Social Protection Momentum in Bangladesh

03 November 2013

Shashwatee Biplob -Senior Program ManagerDevelopment Cooperation, Australian High Commission

Issues constraining Outcome:

• Number of programs

• Size of Transfers

• Leakages and corruption

• Duplication

• Exclusion/ Inclusion Errors

• Sector Governance

• Evidence of Impact

Key Issues:

• Coverage / adequacy …… impact

• Food ….. cash

• Poverty targeting ….. social categorical/ life cycle

• GoB…… CSOs

Poverty Rate: 1991-2010

1991-92 1995-96 2000 2005 20100

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

National RuralUrban

• Poverty rate has been halved from 1991 to 2010

• Still the rate is high 31.5%, around 47 million people

How different are the lives of the people below and above the poverty line???

BNPL

BNPL X 1.2

BNPL X 1.5

BNPL X 2

020

00

40

00

60

00

80

00

10

00

0pe

r ca

pita

co

nsu

mptio

n e

xp m

on

thly

0 .2 .4 .6 .8 1cumulative percentage

Difference in level of per capita consumption of the 3rd and 8th decile is not great

Life-cycle risks:

Scope of Social Protection Reform:“It shall be a fundamental responsibility of the state to attain……..the right to social security, that is to say to public assistance in cases of undeserved want arising from unemployment, illness or disablement, or suffered by widows or orphans or in old age, or in other such cases.” - Article 15, Constitution of Bangladesh

• Sixth Five Year Plan (2011): Increase spending to 3% of GDP by 2015

• Government has resolved to develop a National Social Protection Strategy (NSPS) by February 2014.

Current Social Protections:

Spending vs. Coverage:

Primar

y St

ipen

d

Seco

nary

Stip

end

Old A

ge

Employ

men

t Gen

Widow

sVGD

Disab

ility

Free

dom

Fight

ers

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

0.00

0.02

0.04

0.06

0.08

0.10

0.12

0.14

Number of recipients Cost

Num

ber

of

recip

ients

(m

illions)

Cost

(% o

f G

DP

)

National Social Protection Strategy Development:

• Led by a 12 member inter-ministerial committee, Cabinet Secretary as Chair, GED as Secretariat

• SP Study tour to South Africa and Lesotho

• A consortium of South Asian Network on Economic Modelling (SANEM) and the Policy Research Institute (PRI) was contracted to help in drafting the NSPS.

• At sectoral level, Inter-Ministerial Committee (22) and a Monitoring Sub-Committee (8) are linked to NSPS

• GoB/ DPs: Local Consultative Group on Poverty and SP sub group

National Social Protection Strategy Development:10 background research papers:

1. Poverty, Vulnerability and Inequality in Bangladesh

2. Building a social protection system to address urban poverty in Bangladesh

3. Social Protection Strategy to address social and gender-based exclusion, including

disability, high-risk groups and minority;

4. Social Protection financing and affordability

5. Social Protection Strategies to address idiosyncratic and covariate risks and socks,

including seasonal poverty, econo9mic recession and natural disaster;

6. Taking stock and moving forward: enhancing labour strategies for Bangladesh's vulnerable

groups

7. State of governance within social protection sector in Bangladesh

8. Building a social protection system to address the demographic challenges faced by

Bangladesh

9. International best practice in Social Protection: implications for Bangladesh

10. Review of Bangladesh Social Protection Sector

National Social Protection Strategy Development:

• Zero draft of 8 papers have already been shared with DPs and got feedback

• A visioning workshop for SP was held on 27 October, Sunday – DPs, CSOs and GoB attended

• Possible options for reform, approaches, micro and macro level impact on poverty, affordability/ fiscal space

Percentage reduction in poverty gap for households with over-65s:

Tk.1000

Tk.800

Tk.600

Tk.450

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50

30%

Universal

Percentage reduction in poverty gap

Percentage reduction in poverty gap for households with 0-4 years at various transfer levels:

Tk.500

Tk.300

Tk.150

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

10%

30%

Universal

Percentage reduction in poverty gap

Universal Old Age and Child Grant Combined impact:

Next Course of Actions:

• Finalizing the 10 background papers

• Zero draft of NSPS by 31st October 2013

• Comments will be sought from different ministries/ divisions, experts, CSOs, think tanks, DPs.

• Regional (Nov.) and National (Nov. & Dec.) dialogues will be held

• SP sub committee meeting on the revised draft

• Central Monitoring committee Meeting to Finalise the draft

• Process for approval by the competent authority.

THANKS