The local government institutions of Bangladesh have been implementing a number of development projects under the head of social safety net programme (SSNP) to provide community-based services for the vulnerable sections of society, they said.
However, the key challenges relate to ensuring quality of implementation of these projects and adequate provisioning of these services, the speakers viewed.
Indeed, they said, the achievement of the SDGs hinges critically on this and there is a need for creating local database for selecting programme beneficiaries.
This is also important in taking the benefits of development to the grassroots so that no one is left behind, they said.
The Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) and Oxfam jointly organised the dialogue with support from the SKS Foundation, said a CPD press release.
The event was held under the project titled, “Enhancing the participation of community-based organizations (CBOs) and civil society organizations (CSOs) in democratic governance of Bangladesh.”
The programme is being implemented by the CPD and Oxfam, with support from the European Union (EU). The trigger presentation and discussions at the dialogue were based on an ongoing study conducted by the CPD.
Towfiqul Islam Khan, a CPD Senior Research Fellow, made the keynote presentation titled, “The Role of Social Safety-Net Programmes in SDG Delivery at the Local Level”.
Mahabub Ara Begum Gini, MP, Whip, Bangladesh National Parliament, was present at the dialogue as the chief guest; Md Tofayel Hossain, Additional Deputy Commissioner (Revenue) and Additional District Magistrate, Gaibandha, was present as a special guest.
Prof Mustafizur Rahman, a CPD Distinguished Fellow, summarised the key points emerging from the discussion as the Distinguished Discussant. Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, another CPD Distinguished Fellow, chaired the dialogue.
Public representatives, local level government officials, representatives of various civil society and grassroots organisations working in Gaibandha and private sector took part in the event.
The keynote presentation focused on the role and budgetary allocation for social safety net programmes both nationally and for Gaibandha and why it is necessary to raise the quality and delivery of services, particularly for the marginalised groups in the society.