To achieve the ambitious objective that Bangladesh has accepted, of eradicating extreme poverty within the period of the next Five Year Plan, as a stop on the route towards making Bangladesh a poverty free nation, it is necessary to move now.
The government needs to start re-prioritising the national budget and talking to donors and multi-national institutions about their next programs which are being designed right now. The government has already made major strides in reducing extreme poverty and poverty related challenges in Bangladesh, now it’s about finishing the job.
Bangladesh needs to drive the process and pull all the competing agencies and bureaucrats into line -- in time to actually make this happen! This can be Sheikh Hasina’s legacy, contributing to economic growth, justice, compassion and social harmony, embedded in the vision of a middle-income Bangladesh.
To achieve the eradication of extreme poverty, the Manifesto for the Extreme Poor, a civil society document produced by various organisations and poverty experts together, called for three actions: (i) A national-scale graduation program to enable 15 million people to climb out of extreme poverty and into the mainstream economy, (ii) reformation of social-protection to ensure it reaches the poorest, and (iii) pro-poor policies. Of these three, I want to focus on the first point.
Enable the poorest to join the mainstream economy -- the graduation model
The graduation model -- followed by several extreme poverty focused programs including Shiree (a multi-donor program in partnership with GOB, LGRD under the RDCD Ministry) as well as Brac Targeting the Ultra Poor (TUP) -- has been very successful in transforming the lives of extremely poor clients.
This model is already being copied and sold to donors and governments around the world, but it was invented and first delivered at scale in Bangladesh, and Bangladesh has the chance to be the first to take the approach to its logical conclusion, the complete eradication of extreme poverty.
The graduation model embraces a combined strategy at the household level. To get out of extreme poverty each household needs: (i) At least one micro-enterprise established through the transfer of income generating assets (preferably diversified over time), (ii) a regular cash transfer to meet initial consumption needs as the micro-enterprise is getting up and running, (iii) access to a longer-term social-protection benefit, depending on their circumstances and eligibility, provided by the state (such as a small pension, widows or disability allowance), (iv) one external income source from formal employment (eg one family member working in garments and remitting funds back into the household), (v) a bank account with steadily accumulating savings (mobile bank account is an option), (vi) access to affordable and effective health services, (vii) support during external shocks such as floods to prevent distress sale of assets, and (viii) a recognised place in the community (eg a vote!) -- this especially applies to currently marginalised groups.
This list of requirements is challenging but affordable and achievable. More than anything, it requires a combined response that knits together aspects that currently fall into different spheres of responsibility. Hence, targeted extreme poor programs are now largely donor funded and NGO implemented.
These need to be scaled up and linked into the reform of social-protection benefits -- a government responsibility -- as is the delivery of public services (especially health). While the development of large-scale programs of vocational training, appropriate to members of extreme poor households, is of most direct relevance to private-sector companies who will provide the jobs.
This cross-sectoral aspect means that the program can only succeed with a strong, unifying national vision and leadership.
As I learned from my experience at Shiree, it is not enough to just give the extreme poor assets or cash -- they need coaching, encouragement, and support from field officers. Realising that many extremely poor families are headed by young women (who were victims of child marriage and drop-outs from school with no skills or knowledge of markets) makes it clear why such hand-holding and confidence building is necessary. It also often helps to organise these extremely poor clients into groups to help them overcome challenges.
I will refer to the targeted extremely poor beneficiaries as “clients” -- as Rubayat Khan pointed out in his recent article in The Guardian -- it is more appropriate to refer to them as clients because that implies that they should have the right to demand efficiency and results from the NGOs/donors/governments striving to serve them. This private sector attitude can be helpful also in eliminating wastage and optimising resources in the development sector.
ICT -- a potential game-changer
The challenge most graduation programs face is that, often clients, “fall between the cracks.” To ensure that all clients are able to meet their needs and face their context-specific challenges, programs need to be responsive and adaptable.
The reality is, extreme poverty is a dynamic and complex condition, so families require individual, customised support to overcome challenges and make the climb out of poverty. Transfer programs (cash/assets/skills) must provide personal support to create sustainable results.
To manage a large-scale transfer program, providing support on a household-by-household basis, to millions of people, without leaving anyone behind, information and communication is necessary. Real time data can enhance management’s decision-making capacity, changing the way programs are managed.
Using mobile phones to collect data from the field is possible in Bangladesh due to the government’s drive and commitment to building a Digital Bangladesh. The ICT Ministry and A2I have made innovations in ICT commonplace and doable in “backwards” Bangladesh. The widespread availability of mobile banking also provides a huge opportunity in Bangladesh. We should take advantage of our infrastructure to lead in the race to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals currently being finalised. The first of which will be about eradicating extreme poverty.
However, one of the key lessons from Shiree was that management is key. Managers who are unable to innovate, or worse, unscrupulous managers who are only interested in personal rewards, may abuse new technology. Implementing ICT solutions requires overcoming entrenched resistance to change. Managers need to see new technology not as a threat but as an opportunity. Proper incentives need to be in place to encourage organisations to adopt new approaches.
Learning from the best practices -- coordinated effort
One of the few global female leaders, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, has successfully led the process to eradicate the ebola virus for her country. How? By making sure that there were sufficient resources in place and by being strong with all the implementing agencies to ensure that effective strategies were being urgently implemented with close co-ordination and frequent monitoring. Our prime minister now faces a similar challenge of many programs and little coordination.
Similarly, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil brought together several pre-existing social-protection programs into one aligned effort, Bolsa Familia, which could be scaled up massively. It’s no secret that the welfare program played a huge role in his re-election victory in 2006.
These are just two examples where a committed national leadership has demonstrated the ability to achieve truly transformative results by defining the national vision and ensuring that resources are available and aligned behind this vision. Could Bangladesh astound the world by reaching even greater heights and banishing forever the image of our country as poverty-stricken?