http://www.realclearworld.com/articles/2016/03/08/bangladesh_emerges_111751.html
By Eugen Iladi
In September 2000, world leaders gathered at the United Nations to sign the Millennium Declaration, which outlined goals for international development ranging from universal primary education to eradicating extreme poverty. The target date for reaching those goals was 2015. Although many countries made progress, Bangladesh succeeded beyond all expectations: more children are going to school than ever before, more mothers have access to the healthcare they need, and fewer suffer in extreme poverty.
Education has been at the heart of this success. Under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh invested heavily in education at all levels. Primary education is compulsory and free for all. Girls receive stipends and scholarships for schooling up until twelfth grade. Textbooks are free.
This investment in education has paid dividends. Net enrollment in primary schools is an astounding 98.7 percent. Bangladesh has also achieved complete gender parity in primary education with 99.4 percent of all girls attending school. Eighty-one percent of the students who enroll in grade one now reach grade five, and literacy rates have soared.
Women in Bangladesh are also benefitting from the country's commitment to improve maternal health. The Millennium Declaration set as its goal a 3 percent decline in maternal mortality per year. Bangladesh exceeded that goal, reporting an average rate of decline of 3.3 percent yearly. That adds up to a 40 percent decline in maternal mortality since 2001. Death rates for children have also been reduced markedly thanks to successful immunization programs, control of diarrheal diseases, and Vitamin A supplementation. The incidences of malaria and HIV have also dropped noticeably.
Some of the Millennium Development Goals present unique challenges for Bangladesh. Eradicating poverty in a country as populous and with as high a population density as Bangladesh is a complex task. Yet Bangladesh has made real progress. It has sustained a GDP growth rate in excess of 6 percent in recent years, which has dramatically reduced poverty. The robust growth has been accompanied by corresponding improvements in several social indicators such as increased life expectancy and lower birth rates.
To address poverty, Bangladesh has looked beyond economic statistics and created innovative programs that address the needs of its average citizens. One of the most intriguing of these developments is the booming Bangladeshi aquacultural revolution. Thanks to this boom in local fisheries, women now work close to their homes tending to domestic responsibilities while also earning a good living. Women now comprise more than 60 percent of the fish farmers in Bangladesh. As a result of this seasonal employment, thousands of women have become successful entrepreneurs.
This year is the official launch of the bold and transformative 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted by world leaders last September at the U.N. General Assembly. The Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs, are a set of 17 specific goals and 169 targets. These goals aim to resolve the social, economic, and environmental challenges of the modern world.
Bangladesh is poised to take on the new challenges, including climate change, food security, income inequality, and increasing women's participation in the formal economic sector. In terms of environmental sustainability, the government of Prime Minister Hasina is committed to working with the private sector to expand access to safe drinking water and to protect invaluable natural resources -- all part of these sustainability goals.
The country has embraced the spirit of sustainable development and looks forward to continued, rapid progress. Bangladesh's expectations are high, but might actually be attainable.
(AP photo)
Eugen Iladi writes about international affairs with a focus on emerging economies. The views expressed here are the author's own.
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