CONTEXT

State sponsored social security is important for addressing the needs of a country’s vulnerable groups. Redistributive social security systems contribute to a reduced poverty level. The importance of social security is outlined in Vision 2021 and Bangladesh has a strong track record of working on diverse areas of social security, ranging from allowances for old age, widows, destitute and deserted women, lactating mothers, freedom fighters, orphans and school stipends to cash and food for work. The government is currently engaged in as many as 115 different programmes.

Bangladesh is, in many ways, ahead of the curve; the triple challenges of poverty, vulnerability and exclusion have informed policy thinking as the programme portfolio has been growing. However, with rapid urbanisation, growing economic pressure, demand outstripping supply, coupled with emerging effects of climate change, the existing social safety net portfolio presents significant opportunities for consolidation and rationalization around key vulnerabilities.

At a 2011 Dhaka Social Protection Conference, the Government of Bangladesh announced a commitment to develop the country’s first National Social Security Strategy. On request from the Planning Ministry’s General Economics Division (GED), UNDP has provided financial and technical assistance in formulating the strategy and securing stakeholder participation in a series of consultations.

The core of the strategy is programme consolidation along life cycle risks, with programmes for children, working age people – including specific focus on youth and vulnerable women – the elderly, and persons with disabilities. The life cycle approach also addresses current gaps in coverage of early childhood needs.

Effective targeting is one of the key challenges of delivery success and is a concern addressed by the strategy. A basic objective for the next five years is to target the elimination of extreme poverty. However, the strategy has  the vision  of  Bangladesh  moving  towards  a  rights-based  approach  in  line  with  provisions of   the  country’s   Constitution. This supports inclusive growth  and  reduce poverty, inequality and deprivation to levels required for Bangladesh to attain Middle Income Country status by 2021. It is critical to provide opportunities for poor and vulnerable people to contribute to and benefit from economic growth, and to provide protection to mediate new vulnerabilities resulting from the necessary economic transformation. Social security programmes have a proven effect of being instrumental in realizing development goals.

The strategy puts emphasis on reaching out to a range of socially excluded population groups that face various kinds of social discrimination. The Government is to ensure that these groups have similar access as the rest of the population to all social security programmes and to all publicly provided basic services.

ACTION

The Social Security Policy Support (SSPS) Programme supports the Government to roll out the National Social Security Strategy. The programme has two components: governance of social security and strengthening of delivery systems.

Governance of the Social Security System, with the purpose of ensuring better governance through coordination, M&E and reporting functions and to strengthen Government research and analysis capacities in order to build a more effective evidence base for effective policy development.

1. The Central Monitoring Committee of the Cabinet Division charged with development and oversight of the social security programmes and inter-sectoral linkages
2. Broad ownership across ministries, the Parliament, civil society, NGOs, academia and think tanks
3. Capacity building of key Government stakeholders
4. A policy research facility on social security to carry out studies and facilitate national policy dialogues on the basis of research reports
5. An Innovation and Research Challenge Fund to enable piloting of new technologies and approaches