Bangladesh is riding on an unprecedented tide of optimism when it comes to national development. With the recently cemented status of low-middle-income country and an all-time low poverty rate of 24.7%, becoming a middle-income country by 2021 does not seem too far away. While we set our sights on the much desired development goal, it is important not to ignore the pitfalls that lie on the way. Those pitfalls can come in the form of the existing extreme poverty pockets in the country.
The chars -- riverine islands in Bangladesh -- are one such remaining extreme poverty pocket. These isolated landmasses, scattered across 100 upazilas in 32 districts, are home to six million people, hundreds of thousands of them being among the poorest in the country.
For the impoverished char-dwellers, life is a constant uphill battle. Flooding and erosion continually disrupt the people’s attempt at making a livelihood, while poor infrastructure sees that they remain beyond the benefits of mainland regions.
The lack of safe drinking water, sanitation, basic social service provisions, electricity, and good governance acerbate the prevalent discrimination in access to resources and gender inequality.
At the same time, the char lands are a reservoir of untapped potential. The minerals carried by the water make the char lands very fertile, while there is a big unutilised labour force that is no stranger to hard work.
Bangladesh has made commendable progress in curbing poverty, but extreme poverty is a different beast. The seventh Five Year Plan, the policy blueprint for reaching the vision of 2021, has set its core theme as “Accelerating Growth, Empowering Every Citizen.”
It is optimistic to assume that higher GDP growth and focus on growth drivers will subsequently lift extreme poor from the nadir, yet it is more realistic to take their total seclusion from the mainstream economy into account when planning.
Even attempts at better income distribution and lowering income inequality, as prioritised by the seventh Five Year Plan, might not be sufficient to break the poorest out of the chronic extreme poverty trap.
Extreme poverty, such as that of the char-dwellers, is a consequence of social, economic, political, and geographical seclusion, and overcoming it requires special policies, institutions, and programs.
Eradicating the extreme poverty of chars also requires adequate budget allocation. The government had allocated Tk50 crore for the internal infrastructure development of char, yet no specific line ministry was tasked with spending the amount for the endeavour. The entire amount now remains unspent.
Many non-government actors have done exemplary work for the development of chars in their own scope. Yet, these programs work within a limited geographical area, and the sustainability of the impacts of these interventions is often challenged by the projects’ duration. The impoverished char-dwellers are susceptible to various shocks, including threats to natural disasters, poor health, and impacting their livelihood.
What is needed for sustainable development is a co-ordinated effort by all actors, including the government, donors, NGOs, and char people.
The necessity for such a concerted approach also resounded heavily in the first National Char Convention held on June 6 last year at the Krishibid Institute Bangladesh.
The unprecedented convention brought together present members of the parliament, policy-makers, civil society leaders, dignitaries, development specialists, and practitioners from more than 70 organisations. Among the 1,200 participants, half were char-dwellers.
Inaugurating the convention, the Honourable Speaker of the Bangladesh Parliament Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, MP, expressed her and the government’s commitment to work for the development of chars.
In order to translate the policy-makers’ commitment into action, a 14-Point first National Char Convention Declaration has been prepared as the char people’s demand charter.
Based on various grassroots level consultation, findings of presented research papers, and demands raised by the char people in the convention, the declaration captures the burning necessities for the char development. If the state wants to hear the articulated voice of the deprived char-dwellers, it does not need to look any further.
Finally, it is hard to imagine sustainable development for the chars any time soon without a central government-owned agency to oversee and co-ordinate all the government and non-government development initiatives being undertaken in the chars. We don’t have to look too far for an example.
The haor, another climate change-affected poverty-prone region, has the Department of Bangladesh Haor and Wetland Development (DBHWD) under the Ministry of Water Resources. The directorate emerged from the Bangladesh Haor and Wetland Development Board, established in 2000, due to the goodwill of the government.
The responsibilities of DBHWD include co-ordinating the development activities of ministries and local government organisations, and implementing the necessary master-plans and development projects in light of the local needs, among others.
There is no reason why impoverished char-dwellers would not benefit from a comprehensive development plan and a similar government co-ordinating authority, even if it is integrated into the existing DBHWD.
When it comes to overcoming extreme poverty, going the last mile can be the hardest. Yet, with collective co-ordinated effort across all sectors, it is not impossible. The impoverished char-dwellers are doing their part in not only fighting with adverse conditions to earn a livelihood, but also contributing to the national development with their productivity every day. It is our turn to ensure that we are all in the same boat when we reach our much-desired destination in national development.
