The right to social security for people with disabilities is enshrined in the Bangladesh Constitution. Furthermore, on 30th November 2007, Bangladesh ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which also guarantees the right to social protection. The Government is, therefore, committed to establishing a system of social security support for persons with disabilities that is appropriate to a middle-income country. While this will take time to realise fully, during the five years of this NSPS, the Government will take some major steps forward, building on the strengths of the current system of disability support.
Over the next five years, the Government will consolidate the current support to people with disabilities, aligning it to the life course. The system that will be established is set out in Figure 4.3. It will involve three core schemes:
- A Child Disability Benefit for all children with a disability, up to 18 years of age;
- A Disability Benefit for all adults with severe disabilities, aged 19-59 years;
- At 60 years, people with severe disabilities will transition to the Citizens’ Pension
Fig 1. The Proposed System of Social Protection for People with Disabilities
These schemes will be complemented by a disability pension that will be available to members of the NSIS. The two core budget Pensio.