Since the adoption of the NSSS, Bangladesh’s social protection agenda has further been shaped by several complementary policy and strategic documents. The NSSS Gender Policy, approved in 2018, sought to integrate gender considerations more systematically into programme design and institutional arrangements. The Urban Social Protection Strategy and Action Plan, prepared in 2020, provided a framework for addressing the growing risks faced by the urban poor. Similarly, the Guidelines on Adaptive Social Protection in Bangladesh set out directions for strengthening shock responsiveness, risk-informed planning, institutional preparedness and anticipatory support. The Midterm Review also provided an important evidence base on implementation progress, helping to frame the priorities of Action Plan Phase II and shape the subsequent policy discourse on social protection reform. These initiatives have broadened the reform agenda, while also underscoring the need to assess how far the original NSSS vision has been implemented in practice.
The final review is therefore positioned at the point where assessment and forward planning intersect. It must examine whether the strategic intent of the NSSS, particularly its emphasis on lifecycle risks, programme consolidation, institutional coordination and improved delivery systems, has been translated into measurable progress. At the same time, the review must identify which reform commitments remain unfinished, which constraints have persisted despite repeated policy attention, and which lessons should inform the design of the post-2026 national social protection strategy.
Against this backdrop, the overarching objective of this final evaluation is to assess the implementation of the NSSS and Action Plan Phase II (2021–2026), and generate evidence to inform the design and formulation of Bangladesh’s next national social protection strategy. More specifically, this report seeks to:
- Assess implementation progress: examine the extent to which the NSSS and Action Plan Phase II have delivered on their intended programme and institutional reforms, including progress on lifecycle-based support, inclusion, gender responsiveness, disability-sensitive programming, poverty reduction and resilience.
- Identify constraints and enabling factors: analyse the technical, fiscal, administrative and political economy factors that have shaped implementation, including issues related to programme design, targeting, financing, coordination, data systems, accountability and institutional capacity.
- Generate lessons for the next strategy: assess which elements of the NSSS remain relevant, which require adaptation, and which may need to be reconsidered in light of Bangladesh’s changing socio-economic context, fiscal realities and emerging risks.
- Provide actionable recommendations: develop practical, prioritised and evidence-based recommendations to strengthen the efficiency, equity, adequacy and accountability of the social protection system, while ensuring that proposed reforms are institutionally feasible and fiscally realistic.
The relevance of the Final Review has been further reinforced by the renewed political interest in strengthening social protection following the February 2026 democratic transition. The introduction of the current government’s flagship Family Card initiative signals an important policy commitment to expanding household-based poverty-focused support. Although the large-scale rollout of the Family Card falls beyond the NSSS implementation period assessed in this review, its future effectiveness will be shaped by many of the issues examined here, including beneficiary identification, programme consolidation, targeting accuracy, benefit adequacy, digital information systems, delivery capacity, grievance redress and institutional coordination. The social protection agenda, however, is broader than the Family Card alone. The lessons from NSSS implementation are therefore critical for ensuring that new initiatives are integrated into a coherent national system rather than adding another layer to an already fragmented programme landscape.
In fulfilling these objectives, the final evaluation is intended to serve both as an accountability exercise and as a strategic input into the design of the post-2026 social protection framework. It aims to clarify what has been achieved, why some reforms have progressed more slowly than expected, and how Bangladesh can move towards a more coherent, inclusive and shock-responsive system that is aligned with national development priorities, the LDC graduation pathway, the Sustainable Development Goals and the principle of leaving no one behind. In this context, the Final Review is intended not only to assess the implementation experience of the NSSS, but also to inform the next phase of social protection reform, including the effective integration of new poverty-focused initiatives such as the Family Card within a broader, better-coordinated and more accountable social protection system.
