It has been half a century since achieving our independence. The country's progress over the past half-century is remarkable and commendable. Soon leaving the list of least developed countries, we are now a developing country on the global stage. However, this journey was not easy at all.
Recently, another significant thing has been added to Bangladesh's achievement account, that Bangladesh is one of the leading countries in the world in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Despite the fact that many developing nations are hampered in their efforts to achieve the SDGs, Bangladesh's accomplishments are remarkable despite the previous Covid-19 pandemic and ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
The United Nations adopted a 15-year goal from 2000-2015, known as the Millennium Development Goals or MDGs. Bangladesh's position there was commendable. In line with this, in 2015, the United Nations undertook another 15-year goal, the main and only objective of which was to ensure peace and prosperity in the world.
To achieve that goal, 17 significant and timely targets have been set. These include eradicating poverty, ensuring food security, ensuring good health, better education, and preventing gender inequality.
The 17 goals or the SDGs are: Poverty alleviation; food security and improved nutritional status and the expansion of sustainable agriculture; ensuring good health and well-being for all; education for all; achieving gender equality and women's empowerment; sustainable management of safe water and sanitation; affordable energy; achieving employment and sustainable economic growth for all; reducing intra- and inter-country inequality; building sustainable cities and settlements; ensuring moderate consumption and sustainable production patterns; taking urgent action to combat climate change; conservation and sustainable use of marine resources; ecosystem strengthening global partnerships for restoration and preventing biodiversity loss; ensuring justice and accountability; and sustainable development.
It is easily understood from the goals that the SDGs are not for any country but for the greater good of humanity.
Bangladesh has been able to show unimaginable success in achieving the SDGs. Bangladesh scores 65.9% on its current index. Last year, it was 64.22%. Currently, Bangladesh ranks 101th among 166 countries in the SDG index. As per the Sustainable Development Report 2023, the position of Bangladesh is, however, ahead of India (112th) and Pakistan (128th) in South Asia.
Bangladesh ranked 46th on the Spillover Index with a score of 97.8, indicating the country has substantially more positive and fewer negative effects on the achievement of SDGs by other nations. The Spillover Index evaluates these spillovers along three dimensions: Environmental and social impacts manifested in trade, economy and finance, and security.
The SDG Report 2023 highlights Bangladesh's unprecedented progress. It is said that the number of poor and very poor or extreme poor people in the country has decreased, which supports SDG-1 and is placed on the yellow list of the report. Apart from SDG-1, SDG-5, SDG-6, SDG-7, SDG-9, SDG-10, and SDG-16 are also in the yellow list. In other words, Bangladesh has significant challenges in achieving this goal.
SDG-11, SDG-14, SDG-15, and SDG-17 have been included in the red list. So, Bangladesh has to face big challenges in meeting these goals. SDG-4, SDG-8, SDG-12, and SDG-13 are in the green list. Only SDG-2 and SDG-3 have been placed on the yellow list, which means more work needs to be done to achieve these goals.
Bangladesh has made extraordinary strides towards decreasing poverty. During 2000, 48.9% of the population were indicated as poor based on the line of upper poverty; by 2022, this number had fallen to 18.2%. This decreased from 34.3% to 5.6% as the poverty threshold decreased. In rural as well as urban regions, poverty has significantly decreased.
In its 8th Five-Year Plan (8FYP), the government wants to reduce poverty from 20.5% to 15.6 % and strengthen the social security system while lowering inequality. It also plans to increase healthcare spending from 1% to 2% of the GDP. The 2020 Perspective Plan outlines the government's goal of decreasing poverty to 3% and developing a "Smart Bangladesh" by 2041.
Bangladesh has improved education access during the past decade. The government of Bangladesh has constructed primary schools in all regions of the country in an effort to make primary education mandatory for all. In addition, free books are being distributed and mid-day meals are also in operation.
The country has near-universal primary school enrollment and gender parity in education with 98% of children enrolled. The government is encouraging women to pursue a higher education and developing women entrepreneurs as a means of empowering women in particular. The government's timely actions have increased females' education in the country.
In 2023, the functional literacy rate (7+ years) in Bangladesh is now 62.92%, whereas the general literacy rate in the country is 74.23%. In addition, the functional literacy rate for people aged 11-45 in the country increased to 73.69% from 53.70% in 2011.
Bangladesh has made significant strides in the last two decades to improve the lives of women and children. According to the Global Gender Gap Report 2023 from the World Economic Forum, Bangladesh ranks first among South Asian nations in terms of gender equality. In 2022, Bangladesh ranked 71st in the world for gender equality, with a score of 71.4%.
The provision of Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) services is of utmost importance in ensuring the well-being and prosperity of children and their families. A total of 3 million individuals were provided with access to potable water, while 2.7 million individuals experienced an improvement in their sanitary conditions. Additionally, 3.3 million individuals were able to avail hand washing facilities.
There is an emphasis on the use of natural resources for energy production; examples include solar energy, hydropower, biomass, biogas, and biofuels. In 2009-10, the installed capacity of electricity was only 5,271 MW, whereas it is presently 28,134 MW. Surprisingly, 100% of the population has access to electricity. Additionally, special care is given to ensure that energy production has no negative impact on the environment.
Everyone must perform their assigned role from their respective positions. For sustainable production and consumption, all citizens, including the government, producers, entrepreneurs, and the media, must collaborate on a single platform. We must also endeavor to achieve each of the SDGs. Only then can we achieve our intended goal.
Md Ashikur Rahman and Anupom Sarker are freelance contributors.
