Can Bangladesh achieve SDGs through the business-as-usual process? What is the progress in attaining SDGs so far? Why is there a need for a rethinking of the ways to attain SDGs in Bangladesh?
According to the Sustainable Development Report 2023 , Bangladesh has an SDG Index of 65.9, ranking 101st out of 166 countries. This is better than India (63.5) and Pakistan (58.9), but worse than Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka.
The report, however, shows that despite moderate performance in several SDGs, Bangladesh faces major challenges in achieving them. These include SDG 1 (no poverty), SDG 2 (zero hunger), SDG 3 (health), SDG 6 (water and sanitation), SDG 7 (energy), and SDG 9 (industry, innovation, and infrastructure). Moreover, there seems to be no progress in SDG 5 (gender equality), SDG 8 (decent work and economic growth), SDG 11 (sustainable cities and communities), and SDG 13 (climate action), indicating significant difficulties in attaining them by 2030. Furthermore, the progress in SDGs 14-16 regressed. Only SDG 4 (education) and SDG 12 (responsible consumption and production) are on track; but there are valid concerns about the attainment of universal education, skill development, and the quality of education in Bangladesh.
The report also reveals that among all SDG targets, only 30.9% of targets are on track, 41.2% have limited progress, and 27.9% are worsening. It is clear that the business-as-usual approach will not help Bangladesh to achieve most of the SDGs. Therefore, there is a need to rethink the strategies and actions to attain the SDGs in Bangladesh.
It should also be kept in mind that despite some notable progress on economic and social fronts over the past few decades, the country is facing the worst macroeconomic challenges in recent times. The ongoing macroeconomic crisis has been manifested through persistent high inflationary pressure, depleting foreign exchange reserves, low growth in exports and remittances, a growing debt-GDP ratio, and a foreign exchange crisis. Also, the graduation from the LDC status by 2026 will add additional pressure on the economy.
In the rethinking process of attaining SDGs, critical institutional and political economy challenges need to be addressed in Bangladesh. These are related to weak state capacity, ineffective regulation, and weak formal institutions.
The SDGs entail a huge financial gap for Bangladesh. This requires mobilizing and leveraging various sources of financing, such as domestic revenue, foreign aid, private-sector investment, and public-private partnerships. However, the weak state capacity in the domestic mobilisation of resources is manifested through a very low tax-to-GDP ratio which results in the growing high dependency on external assistance for development projects. In contrast, there is inadequate private sector participation in SDG activities and limited public-private partnerships. Critical reforms in domestic resource mobilisation have remained overdue and thus imperative.
One obvious effect of the very low tax-to-GDP ratio in Bangladesh is that it limits the fiscal space of the country for public spending on social sectors like health and education. Public spending on health and education in Bangladesh is very low compared to other countries in the world. Bangladesh spent only 0.5% of its GDP on public health and less than 2% of its GDP on public education in 2020. These figures are below the lower-middle-income countries’ averages of 1.5% and 3.9%, respectively, and the global averages of 6.9% and 4.5%, respectively. Moreover, public spending on health and education in Bangladesh has not increased significantly over the years, despite the country’s strong economic growth.
Implementation of SDGs would require an effective regulatory environment, which means that the government has the capacity and authority to design and enforce rules and regulations that promote the public interest and the common good. However, the country’s ineffective regulation is manifested through various aspects of its economic, social, and environmental sectors, such as the vulnerable banking system, ineffective tax system, poor monitoring of labour conditions, poor enforcement of environmental regulations, and inadequate laws and administrative organization. These issues hinder the development and sustainability of the country, as they create instability, inefficiency, inequality, and injustice. For example, the vulnerable banking system exposes the country to financial risks and crises, the ineffective tax system reduces the fiscal space and resources for public spending and investment, the poor monitoring of labour conditions violates the rights and dignity of workers and affects their productivity and well-being, the poor enforcement of environmental regulations leads to pollution and degradation of natural resources, and the inadequate laws and administrative organization create loopholes and obstacles for the implementation and coordination of the SDGs. Therefore, the country needs to improve its regulatory environment to ensure the effective and efficient implementation of the SDGs.
Implementation of SDGs involves multiple actors and sectors, both at the national and sub-national levels, such as the government, civil society, private sector, academia, media, and other stakeholders. This means, achieving SDGs demands a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach. This requires a strong coordination mechanism to ensure coherence, alignment, and accountability of the SDG implementation, which means that all the actors and sectors need to work together in a coordinated and coherent manner, following a common vision, strategy, and plan, and reporting on their progress and performance. However, such a mechanism is weak in Bangladesh, which results in the lack of a clear institutional framework for overseeing and monitoring the SDG progress. Therefore, the country needs to strengthen its coordination mechanism and establish a clear institutional framework for overseeing and monitoring the SDG progress.
Finally, the country’s weak institutional capacity, bureaucratic inefficiency, and corruption undermine the quality and delivery of public services and policies. These issues hamper the implementation and monitoring of the SDGs, as well as the accountability and transparency of the public institutions and officials. They also erode the trust and confidence of the people and the partners in the government’s commitment and ability to achieve the SDGs. Therefore, undertaking critical institutional reforms is essential to make a significant departure from the business-as-usual process.
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