Since the inception of the National Social Security Strategy in 2015, the Government of Bangladesh has developed several complementary policy documents and strategic guidelines to support the effective and timely implementation of the envisaged reforms. The NSSS Gender Policy, approved in 2018, was introduced to ensure that gender considerations are systematically integrated into both programmatic and institutional reforms within the social security system. The Urban Social Protection Strategy and Action Plan (USPSAP), prepared by the Cabinet Division in 2020, provides a clear framework for integrating urban social protection into the national system. In addition, the Guidelines on Adaptive Social Protection in Bangladesh outline a strategic roadmap for strengthening resilience by enhancing coordination, improving system responsiveness, promoting risk-informed decision-making, ensuring sustainable financing, and building capacities at multiple levels. These guidelines also emphasise early risk identification, strengthened administrative preparedness, increased community awareness, and the provision of anticipatory support to vulnerable communities.

Over the decade following the adoption of the NSSS, Bangladesh’s socio-economic context has changed markedly. Rapid urbanisation, demographic ageing, tightening fiscal space, rising inequality, and intensifying climate risks have reshaped the vulnerability profile of households. The COVID-19 pandemic further exposed structural weaknesses in coverage, shock-responsiveness, and inter-agency coordination, underscoring the need for a comprehensive and adaptive social protection system. Persistent inflation has had far-reaching consequences for livelihoods, particularly among low-income households, eroding real incomes and contributing to a reversal of poverty reduction gains for the first time since independence. At the same time, changes in the political landscape present an opportunity to renew focus on social protection reforms grounded in principles of equity and fairness. In this evolving context, an independent and systematic assessment of NSSS implementation is essential to identify what has worked, what has underperformed, and the underlying reasons for these outcomes.

Against this backdrop, the overarching objective of the final evaluation of the National Social Security Strategy and its Action Plan Phase II (2021–2026) is to support the Government of Bangladesh in making informed decisions on the ongoing implementation of the NSSS, while generating forward-looking evidence to guide the formulation of the next-generation national social protection strategy beyond 2026. The evaluation is designed to provide a balanced and evidence-based assessment of the extent to which the strategic intent of the NSSS has translated into tangible and sustainable results. More specifically, the evaluation seeks to achieve the following objectives:

• Assess results and progress: Examine the extent to which the NSSS and its Action Plan Phase II have delivered on their stated objectives across programme-level reforms, institutional arrangements, and policy outcomes, with particular emphasis on poverty reduction, inclusion, and resilience. This includes assessing progress in implementing gender-related commitments and advancing the integration of persons with disabilities within the social protection system.
• Identify challenges and opportunities: Analyse systemic and operational constraints affecting implementation, including issues related to programme design, targeting accuracy, financing adequacy, governance arrangements, and coordination across ministries and agencies. The evaluation will also examine political economy factors that have consistently influenced the pace and direction of reforms under the NSSS, while identifying enabling conditions and opportunities for accelerating progress.
• Provide actionable recommendations: Generate evidence-based, practical, and prioritised recommendations to strengthen the efficiency, equity, and impact of social protection, ensuring that proposed reforms are technically sound, institutionally feasible, and politically realistic.
• Generate lessons for future strategy: Distil lessons from the implementation experience to inform the design of the national social protection strategy 2026 and beyond. This includes assessing the continued relevance of the NSSS in the current socio-economic and political context, identifying areas for continuation, adaptation, or discontinuation, and ensuring systematic integration of cross-cutting priorities such as gender equality, disability inclusion, and climate resilience.

In fulfilling these objectives, the final evaluation is intended not only to assess past performance but also to serve as a strategic input into reimagining Bangladesh’s social protection system for the next decade and beyond. Through rigorous analysis, stakeholder engagement, and policy-relevant recommendations, the evaluation will help position the Government of Bangladesh to design a more coherent, inclusive, accountable, and future-ready social protection framework. The findings will provide a robust evidence base to define strategic priorities, develop fit-for-purpose instruments, and ensure fiscal realism, while aligning future reforms with Bangladesh’s development aspirations, its LDC graduation pathway, and its commitments to the Sustainable Development Goals and the Leave No One Behind (LNOB) principle.