entitlement fail- has strong effects on constraining future economicure, Private import of foodgrain--including the use 0 growth. It serves as a cause of rising social discontent, Itcross-border trade--played an important role in ensuring acts as a corrosive factor by undermining the networks 0adequate market supply, Private trader's potential specu- mutual trust, bonds, and bridges that bind the societylative behaviour was moderated to the minimum by cred- and the nation together, The task of ensuring egalitarianible policy that announced large-scale import programme; growth can no longer be overlooked today so that thedevelopment of road and communication also helped level of economic inequality can be restricted to a sociallyindirectly market integration process, preventing disrup- tolerable limit, More analytical works are necessary totions in supply, define the socially

Achievements (Contd.) ;"i\j;:;tllj Challenges (Contd.)

NGOs plaY,ed an important role during the relief phas: o!! ~ccepta?le/ tole~'able level of economic inequality (includ-

the ImmedIate post-flood months by helpIng the dlstrlbu:J Ingthe Issue of ItS types),

tion of food and other forms of assistance to the affected, .Th ful h dli f h 1998 ... d ' . 8 Even the othelWlse modest progress m poverty

areas. e success an . ng 0 t e CriSIS m Ireu' .

removal was not uniform throughout the country. Notlyshowed two related, but separate, aspects of progres' '., .. .

. , only the urban areascontmued to.educe Income-poverty

slve achIevements, often glossed over by many observers.' c h I 'd bl 'I. . '. . at a laster rate t an rura poverty consl era e reglona

The first one relates to the Increased CrISIS-COPIng capaa,. . , . , .'., L'f h I ( h 'I' 1: ) Thd disparity m levels of poverty was dIscernIble as well m thIsty 0 t e poor peop e t e resllence lactor, e secon' . d Wih ' b h ' h ' h .

, regar, It m ur an areas t e poverty rate IS tg erm

one relates to the enhanced governance capacIty of the"I". 'I' d .

h. " , non-metropo ttan munlclpa Ity areas compare WIt met:'state when It comes to confrontIng a natIonal calamity Ii W. h' al d ' '

dh " 1: ropo tan areas. It m fUr areas, some IStrlCtS an

(t e CrISIS management lactor). ,". .

c ar~as had much hIgher poverty thanm other areas, The8 A greater attention is paid now to the problem ofdif- most prominent factor of difference seems to be associat-

ferentiation within the poor, problem that cuts across an edWith ecological vulnerability (as in the case of river-era-

the major development initiatives such as microcredit, sion belts of Kurigram, ]amalpur,andSirajganj districts).

disaster-mitigation, agricultural extension, education and Within a given area, income-poverty significantly differs~health services, supply of inputs, local public goods irlitial resource endowment characteristics such as land

access, etc, A number of welfare-enhancing programmes and non-land assets, the extent of market participation

designed mainly for the extreme poor are now in place; and terms of exchange such as access to land rentals

ranging from VGF, FFW, housing for the shelterless, grant under fIXed tenancy and non-farm self-employment or

forthe female destitutes and old-age population. This re' regular salaried jobs, The level of human capital accumu-

~ orientation to the cause of the poorest yet to flourish into lated in a household has a direct bearing on productivity

~ a holistic campaign for the eradication of extreme forms and poverty rate, Exogenous ..factors such as remittance

~: of deprivation from the face of our society. But, these pro~ and household location in terms of proximity to rpadr,~ ,&mm~es co~sidered together have possibly led toa,less market and electricity.Ii intensIfied dIstress, and for some programmes such as 8Th .. .dd t ' " f ' b hc. ' , , c. c. 'ere IS a WI esprea remmlsatlon 0 poverty m ot.-, VGD and FFW, there are IndIcatIons that they have been,

Id b B Id h' B th ' b dful ' '"h ( al) di rura an ur an ang a es, ut, e Issue goes eyonsuccess m mitigating suc a season stress to a h 1: 'I' , diffi .

al b' "- .1 e lamllar Income poverty rate erentl s etween

considerable extent, Innovative schemes such as the IG, t

I h d d d al hd d h h Ids Th' , , rema e- ea e an, m e- ea e ouse 0 , e moreVGD programme with BRAC proVIde a framework for link., '.. h h ..h d I b'I'

f' ,perunent Issue IS t e elg tene vu nera Iity 0 poor

Ing the extreme poor WIth more upstream development.. '

, ( h ' d ' ) d h h I h d women even when she IS earnIng better than before fol-projects suc as mlcrocre n ,an t us, e p t e gra ua- ,., . . '", S' il I h " ' al b' I' '" ' lowIng Inclusion m some Income earnIng Jobs, VIolencelion process, 1m ary t e SOCI mo Ilsatlon experl., '"" , ' '" against women has partIcularly Increased m recent years,

mem In KishoreganJ shows that harnessIng SOCIal capItal d . I fc' h f d d h .h f. . , trect y a lectmg t e ree om an uman rig ts 0

In VIllage can help the graduation of the extreme poor-- -. . '.

d h I d h. f .ddl I h h j, 1 women m general and poor women m partIcular who areeven un er t e ea ers IP 0 ml e-c ass-- t roug a.. '"1 . b d '" more subjected to such harassment.eamlng y omg process.

Human poverty--the aggregate index for income How to improve the quality of human develop-

and non-income dimensions of poverty--has t d h th I'ty f h tymen an ence, e qua / 0 uman pover

declined at a much faster rate than income- d t ' ? H . d th ' I 'b Ire uc lon, ow'o re uce e reg/Dna 1m a-

poverty, especially in the recent years ances in human development?

. InJudging the Performance on account of human"& The aggregate performance assessed on account of

development index (HDI), it is important to track the HDI HPI' " d h" ., or IS a quantitative measure an ence, says verygroWth of the value of Index Itself over time and compare Ii" I b h al. f h . d' h '..L h d h . h . bl O . tt e a out t e qu Ity 0 t e m Icators t at enter IntoUle matc e groWl rate WIt SUlta e comparators, ur, " .cat I . h h h al f HDI c B I d h such an Index. Thus, success m expandIng literacy orcu anons s ow t at t e v ue 0 lor ang a eswas increasing at an average rate of 8.8 per cent per enrolment at primary level d?es n?t c~nvey the ala~ing

annum during the nineties, This place Bangladesh as the q1essage of general deterioration ill the quality ofcountry with the fastest growing place Bangladesh as the the indicators that enter into such an index. Thus, success

country with the fastest groWing HDI in South Asia, Hill in expanding literacy or enrolment at primary level does

value has increased from just 0.234 in 1980 to 0,309 and not convey the alarming message of general deterioration

0.368 in 1992 and 1994, sharply rising to 0,426 in 1995/97. in the quality of primary., secondary and higher secondary

HDI value has registered further progress in recent years, education in the country, Achievement tests show that

increasing to 0.485 by 1998/99, Although the level of, only 8th graders attain the level of knowledge that is

. Achievements (Contd.) Challenges (Contd.\""

"human underdelelopmellt is srill lei) high in supposed to be aLl]uired b)' rhe 5rh graders. The recelltBangladesh, it is reducing the level at a quite impressive dismally poor graduation-rate (over 50%) in the sec-rate. ondary school certificate examination shows the very. H d I I h . h poor quality of schooling. The remedies in improving theuman eve opment re ates to uman poverty In t e ... . .

. h I . As quality lies In allocating more resources to the educatIonsame way economIc groWl re ates to Income-poverty. . . .h d . . aI HPI h 'd budget needed for ImproVIng the school structure, libraryt e aggregate epnvatlon measure, sows consl - . .

bl Th I h h h . .d and lab facility, salary of the teachers, more teachers,era e progress, e resu ts s ow t at t e InCl ence 0 . . ,h h d I. d fr 613 . 1981 more classrooms, constructIon of new schools, etc. ThIs ISuman poverty as ec Ine om . per cent In - . . .83 472 ' 1993 94 d d d fu h over and above the general Issue of ImproVIng local levelto . per cent In -, an roppe rt er to .. .416 . 199597 A h . h . .d school governance. The qualIty ISsue applies equally (i

, per cent In -, t t e same time t e InCl ence . .f . h . aII I d I. d f 523 not more) to the performance of the ailing health sector,

0 Income-povertyatt enatlon eve eclne rom. .. . , . . .. 1983 184 46 6 . 1995/96 Th . wIth very hIgh degree of client s dIssatisfactIon, poor out-

per cent In I to . per cent In . IS d . ... put an nslng costs.means that progress In reduCIng human poverty was '

faster than the matched progress in reducing income . There is a significant disparity in the level of humanpoverty. The rate of decline in HPI was about 3 per cent poverty across regions in Bangladesh. Generally, theper year over the entire period btween the early eighties income-poor districts tend to be correlated with areasand the mid-nineties as against only 1 per cent in respect containing high .incidence of human poverty (Rajshahiof income-poverty. Note that the average rate of decline division, for instance, occupies the bottom position onin HPI was faster in recent years as the corresponding fig- both counts). The matching, however, is not exact: thereure dropped from 41.6 per cent in 1995/97 to 34.8 per are very important omissions. Thus, Chittagong divisioncent in 1998/00. has the lowest level of income-poverty but highest level 0. B I d h h I d d .. . infant mortality rate. This underscores the need for acting

ang a es as a so recor e ImpressIve progress In. . .. d . b . d I d simultaneously on an the fronts, Income and non-Income.

recent years In expan Ing aslC an e ementary e uca-

tion. Three aspects are noteworthy. Firstly, the overall. Apart from the income-poorest districts located in the

adult literacy rate increased from about 26 per cent in the river erosion belts, districts located in the Chittagong Hill

mid-70s to 29 per cent in 1981, rising further to 39 per Tracts are among the poorest in terms of "human-pover-

cent in 1991. Progress in basic education has accelerated ty" (though not necessarily in respect of income-poverty)

in the decade of nineties with greater budgetary alloca-

tions, implementation of special programmes such as

food-for-education (FFE) , non-formal primary education

(NFPE) , and total literacy movement (TIM). These pro-

grammes are implemented with active involvement of

NGOs. As a result, the literacy rate has crossed for the first

time the challenging i?enchmark of 60 per cent by 1999.

Secondly, the gender gap in basic education is closing

over time. In 1974, the gender gap in adult literacy was 35

per cent; it declined to 26 per cent in 1999. Thirdly,

underlying the progress in basic education is the rapid

eXpansion of school enrollments at the primary level,

Thus, the gross enrollment in primary schools has

increased from just 59 per cent in 1982 to 96 per cent in

1999. The gender gap in gross enrollment at the primary

level has significantly narrowed down. In 1999, the

matched figure was in the order of 6 per cent only, which

is a significant success in reducing gender gap by any mea-

sure. While there is still som.e debate on the precise esti-

mate of literacy and enrollment, all the supportive statisti-

cal evidence suggests that Bangladesh's progress in

expanding basic and elementary education has been par-

ticularly rapid over the past few years.

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