To the MDGs and Beyond : Accountability and Institutional Innovation in Bangladesh

In recent years Bangladesh has made impressive gains across a range of social indicators and has enjoyed strong economic growth, which together convincingly refute its reputation as an 'international basket case'. As a result, Bangladesh has achieved one of its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) already, and will probably reach several more by 2015 a result few expected when the MDGs were originally agreed. But detailed analysis shows that most of the MDGs are unlikely to be met on the basis of continued economic growth alone, even at moderately higher levels. In order to meet the MDGs and achieve the sort of social progress of which it is capable Bangladesh needs to generate structural breaks in the trend lines of its principal social indicators. That is, it needs to shift to fundamentally higher rates of progress in the main social problems that it faces. If economic growth is not enough to achieve this, it is necessary to examine the institutions and delivery models responsible for the services that are meant to combat hunger, disease, mortality, ignorance and discrimination, to name a few. This report analyzes the specific policy and institutional reforms required for Bangladesh to increase its rate of progress towards the MDGs. Rather than examining each MDG in turn, with the attendant risk of producing a grocery list of piecemeal recommendations, we prefer to operationalize our task by focusing on the deep institutional and social determinants of two MDGs: maternal mortality and child mortality. In doing so, we hope to reach an analytically informed and coherent view of why performance varies drastically amongst Bangladesh's regions and models of service provision. The reasons for choosing these particular indicators are both obvious and subtle. Maternal and child mortality are, of course, important goals in and of themselves. They are also amongst the most complex of the MDGs in terms of the policy mix required for their attainment, with implications for hunger, education, nutrition, environmental, water and sanitation policy, and so on. Efforts to improve them must necessarily span multiple sectors in rural and urban areas in order to find the most appropriate package of policies and interventions. Bangladesh has made strong progress towards reducing income poverty, placing it roughly on track to meet the target of halving the share of the population living on less than US $1 per day by 2015. Rising and stable economic growth, underpinned by good economic and social policies, has been a key factor in making this possible. In addition, pioneering social entrepreneurship, often with creative partnerships under innovative institutional arrangements, has also contributed immensely to the successes attained. These successes have compensated somewhat for Bangladesh's critical and persistent weaknesses in governance.

Bibliographic Details

Main Author:	World Bank
Language:	English en_US
Published:	Washington, DC 2006-07
Subjects:	ACCESS TO ELECTRICITY, ACCESS TO INFRASTRUCTURE, ACCESS TO SAFE DRINKING WATER, ACCESS TO SERVICES, ACCOUNTABILITY OF SERVICE PROVIDERS, ADULT ILLITERACY, AGED, AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY, BASIC EDUCATION, BASIC NEEDS, BENEFICIARY GROUPS, BENEFICIARY PARTICIPATION, BIRTH ATTENDANTS, CAUSES OF DEATH, CHANGES IN POVERTY, CHILD HEALTH, CHILD HEALTH CARE, CHILD MORTALITY, CITIZEN, CITIZENS, CIVIL SOCIETY ACTORS, CLINICS, COMMUNITY GROUPS, COMPLICATIONS, CONSUMPTION EXPENDITURE, CONSUMPTION EXPENDITURES, DECLINE IN POVERTY, DEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITION, DEMOGRAPHIC TRENDS, DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, DIMENSIONS OF VULNERABILITY, DISABILITY, DISCRIMINATION, DROPOUT, ECONOMIC GROWTH, EDUCATION OF GIRLS, EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT, EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES, EMPOWERING WOMEN, ENFORCEMENT MECHANISMS, ENROLMENT RATES, ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION, ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH, FAMILY WELFARE, FARM ACTIVITIES, FEMALE EDUCATION, FERTILITY, FERTILITY LEVELS, FERTILITY RATE, FERTILITY RATES, FOOD POLICY, GENDER EQUALITY, GENDER PARITY, GOVERNMENT AGENCIES, GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT, GROSS NATIONAL INCOME, HEALTH EFFECTS, HEALTH FACILITIES, HEALTH INDICATORS, HEALTH INSURANCE, HEALTH RISKS, HEALTH SECTOR, HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT, HOSPITAL, HOSPITALS, HOUSEHOLD INCOME, HOUSING, HUMAN CAPITAL, HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, HUMAN RIGHTS, ILLNESSES, IMPACT ON FERTILITY, IMPORTANT POLICY, INCOME GROWTH, INCOME POVERTY, INDOOR AIR POLLUTION, INFANT, INFANT DEATHS, INFANT MORTALITY, INFANT MORTALITY RATE, INFANT MORTALITY RATES, INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT, INSECURITY OF TENURE, INTERNATIONAL CONSENSUS, IRRIGATION, JOB CREATION, JOB OPPORTUNITIES, LABOR FORCE, LABOR MARKET, LARGE CITIES, LAWS, LEVEL OF EDUCATION, LEVELS OF EDUCATION, LIFE EXPECTANCY, LIVE BIRTHS, LIVING CONDITIONS, LOCAL GOVERNMENTS, LOW-INCOME COUNTRIES, LOWER FERTILITY, MALNOURISHED CHILDREN, MALNUTRITION, MATERNAL DEATHS, MATERNAL HEALTH, MATERNAL HEALTH OUTCOMES, MATERNAL MORTALITY, MATERNAL MORTALITY RATES, MATERNAL MORTALITY RATIO, MEASLES, MEASLES IMMUNIZATION, MEDICINES, MIGRANTS, MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS, MORBIDITY, MORTALITY, MORTALITY LEVELS, MOTHER, NATIONAL GOVERNMENT, NATIONAL LEVEL, NATIONAL LEVELS, NATIONAL POPULATION, NATIONAL PROGRESS, NUMBER OF GIRLS, NUMBER OF PEOPLE, NUTRITION, NUTRITIONAL STATUS, PACE OF URBANIZATION, PATIENTS, PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION, PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT, POLICY GOALS, POLICY MAKERS, POLICY RESEARCH, POLICY RESPONSE, POLITICAL INSTABILITY, POLITICAL REALITIES, POOR FAMILIES, POOR INFRASTRUCTURE, POPULATION GROWTH RATE, POPULATION SECTOR, POPULATION SIZE, POVERTY GAP, POVERTY HEADCOUNT RATES, POVERTY LEVELS, POVERTY LINE, POVERTY LINES, POVERTY REDUCTION, PRACTITIONERS, PREVENTIVE HEALTH CARE, PRIMARY EDUCATION, PRIMARY HEALTH CARE, PRIMARY SCHOOL, PROGRESS, PROVISION OF SERVICES, PUBLIC HEALTH, PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICES, PUBLIC SERVICE, PUBLIC SERVICES, QUALITY OF EDUCATION, QUALITY OF SERVICES, RAPID POPULATION GROWTH, REGIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS, REGIONAL PRICE, REGIONAL PRICE DIFFERENCES, REMITTANCES, RESOURCE CONSTRAINTS, RESOURCE USE, RESPECT, RURAL AREAS, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, RURAL MAINTENANCE, RURAL SECTOR, SAFE DRINKING WATER, SAFE WATER, SANITATION, SANITATION FACILITIES, SCHOOL AGE, SCHOOL ENROLMENT, SECONDARY EDUCATION, SECONDARY ENROLMENT, SECONDARY SCHOOL, SECONDARY SCHOOLING, SECONDARY SCHOOLS, SERVICE DELIVERY, SERVICE FACILITIES, SERVICE PROVIDER, SERVICE PROVIDERS, SERVICE PROVISION, SIBLINGS, SINGLE CHILD, SLUM DWELLERS, SMOKERS, SOCIAL BARRIERS, SOCIAL DIMENSIONS, SOCIAL NORMS, SOCIAL POLICIES, SOCIAL PROBLEMS, SOCIAL PROGRESS, SOCIAL SECTORS, SUPPLY CHAINS, TERTIARY EDUCATION, UNIVERSAL PRIMARY EDUCATION, URBAN AREAS, URBAN DWELLERS, URBAN POPULATION, URBANIZATION, VACCINATION, VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT, VILLAGE POST, VULNERABILITY, VULNERABLE GROUPS, WHOOPING COUGH, WOMAN, WORKERS,
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2006/07/16232430/mdgs-beyond-accountability-institutional-innovation-bangladesh https://hdl.handle.net/10986/8241
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!