Experts on Sunday underscored that investing in children should no longer be viewed merely as a social expenditure, but as a strategic economic investment essential to ensuring a country’s long-term prosperity and resilience.
They stressed the need for Bangladesh to move beyond fragmented welfare schemes and establish a coordinated, rules-based, and fiscally sustainable social protection system to foster human capital development and upward social mobility.
The observations came during a session of a day-long workshop titled “Child Development to Human Capital: Leveraging Social Protection for Social Mobility,” organized by the BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD) and Oxford Policy Management (OPM) at the BRAC Centre in Mohakhali, Dhaka.
Chairing the session, Dr Fahmida Khatun, executive director of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), emphasized that the foundations of human capital are laid long before individuals enter the labour market.
While acknowledging the importance of economic growth, she cautioned that growth alone does not automatically ensure social mobility.
“To translate economic gains into meaningful social progress, targeted investments in nutrition, healthcare, and education are essential to reducing inequality and improving opportunities across generations,” she said.
Highlighting the economic benefits of early intervention, Dr Mohammad Abu Yusuf, secretary of the Ministry of Social Welfare, said research indicates that every $1 invested in early childhood development can generate returns of up to $13.
“The first three years are vital, as nearly 80% of brain development occurs during this period,” he said, describing spending on early childhood care as a “forward-looking investment” for the nation.
He also stressed the need for greater digitalization within social protection systems to reduce inefficiencies, curb corruption, and prevent leakages in public spending.
Echoing concerns over the existing welfare structure, Dr Selim Raihan, executive director of the South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM), called for a shift from fragmented and politically driven welfare initiatives to a more integrated and evidence-based framework.
He warned against introducing ad-hoc programmes shaped by political considerations rather than grounded in contextual analysis and long-term policy planning.
Meanwhile, Dr Imran Matin, executive director of BIGD, said effective integration of social protection mechanisms requires more than technical coordination, stressing the importance of empathy, responsiveness, and accountability.
He noted that initiatives such as the “family card” programme often suffer from the absence of complaint and feedback mechanisms, leaving beneficiaries uncertain and vulnerable.
Adding to the discussion, Dr Manzoor Ahmed, chair of the Bangladesh Early Childhood Development (ECD) Network, expressed concern over the slow implementation of the 2013 Comprehensive Early Childhood Care and Development Policy.
He criticized the highly centralized and top-down nature of public administration, arguing that it hampers coordinated service delivery at the community level and weakens effective child-focused interventions.
The speakers collectively emphasized that strengthening child-focused social protection policies is crucial not only for safeguarding vulnerable populations but also for building a productive workforce and ensuring sustainable national development in the decades ahead.