Access to Information (a2i), the flagship program of Digital Bangladesh, is going to launch a technology platform to raise funds to disburse among families who have become financially vulnerable due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Anir Chowdhury, policy adviser at a2i, who is working on the government’s Covid-19 response, disclosed the matter on a live webinar, titled “Targeting Covid-19 relief payments in Bangladesh,” on Thursday night.
The webinar was co-hosted by Dhaka Tribune, the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), Yale University Macmillan Center, and Youth Policy Forum.
The seminar was organized online to address some important issues regarding relief payment targeting in Bangladesh during the Covid-19 crisis and to provide answers to frequently asked questions.
Mushfiq Mobarak, professor of economics at Yale University, Sabina Rashid, dean and professor at James P Grant School of Public Health in Brac University, and Asif Saleh, executive director of Brac, were also among the panelists.
Maria May, senior program officer at Financial Services for the Poor of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and Mark Miller, director of development for Public Finance Program, ODI, moderated the webinar.
The panelists discussed transfer mechanisms under the lockdown and social distancing rules to target the most disadvantaged and vulnerable populations. They also highlighted inclusion of the most vulnerable among the poor, including women, persons with disabilities, the transgender community, and sex workers, to prevent further marginalization.
The adviser said as part of exploring a new fund raising process – crowd funding, they explored the idea of community relief.
“It is the month of zakat. Normally, we mobilize over US$3 billion in a year, much of which happens in the month of Ramadan.
“We expect to launch the platform within a few days to collect large amounts of zakat donations which can be contributed in large sums and can be sent as cash transfers,” Anir said.
Brac, Bidyanondo Foundation, the Rahimafrooz group, and the Islamic Foundation of Bangladesh, and thousands of volunteers will partner with a2i, he said.
The policy adviser, however, did not disclose how they are going to formulate the technology, whether by retooling a hotline or any other mechanism.
Explaining how they have made use of existing resources, he said they have used hotline 333 for providing interactive voice response services that later helped to identify the most vulnerable areas.
The hotline service was later used for food and relief distribution activities, he said, adding that they got some 400,000 calls for food support. After proper verification they responded to 100,000 or 25% of the calls.
Anir said, money they have from the government for the needy and new vulnerable groups in the Covid-19 crisis, may not be enough. They do not know how much longer the situation will persist and are exploring other sources of funds.
2.5m new digital wallets created for RMG workers’ wages
After Sabina Rashid raised concerns regarding the financial literacy of female workers to make the best use of digital payments, Anir responded that in the first two weeks of April, 2.5 million garment workers got digital wallets.
He said at the Bangladesh Digital Wages Summit in November last year, he spoke with BGMEA President Rubana Haq to ensure 40% coverage of wages for RMG workers in digital payments now, and to set a target of 90% coverage by 2021. wages.
“But it suddenly went to 100%,” he said.
Digital wallet accounts were created using NIDs and registration numbers (for those who do not have NIDs), the policy advisor informed.
“We now have 900,000 cash out points throughout the country. Agent banking facilities are also there,” Anir added.
And it would not be a problem for workers as they only use it for cash out, not for digital payments, the adviser continued.
Relief targets listing a political pursue
Coronavirus is creating new vulnerable groups who have experienced a sudden loss of income. In response, the government of Bangladesh has committed to support at least 4m vulnerable families with immediate emergency cash transfers.
Asif mentioned Bangladesh’s achievement in tackling several crises -- TB, disaster management, handwashing culture, and building toilets, tied to community behaviour.
“If people do not get food, they are not going to stay home. They will come out,” he said.
Exploring relief distribution issues, Mushfiq from Yale University, said: “As a first step in relief distribution, traditional means have to be followed. But in the next steps, the loopholes should be identified and addressed accordingly.”
Sabina of James P Grant School of Public Health, said: “We do not have the technology to pinpoint every household in need.”
She also talked about using known societal behavioural approaches to fight the emerging situation.
It is ultimately a political pursuit. You may look at social dimensions and people could do self-reporting, or Brac can send people door to door. But at the end of the day there is also a very strong dominant political decision that will decide who gets the funds and who will not, Anir said
He stressed the need for a close scrutiny of any solution, because if the political process is bypassed completely, it would not be accepted.
The adviser said, right now they have no solution.
The Brac executive director also explored the need for acceptance by society and said the crisis is going to stay for at least two to three years, and therefore a community response was needed.
“You cannot bring about change just by administrative order. You have to convince people,” Asif said.
The open to all webinar explored different concerns associated with targeting relief payments, including navigating the speed of response, equity concerns, and the effectiveness of partnerships, targeting, and gender inclusion.
The webinar recognized the power of mobile technology in both appropriately targeted identification of recipients and executing money transfers to them. It concluded with the prospect of further discussions and debates for an effective and inclusive model.