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Historically, the land which is now known as Bangladesh, has been recognized as one of the most prosperous land in the world. Though the citizenry have been relentlessly fighting against vagaries of nature, until recently they also enjoyed a good living. Primarily due to rapid densification of population, as observed during the latter half of the twentieth Century, and poor investment in various social service sectors, quality of lives of its people has started to deteriorate rather quickly. Sporadic and uncoordinated development approach further deteriorated the social scene, as has been demonstrated by low human development indices. In recent decades, poor governance has further caused acute deprivation of the poor, women, and the disadvantaged, which contributed to wide-spread poverty, unacceptable living standards in poverty-ridden rural households as well as in urban slums, poor health and hygiene condition, and ever deteriorating environmental quality.

In recent years, however, Bangladesh has been fighting hard to come out of this jinx. The transition from military-led autarchy to democratization in 1990 has provided the ray of hope. The country’s macro-economy could be steadied with policy reforms, while the economy achieved sustained growth throughout the 1990s, even defying colossal damages to economy due to several high intensity floods and cyclonic storms. Per capita GDP has risen from US$ (PPP) 872 to 1602 during the period 1989-90 to 1999-2000.

Population growth rate has been reduced from over 3% in early 1970s to less than 1.7% in late 1990s. Major strides have been taken to educate its ever increasing population: net enrollment rate increased from 77% in 1990 to 97% in 2000, defying socio-religious taboo and hindrances. Women education showed continued progress: rate increased from a mere 25.5% in 1991 to 40.1% in 2000.

Coverage for health care facility increased significantly, which paid noteworthy dividend. Neonatal death rate decreased from 96 in 1990 to 62 in 2000 (per thousand). Death rate for children under 5 decreased from 144 in 1990 to 83 in 2000 (per thousand). Maternal health has also shown marked improvement. Maternal death rate has been creased from 4.7 to 3.2 per thousand between 1990 and 2000.

Despite such successes, Bangladesh currently is far behind in meeting the MDGs. The Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh (GOB) has been trying its best to achieve MDGs. Since early 1990s, a number of sectoral policies have been formulated, which paved the way for its courageous journey to development. In recent years, GOB’s sectoral spendings have provided a testimony that its investments in social sectors have been on the increase. However, poor governance, bureaucratic and political hindrances have been continuously posing threats to striving for further success in achieving MDGs.

To many, the recent successes are results of a joint effort of GOB and NGOs/CBOs. NGOs have been particularly focused on providing non-formal & primary education, health care facilities, micro-financing to boost income of poor households etc. the Civil Society of the country has always been constructive: be it in restoring democracy or in safeguarding environmental degradation.

The joint efforts of GOB and the civil society of the country have been supported by the Development Partners, mostly the Overseas Development Agencies of advanced economies. Their assistance in various social development sectors has been particularly useful. However, it is also interesting to note that the overall ODA to Bangladesh has actually declined during the same period when the country has been working hard to meet the MDGs.