Regular monitoring of progress is important to assess the degree of convergence between the left behind and the relatively advanced population groups and the lagging and the well-off regions of Bangladesh, says the Bangladesh Poverty Watch Report 2022 on Saturday (January 21, 2023). The report, jointly prepared by Institute for Inclusive Finance and Development (InM) and Center for Inclusive Development Dialogue (CIDD), aimed to ensure that grassroots voices of ‘left behind’ and extremely poor population groups are heard and these are reflected in policies. Chairman, CIDD Dr. Mustafa K. Mujeri and Chairman InM Dr. Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad, among others, spoke at the launching event for the Bangladesh Poverty Watch Report 2022.   The Poverty Watch Report 2022 summarised some current aspects of poverty including testimonies, reflections and ‘stories’ of individuals from selected ‘left behind’ population groups belonging to seven plain land ethnic minority groups (Santal, Mal Paharia, Garo, Hajong, Mandi, Oraon and Munda) and the transgender community. Also read: Poverty forces Thakurgaon day-labourer to put 7-month-old baby girl up for sale In their ‘stories’, the participants shared their experience of having found themselves in poverty, exclusion and extremely difficult conditions reinforced by systemic errors and structural inequalities. The Report suggests several priority actions for speeding up their catching up process in society. The key will be to craft these policies/actions within the broader inclusive development strategies of the government that cover cross-cutting and national level issues, such as strengthening inclusive growth, ensuring financial inclusion, reducing income and social inequality, accessing quality education, health, nutrition and other basic services, adopting appropriate macroeconomic policy, addressing pockets of lagging social groups/regions, and adopting initiatives at the local level along with effectively managing micro-macro transmissions, according to the report. These left-behind communities have issues that are directly or indirectly related to the daily work of the local governments and local institutions, said the report. Also read: EU to provide €23 million to PKSF for extreme poverty reduction For implementing the agenda, one important element will be to utilise the potential of local action to drive development and create appropriate legal and financial frameworks to support all local partners in playing their part in the achievement of the integrated and universal inclusion agenda. The key is to empower all local stakeholders, especially the local government institutions, aimed at making sustainable and inclusive development more responsive, and therefore, relevant to local needs and aspirations. The goals will be reached only if local actors including these left-behind communities fully participate, not only in the implementation, but also in the agenda-setting and monitoring processes. Participation requires that all relevant actors are involved in the decision-making process, through consultative and participative mechanisms, at the local and national levels within the overall inclusion framework, according to the report. Read More: Colombia seeks Yunus' advice on poverty reduction, 'total peace'

The European Union (EU) and Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF) Thursday signed a grant agreement to implement a new project for extreme poverty reduction. PKSF Managing Director Nomita Halder and Maurizio Cian, head of cooperation of the EU Delegation to Bangladesh, inked the agreement worth €22.81 million for the "Pathways to Prosperity for Extremely Poor People (PPEPP)-European Union" Project. The PPEPP-EU Project will support 215,000 most vulnerable, extremely poor households (about 0.86 million people) in 145 unions of 12 districts where poverty rates are higher than the national average. The specific objective of the project is to help the target people to rise out of extreme poverty and make significant progress along a pathway towards prosperity. The project will work in the flood-prone river basin area of the northwestern region (Rangpur, Kurigram, Dinajpur, Thakurgaon, Nilphamari and Gaibandha), cyclone and saline-prone southwestern region (Khulna, Satkhira, Bagerhat, Patuakhali and Bhola), and northeast haor region (Kishoreganj) and some ethnic minority clusters in the north. PPEPP-EU will work around livelihoods and enterprise development, nutrition and primary healthcare, access to services through community mobilisation, disability inclusion, climate resilience building and women empowerment. Target groups will include women-headed households, single mothers, elderlies, households with child labour, persons with disabilities, people of the third gender and intersectional groups such as ethnic minorities.  Read more: PKSF launches $200mn project to transform rural microenterprise

Many Europeans are now facing hard choices due to a difficult financial situation and more than one in four of them said they are in a "precarious" situation and over half see a serious risk it will become so over the coming months, with an unexpected expense that could push them into poverty, according to a survey. This feeling is particularly strong in Greece and France. As the cost of living, driven by higher energy prices, raging inflation and war in Ukraine, tightens their grip, Pollster Ipsos and French anti-poverty NGO Secours Populaire have set up a "European Barometer of Precariousness and Poverty" for the first time to observe the social situation, opinions, and concerns of people in France, the UK, Germany, Greece, Italy and Poland. Half of more than 6,000 people polled in the six countries, from June 17 to July 6, told Ipsos that their purchasing power had shrunk over the past three years – mainly due to soaring food, fuel, heating and rent bills. Read: Soaring inflation threatens to unleash political turmoil across Europe In this "very difficult context, Europeans do not feel secure." Across Europe, rising inflation is behind a wave of protests and strikes that underscores growing discontent with the spiralling cost of living and threatens to unleash political turmoil. Europeans have seen their energy bills and food prices soar because of the war in Ukraine. Despite natural gas prices falling from record summer highs and governments allocating over $566 billion in energy relief to households and businesses since September 2021, it is not enough for some protesters, according to the think tank Bruegel. Energy prices have driven inflation in the 19 countries that use the euro currency to a record 9.9 percent, making it harder for people to buy what they need. "Many Europeans have declared falling into financial difficulties. This situation is particularly difficult in Greece, where 51 percent of respondents said they are in this situation," Ipsos said. Around 55 percent of Europeans feel that there is a significant risk that they will find themselves in an unstable financial situation in the coming months, with inflation continuing to rise in the continent. Read: Europe sees fastest pace of rate hikes since euro launched They have little financial wiggle room, with 64 percent of respondents indicating they are unsure of which expense to cut back on because they have already done so. This anxiety is growing in Italy and Greece and now concerns seven out of 10 people. "More than one in three Europeans said they have had to restrict their travel recently. More than one in five said they have been cold recently and have not turned up the heating at home. One in seven has even had to ask for the help of relatives or take several jobs," Ipsos said. "Beyond their own situation, the Europeans see the precariousness around them, particularly in their neighbourhoods, with 41 percent observing that there are many precarious people in their neighbourhoods and 30 percent in their close circle or at work. This difficult situation is particularly worrying in Greece, Italy and Poland."

Warning that Afghanistan faces deepening poverty with 6 million people at risk of famine, the U.N. humanitarian chief on Monday urged donors to restore funding for economic development and immediately provide $770 million to help Afghans get through the winter as the United States argued with Russia and China over who should pay. Martin Griffiths told the U.N. Security Council that Afghanistan faces multiple crises -- humanitarian, economic, climate, hunger and financial. Conflict, poverty, climate shocks and food insecurity “have long been a sad reality” in Afghanistan, but he said what makes the current situation “so critical” is the halt to large-scale development aid since the Taliban takeover a year ago. More than half the Afghan population -- some 24 million people -- need assistance and close to 19 million are facing acute levels of food insecurity, Griffiths said. And “we worry” that the figures will soon become worse because winter weather will send already high fuel and food prices skyrocketing. Also read: UNHCR raises concerns over Afghan refugees forced returns from Tajikistan Despite the challenges, he said U.N. agencies and their NGO partners have mounted “an unprecedented response" over the past year, reaching almost 23 million people. But he said $614 million is urgently required to prepare for winter including repairing and upgrading shelters and providing warm clothes and blankets -- and an additional $154 million is needed to preposition food and other supplies before the weather cuts access to certain areas. Griffiths stressed, however, that “humanitarian aid will never be able to replace the provision of system-wide services to 40 million people across the country.” The Taliban “have no budget to invest in their own future,” he said, and “it’s clear that some development support needs to be started.” With more than 70 percent of Afghan’s living in rural areas, Griffiths warned that if agriculture and livestock production aren’t protected “millions of lives and livelihoods will be risked, and the country’s capacity to produce food imperiled.” Also read: One year on, Afghans at risk await evacuation, relocation He said the country’s banking and liquidity crisis, and the extreme difficulty of international financial transactions must also be tackled. “The consequences of inaction on both the humanitarian and development fronts will be catastrophic and difficult to reverse,” Griffiths warned. Russia called the U.N. Security Council meeting on the eve of the first anniversary of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and its ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, sharply criticized the “ignominious 20-year campaign” by the United States and its NATO allies. He claimed they did nothing to build up the Afghan economy and their presence only strengthened the country’s status “as a hotbed of terrorism” and narcotics production and distribution. Nebenzia also accused the U.S. and its allies of abandoning Afghans to face “ruin, poverty, terrorism, hunger and other challenges.” “Instead of acknowledging their own mistakes and supporting the reconstruction of the destroyed country,” he said, they blocked Afghan financial resources and disconnected its central bank from SWIFT, the dominant system for global financial transactions. China’s U.N. Ambassador Zhang Jun also accused the U.S. and its allies of “evading responsibility and abandoning the Afghan people” by cutting off development aid, freezing Afghan assets and imposing “political isolation and blockade.” U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield accused the Taliban of imposing policies that “repress and starve the Afghan people instead of protecting them” and of increasing taxes on critically needed assistance. She asked how the Taliban -- which has not be recognized by a single country -- expect to build a relationship with the rest of the world when it provided a safe haven for the leader of al-Qaida, Ayman al-Zawahiri, in downtown Kabul. He was killed by a U.S. drone strike on July 31. Nonetheless, Thomas-Greenfield said, the United States is the world’s leading donor in Afghanistan, providing more than $775 million in humanitarian aid to Afghans in the country and the region in the last year. As for Afghan frozen assets, President Joe Biden announced in February that the $7 billion in the U.S. was being divided -- $3.5 billion for a U.N. trust fund to provide aid to Afghans and $3.5 billion for families of American victims of the 9/11 terror attacks in the United States. “No country that is serious about containing terrorism in Afghanistan would advocate to give the Taliban instantaneous, unconditional access to billions in assets that belong to the Afghan people,” Thomas-Greenfield said. To Russia’s claims that Afghanistan’s problems are the fault of the West and not the Taliban, Thomas-Greenfield asked, “What are you doing to help other than rehash the past and criticize others?” She said Russia has contributed only $2 million to the U.N. humanitarian appeal for Afghanistan and China’s contributions “have been similarly underwhelming.” “If you want to talk about how Afghanistan needs help, that’s fine. But we humbly suggest you put your money where your mouth is,” Thomas-Greenfield said. Russia’s Nebenzia took the floor again, calling the suggestion tunning.” “We are being asked to pay for the reconstruction of a country whose economy was essentially destroyed by 20 years of U.S. and NATO occupation?" he asked. “You are the ones who need to pay for your mistakes. But first of all, you need to return to the Afghan people the money that has been stolen from them.” Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador, had the last word. “If the Russian Federation believes that there was an economy in Afghanistan to be destroyed, it’s been destroyed by the Taliban,” she said.

Forced by poverty, day-labourer Matiur Rahman, 46, from Baliadangi upazila of Thakurgaon, has decided to sell his seven-month-old baby girl Sammi to arrange money to run his family. In his family of six members, he always struggles to earn bread for all due to poverty. Eldest daughter Parul, 14, is in ninth grade, Sumaiya Akhtar, 9, is in 3rd grade in a local school and Suraiya Akhtar, 6, is studying in a madrasa next to the house. He was not able to bear the education expenses of three daughters and the expenses of 7-month-old baby girl Shammi which forced him to take the baby to a local market for sale or adoption on Sunday. But when the locals got to know this they suggested him not to sell the child and father Matiur brought the child back home. Read:Govt. seeks higher growth for lower poverty, says budget document Father Matiur said, “I have no son. I am the only earning member in the family. Three meals a day is not enough with the daily wage.” Mother Nazma Begum, 39, said, “Our eldest daughter is studying in class IX and she will be married off soon. But we have no property to educate the girls and get them married.” “So my husband took my youngest daughter to the market to sell to people,” she added. In this regard, UP member of Bara Palashbari Union Harun Or Rashid said he will arrange assistance for Motiur from the Union Parishad and the government. Baliadangi Upazila Executive Officer (UNO) Moha Jobair Hossain also assured Matiur of financial assistance.

Bangladesh has sought a joint blue economy approach to harness the untapped marine resources that can be useful in tackling poverty, food insecurity, unemployment, energy crisis and ecological imbalances towards strengthening the sustainable development process. “Oceans are the potential and versatile resource-frontiers for humankind, but remains under-explored and unexploited,” said secretary of the Maritime Affairs Unit at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Rear Admiral (Retd.) Md. Khurshed Alam. Bangladesh along with some other countries co-hosted the event titled “Fostering international and regional cooperation in support of the sustainable development of the blue economy in LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS” organised by the International Seabed Authority (ISA) on Wednesday on the sidelines of the 2nd UN Ocean Conference being held in Lisbon, Portugal. Also read: Ecnec clears a Tk 1092-cr project to widen Cox’s Bazar Marine Drive The vice-president of Tanzania, foreign and tourism minister of Tonga, minister of international development of Norway, ministers, high representatives and experts from the member states also attended the event, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Khurshed emphasized the need of fostering international and regional cooperation to develop strategies in support of the sustainable development of the blue economy in LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS. He elaborated that states and organizations in developing regions may not have the capacity to develop and manage their own shared marine resources, as they lack the necessary information, expertise or the financial capacity to follow through with planning and operations. External assistance can be valuable, and sometimes essential, in establishing shared international marine resources arrangements, Khurshed said. Also read: Blue Economy Dev: Govt to take project on Tuna, similar pelagic fishing in deep Sea Panelists opined that regional and international cooperation is crucial to develop marine scientific knowledge and research capacity to leverage the benefits offered by the blue economy. They said transfer of technology can create enabling conditions in the LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS states to participate effectively in existing and emerging ocean sectors of the blue economy. Representatives also viewed strongly that strategic partnership is necessary for harnessing the benefits of the blue economy. The seminar was wrapped up with commitments to forging wider regional and international cooperation, devising mechanisms for technology transfer and financing the blue economy.

A Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) member allegedly killed himself with his own gun on Friday night apparently having failed to endure acute poverty. “Too tired of fighting with poverty for the past seven years; need some rest now,” the BGB man said in his Facebook handle barely an hour before taking his life. Sohrab Hossain Chowdhury, 23, hailing from Parshuram upazila in Feni district, killed himself at 39 BGB battalion camp in Khagdahor area in Mymensingh, said assistant director of the battalion Yunus Ali on Saturday. Around 8:03 pm on Friday, he posted the suicide note on social media about his job dissatisfaction and urged all to forgive him. Read: Schoolboy commits suicide over motorcycle Sohrab narrated how “shamefully” he had to borrow money from his uncle for his mother’s treatment last month as he could not afford it with his small amount of salary. “Didn’t get any chance to do anything for my physically- challenged younger brother,” he wrote. “Amid the situation, people ask me why I’m not getting married.  I never thought of getting married; only wanted to live a decent life somehow, but that has not been possible.” ”I’m too tired after fighting with mental pressure and poverty for the last seven years. Now I need some rest,” he wrote adding, “I seek pardon from my family, seniors, juniors and friends for this heinous act. But I had no other alternative.”   Bangladesh reports 70% more deaths from suicide than Covid-19, according to a recent study by Aachol Foundation published on March 14, this year. Read: RU student commits 'suicide' Poverty in Bangladesh The percentage of the population living below the poverty line (upper poverty line) in Bangladesh has nearly doubled from 21.6% in 2018 to 42% in 2020, while the percentage of extreme poor (lower poverty line) trebled from 9.4% in 2018 to 28.5% in 2020, according to South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM). The poverty rate has increased in both urban and rural areas in Bangladesh. The percentage of the population below the poverty line in rural areas was 45.3%, while the number was 35.4% in urban areas. The percentage of extreme poor in rural areas was 33.2%, while in urban areas it was 19%.

Education Minister Dr Dipu Moni on Wednesday said Bangladesh has been learning a lot from its biggest development partner, China, in poverty alleviation. “Both Bangladesh and China are among the most populous countries in the world and poverty alleviation is very important for both states,” she said while addressing a webinar as the chief guest. At the same time, Dipu Moni said, other countries are learning from Bangladesh a lot on how it has progressed tremendously under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Referring to the deep-rooted ties between the two nations, the minister said people normally talk about the 46 years of diplomatic relationship between Bangladesh and China. “But, I believe, the friendship between the two countries goes at least 2,000 years back. She appreciated Chinese outstanding contribution towards Bangladesh’s socio-economic and education sectors, and urged the Asian giant to strengthen it in the days to come. Underlining the observations of some speakers, Moni said that for creating more skilled and time-befitting human resources Bangladesh is putting emphasis on technical and vocational education and training. The webinar titled “Poverty Eradication: Experiences from Bangladesh and China” was held on the occasion of declaration of a 25-member and two-year-long executive committee of the Association of Bangladesh-China Alumni (ABCA). Dipu Moni welcomed the newly-announced executive committee of the ABCA with Ambassador Munshi Faiz Ahmad as President of the association and Professor Dr Shahabul Haque as general secretary.

Although Bangladesh is on track and performing well in achieving many of the  UN-adopted Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in time, it still faces the challenges of low external resources and lack of global partnership apart from lower revenue-GDP ratio. Achieving SDGs will critically depend on the availability of resources including external resources and global partnership, according to an official document collected by UNB. The United Nations adopted the SDGs in 2015 with a global call of action on 17 integrated goals with a pledge to end poverty, protect the earth’s environment and climate and ensure peace and prosperity for people everywhere by 2030. Read: Hasina receives SDGs Progress Award Bangladesh’s performance has so far been commendable in various fields, including poverty reduction, gender equality, child and maternal mortality, nutrition, sanitation, electricity, annual GDP growth and disaster management. But it has to overcome a number of the hurdles to further improve its performance, the document observes. “Government revenue as a proportion of GDP needs to be substantially increased through undertaking measures for increasing the number of taxpayers and improving tax collection and management mechanism,” it says. The document calls for a substantial increase in inflow of FDI and remittance for achieving of the the goals. Read KOICA to help generate statistics to indicate progress on SDGs According to official data, the tax to GDP ratio of the country has been 9.9 per cent on an average since 2015-2019, while it is 19.8 per cent for India, 23.9 per cent for Nepal, 14.7 per cent for Pakistan, 13.5 per cent for Sri Lanka. The ratio is 25.6 per cent for developing countries and 35.9 per cent for developed countries, according to the data. Read UNDP launches Accelerator Lab in Bangladesh to support SDGs The tax-to-GDP ratio is a ratio of a nation's tax revenue relative to its gross domestic product, the value of goods and services produced in a country during a certain period. The ratio is also a marker of how well the government controls a country's economic resources. The document says that Bangladesh has undertaken a comprehensive strategy and actions to effectively internalise Sustainable Development Goals. The 7th Five Year Plan incorporated 82 per cent of sustainable development targets. As a result, the country is well on track in achieving SDGs. Out of 17 SDGs, Bangladesh has made considerable progress in reducing poverty. In 2019, the proportion of population living below the international poverty line (absolute poverty measured by USD 1.90 per day) was 10.5 per cent. Read: Hasina seeks SDGs roadmap for countries falling behind

UN Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh Mia Seppo has said the climate crisis is no longer a looming one but it is widespread, rapid and intensifying. “Few countries know this better than Bangladesh,” she said, adding that this pressing issue (climate crisis) will play a central role in the current session of the UN General Assembly. In a recent programme with the Diplomatic Correspondents Association, Bangladesh, Mia said the recent report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is a code red for humanity. But it also made clear that it is not too late to meet the Paris Agreement 1.5 degree target. “We’ve the tools to achieve this target but we are rapidly running out of time,” said the UN Resident Coordinator. Read:World needs journalists more than ever: Mia Seppo Countries like Bangladesh have not historically contributed to the problem but are bearing the brunt of its consequences, with the most vulnerable being hardest hit, she said. While the global outlook is dire, Mia said, the impact on the Asia Pacific is particularly alarming. Sea-level rise is reportedly occurring faster than the global average and the region is predicted to experience more intensive heat waves and heavier rainfall in the decades to come, said the UN official. Moreover, with the majority of the world’s poor in the Asia Pacific, the impacts of climate change threaten to push millions more into poverty and hardship, she said. For Bangladesh, Mia said, the IPCC predicts more frequent high-intensity cyclones and storm surges they create, which are particularly devastating for already-vulnerable coastal regions undermining livelihood security, food and water security, and fuelling internal displacement and migration. She said climate change threatens to increase the level of poverty and inequality, pushing poorer Bangladeshis into situations of protracted economic uncertainty. And as urban migration increases in the years to come, Mia said, public infrastructure will be put under further stress, creating a host of social protection concerns for those already at risk. Read: UN to provide electoral assistance to Bangladesh if requested: Mia Seppo According to a recent report, sea-level rise alone is predicted to submerge 17 percent of the country by 2050, leaving approximately 20 million people homeless. Mia said this does not take into the account the millions more who will be forcibly displaced by extreme weather events or the slow-onset impacts of climate change, such as saltwater intrusion. In line with continued global leadership on climate advocacy, the UN official acknowledged that Bangladesh, as the chair of the Climate Vulnerable Forum, has made a similar plea for greater recognition of the cross-cutting impacts of climate change on human rights, peace and justice. Mia hoped that Bangladesh will use the expertise for advancing the human rights, climate and environmental justice agenda domestically, too. DCAB President Pantho Rahaman and its General Secretary AKM Moinuddin also spoke at the DCAB Talk held at Foreign Service Academy on Sunday.