South Asian countries, including Bangladesh, are likely to halve the incidence of poverty by 2015 as set out in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), says a new World Bank report. “The share of people living in extreme poverty in the South Asia region is expected to fall to 18 per cent by 2015, well below the targetted 21.5 per cent,” according to the Global Monitoring Report 2007.

As of 2004, the total number of poor people living on less than US$1.0 a day in the region was 462 million. Due largely to strong growth in developing regions, an estimated 135 million people were lifted out of extreme poverty between 1999 and 2004, according to the report. The World Bank, in another report on poverty and inequality trends in Bangladesh, has estimated that the country’s poverty waned to 40 per cent in 2005 from 48.7 per cent in 2000.

The drop in the percentage of poverty reduction illustrates the fact that nearly 7.0 million people were able to get out of the poverty trap during the period. The report, which has taken stock of the progress in reaching the MDGs, said real per capita income growth in the region has been stronger in the period since 2000 than in any time since the 1960s, with per capita GDP (Gross Domestic Product) estimated to be 6.8 per cent in 2006.

The MDGs, which call for halving between 1990 and 2015 the proportion of the people living on less than $1.0 a day, achieving universal primary education, reducing child mortality, and ensuring environmental sustainability, among others, were approved by the world leaders in 2000. The report lauded Bangladesh’s “exceptional” progress in pro-poor primary education completion.

The country along with Sri Lanka also took the lead in the region in achieving parity in school enrollments, which is conspicuously rare in the region, it says. Between 2000 and 2004, the average annual change in primary school completion was 9.6 per cent for the poorest quintile, says the report.
Childbearing among teenagers can bring disproportionate health risks to the mother and the baby. In 2000-04, the percentage of adolescent (15-19) mothers was high in India and Bangladesh, with 21 per cent and 33 per cent respectively.

Early marriage and child malnutrition are two major challenges of Bangladesh as it continues its strive for achieving the MDGs, says acting country director of the World Bank. “The government is providing incentives. And this has been a huge success,” he said in an interview on April 15. But he suggested that the female stipend programme should be extended to the urban areas also.

Underweight prevalence among children younger than five is between 38 and 51 per cent in the large countries-Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, the report noted. Besides the progress in achieving the MDGs, the report also assessed the country’s governance performance, trade restrictions, market access, official development assistance and gender performance. Bangladesh scored poorly in overall governance performance, bureaucratic capability and checks and balances in institutions.