
A Consultation Workshop on a Reflective Overview of the National Social Security Strategy (NSSS) was held on 23 January 2025 in the Hotel InterContinental, Dhaka. The respected Cabinet Secretary, Sheikh Abdur Rashid graced the occasion as the chief guest. Mr. Mahmudul Hossain Khan, Secretary, Coordination and Reforms, Cabinet Division chaired the the workshop. Workshop participants included a diverse group of key stakeholders, comprising Secretaries from the ministries leading the five thematic clusters of the NSSS, Social Security Focal Points from relevant implementing ministries, officials from the Cabinet Division, and Social Security Policy Support (SSPS) project officials directly involved in the implementation of the NSSS. This diverse representation ensured a comprehensive and multi-faceted review of the strategy and its implementation progress.
The National Social Security Strategy (NSSS) of Bangladesh, introduced in 2015, provides a roadmap for lifecycle-based social protection for vulnerable citizens of the country. It aims to combat poverty, vulnerability, and marginalization, ultimately elevating the living standards of disadvantaged groups such as the elderly, persons with disabilities, women, children, and low-income households.
This holistic strategy, aligned with the social protection floors initiatives, adopted by the UN Chief Executives Board in 2009, is firmly committed to poverty reduction and sustainable development. The NSSS has made significant progress in expanding social safety nets and introducing social empowerment.
However, continuous improvement is needed to ensure equitable distribution of benefits. With the second phase of the NSSS action plan (2021-2026) underway, and nine years passed since its inception, a review is timely. Therefore, a workshop with key implementing ministries was crucial to grab an overview of the NSSS implementation progress, identify successes, challenges, and areas for improvement and strengthen collaboration and coordination among stakeholders.
The objective of the workshop was to conduct a comprehensive review of the NSSS of Bangladesh with a focus on identifying achievements, challenges, and opportunities. The specific objectives included:
- Assess the progress: Evaluate the implementation of the NSSS across its various programs and initiatives, measuring its impact on target beneficiaries.
- Identify successes and challenges: Highlight key achievements and good practices, as well as bottlenecks and challenges hindering effective implementation.
- Review the relevance: Analyze the NSSS in the context of current socioeconomic conditions and emerging vulnerabilities, ensuring its continued relevance.
The workshop is expected to enhance understanding of the NSSS among implementing ministry officials, fostering a shared comprehension of its goals, implementation progress, and challenges. It facilitated collaborative identification of bottlenecks and builds consensus on future actions to address them. Ultimately, the workshop aims to strengthen collaboration and generate actionable recommendations for a more effective and impactful social security system in Bangladesh.