Health, nutrition key to long-term economic growth

True social protection requires more than cash transfers -- it needs strong social sectors and well-funded support programmes, both long neglected in Bangladesh, said Unicef Bangladesh Representative Rana Flowers at an event yesterday.

She made the remarks at a roundtable titled "A New Bangladesh for Children: A Stronger Social Budget to Bring Childhood Back on Track", jointly organised by The Daily Star and Unicef with European Union's support at The Daily Star Centre.

When asked which investment most improves human development, leading economists consistently point to early childhood development (ECD), said Flowers. "If you get health, nutrition, and brain development right early on, education and long-term economic growth follow. Without that investment, you lose decades of potential progress."

If you get health, nutrition, and brain development right early on, education and long-term economic growth follow. Without that investment, you lose decades of potential progress.

— Rana Flowers Representative of Unicef Bangladesh

She criticised Bangladesh's poor investment in key sectors, calling it a "huge gap".

"Health spending in Bangladesh is among the lowest in the world -- lower than in many African nations and even below the average for least developed countries -- at just 0.7 percent of GDP," she said.

She added that 40 percent of health centres lack vaccinators, posing serious risks to child health.

Flowers also flagged issues with poor teaching, weak learning outcomes, and the financial burden of private tutoring. "Violence is another crisis. In one week, 27 children were killed by their own families," she said.

She highlighted systemic problems: fragmented services, underfunding, poor integration, and nearly non-existent early childhood support. Despite high primary school attendance, learning outcomes remain poor, and dropout rates rise in secondary education.

Health and WASH services are inefficient and fragmented across seven departments. Primary healthcare is dysfunctional, and less than 2 percent of the national budget goes to social sectors, with funds inconsistently disbursed, she also said.

Vaccine shortages stem from poor planning, she said, adding, "There's zero tracking in WASH."

Flowers urged raising health spending to 2 percent of GDP, investing in teacher training and digital tools, and shifting to long-term, government-led programmes focused on women and children.

Dr Anisuzzaman Chowdhury, special assistant to the chief adviser, Economic Relations Division, joined the event as a chief guest and he reflected on Bangladesh's developmental trajectory, urging a rethinking of foreign aid dependency, elite accountability, and the importance of rebuilding social trust.

He noted that solutions to Bangladesh's development challenges—such as increased investment in children, health, and education—are already well known.

The real bottleneck, he argued, lies in the political economy. "Unless we fix elite detachment, no matter how much money we pour into the system, the money will drain out," he said.

To contextualise Bangladesh's development path, he invoked the histories of countries such as South Korea, Japan, China, and Indonesia—nations that transformed themselves through internal ownership, political will, and strategic investment in their own institutions.

During the open discussion, CPD Distinguished Fellow Dr Mustafizur Rahman raised concerns about the disparity in social safety net coverage between urban and rural areas.

"While 34 percent of the rural population is covered, only 9 percent of the urban poor receive benefits," he noted.

Highlighting the ongoing trend of rural-to-urban migration, he emphasised the need to design and implement targeted safety net programmes for the urban marginalised population.

He also strongly advocated for the expansion of the midday meal programme, citing its long-term benefits in improving health, enhancing educational outcomes, and increasing student retention.

Mahfuz Anam, editor and publisher of The Daily Star, echoed the call for urgent reform. "Children are the future of every nation, yet our history shows we have failed to prioritise their welfare," he said.

He criticised the country's underinvestment in children's affairs and education and talked about the prevalence of corruption and waste in these sectors.

"We not only spend less than we should, but much of what we do spend is misused -- through poor planning, misjudgement, misallocation, and yes, corruption," he said.

Calling for a complete overhaul, Mahfuz Anam urged Bangladesh to abandon outdated approaches and adopt more efficient, forward-thinking policies.

Dr Michal Krejza, head of development cooperation at the EU Delegation to Bangladesh, said education spending has stagnated at around 12 percent of the national budget and just 1.69 percent of GDP -- far below UNESCO's 4–6 percent benchmark.

He called for a shift toward quality, job-relevant education, alongside investment in digital learning and teacher reform.

With Bangladesh set to graduate from LDC status in 2026, he stressed the need for tax reforms and digitalisation to boost domestic revenue and ensure sustainable financing.

Rasheda K Choudhury, executive director of Campaign for Popular Education, stressed the need to track budget flows and shift from fragmented, project-based models to integrated, sustained programmes.

She also criticised delays that led to Bangladesh missing half of its Global Partnership for Education funds, blaming poor coordination and failure to submit a roadmap.

Jahangirnagar University economics professor Dr Sharmind Neelormi highlighted the intersection of children's issues, including drug abuse, unsafe recreational spaces, youth gang activity, and child marriage.

On education, she said expecting quality teaching from educators earning a basic salary of Tk 11,000 per month is unrealistic.

She also criticised politicised curriculum development and noted that despite tax exemptions for childcare and eldercare businesses, private daycare remains unaffordable for many.

UN Women Representative Gitanjali Singh urged reassessing how gender-responsive budgeting is measured.

"Although 34 percent of the budget is now labelled as gender-responsive, the outcomes for women and children remain dismal," she said.

Nishath Sultana, director of influencing, campaign and communication at Plan International Bangladesh, said, "Domestic violence has risen by 70 percent, while 94 percent of women who go out for work or education report harassment and 80 percent say they feel unsafe in the city."

She called for cultural and political shifts to address these issues, including redefining masculinity and tackling the root causes.

Mamtaz Ahmed NDC, senior secretary, Ministry of Women and Children Affairs (MoWCA); and Dilara Begum, joint secretary, MoWCA, were among the speakers at the event, moderated by Tanjim Ferdous, in-charge of NGOs and Foreign Mission at The Daily Star.