Dhaka: Bangladesh must place children at the heart of its national poverty strategy if it hopes to build a skilled, mobile workforce capable of navigating the challenges of the 21st century, experts and senior government officials said at a high-level policy workshop at BRAC Center, Mohakhali, on Sunday.
According to United News of Bangladesh, Dr Mohammad Abu Yusuf, Secretary of the Ministry of Social Welfare, emphasized the importance of investing in children during the event’s closing session. The workshop was jointly organised by BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD) and Oxford Policy Management (OPM).
The gathering included government officials, development agencies, academics, and civil society leaders to explore the connections between early childhood development (ECD), education, poverty, and social mobility. Strategies for social protection to tackle these challenges were also discussed.
Dr Jena Hamadani, Emeritus Scientist at icddr,b, delivered the keynote address, arguing for the economic benefits of early childhood investment. She noted that ECD fosters a skilled workforce that contributes to a productive economy, providing a significant return on investment compared to later interventions.
Research from BIGD on social mobility and from OPM’s Thrive and DEEP programmes on early childhood development and poverty was presented. Professor Andy McKay of the University of Sussex discussed the relationship between inter-generational and intra-generational mobility and poverty dynamics.
Dr Abdur Razzaque, Chairman of RAPID, addressed the financial feasibility of these initiatives, suggesting that a three percent GDP commitment by Bangladesh could support both the Family Card and broader social protection expansion.
Dr Hossain Zillur Rahman, Executive Chairman of PPRC, highlighted the growing educational inequality, noting that education, once a driver of equality, is now contributing to inequality due to aspirational deficits among those facing prolonged unemployment.
Dr Imran Matin, Executive Director of BIGD, discussed the importance of addressing decentralisation and local government challenges to reduce fragmentation in the social safety net, advocating for more implementation research.
Dr Dipankar Roy, from the Statistics and Informatics Division of the Ministry of Planning, underscored the importance of data in policy-making, calling for collaboration between researchers and the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) and greater public access to data.
The event also included sessions on integrating parenting support with cash transfers and a case study on the intergenerational impacts of productive safety nets, such as Thrive’s Saving Bangladeshi Babies’ Brains programme, which delivers ECD interventions at scale through the Government of Bangladesh.