Jante Chai: Learning Through Interacting with Street Children in Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Changing Lives through RTI
The Right to Information (RTI) has been highlighted as a key condition for citizen participation, social accountability and good governance, while also being recognized as a human right. In this context, the number of countries adopting RTI legislation has increased significantly in the past decade.
While in some countries RTI has been seen as part of the anti-corruption or state modernization agendas (for instance Mexico and Chile), in South Asia, particularly in India, it has been seen as part of the empowerment agenda. There, the 2005 Right to Information (RTI) Act has been embraced by grassroots groups as a powerful tool to demand their entitlements, especially those under government-sponsored social programs. This has resulted in use of the RTI Act by people to improve their living conditions. Although to a lesser extent, citizens in Bangladesh are beginning to realize the potential that their RTI Act has in this area.
It’s Simply About Being Human
When we first discussed the prospects of inviting youth delegates from South Asia to attend the Annual Meetings, I must admit that I was initially ambivalent. However, the launch of More and Better Jobs in South Asia was imminent and it found that the region needs to create over one million new jobs a month over the next two decades to sustain employment for young people. How could we write about prospects for this group without hearing from them? With that in mind, we asked what More and Better Jobs mean to them and received an overwhelming response; over 11,000 application views and hundreds of exceptional applicants.
When the six delegates arrived, I was quickly struck by the intelligence, passion, and honesty that emanated from the group. Additional to the fresh, bold, and articulate ideas on employment themes such as equity, skills, and governance in their essays; they all took initiative for the betterment of their own communities with significant dedication and sacrifices.
What Does More and Better Jobs in South Asia Mean?
The Track Record
Imagine adding the population of Sweden—somewhat under 10 million— to your labor force year after year for a decade. Insist that the wage workers among them earn increasing real wages and that poverty among the self-employed decline over time. What you have just described is not quite South Asia's record on the quantity and quality of job creation between 2000 and 2010. The region has done better.
Poverty has fallen, not only among the self-employed, but among all types of workers—casual laborers who are the poorest, regular wage and salary earners who are the richest and the self-employed who are in between. This hierarchy of poverty rates among the three employment types has endured over decades. Thus improvements in job quality have occurred predominantly within each employment type rather than through movement across types. The composition of the labor force among the employment types shows little change over time. The self-employed, many of whom are in farming, comprise the largest share, reflecting the predominance of agriculture in much of the region. Casual laborers make up the second largest share in rural areas.
- Tags:
- Sri Lanka
- Pakistan
- Nepal
- India
- Bhutan
- Bangladesh
- Afghanistan
- South Asia
- Urban Development
- Transport
- Social Development
- Science and Technology Development
- Public Sector and Governance
- Private Sector Development
- Poverty
- Macroeconomics and Economic Growth
- Law and Regulation
- Trade
- Information and Communication Technologies
- Industry
- Financial Sector
- Agriculture and Rural Development
- labor
- jobs
- employment
- electricity
Surprises at the Annual Meetings!
Have you ever had the feeling of being overwhelmed because you got more, much, much more than what you were expecting? Well, I hadn’t, till I came for the World Bank and IMF Annual meetings.
Usually, any long, monotonous sessions would lull me to sleep, but somehow, I was wide awake in every session that I attended, despite being jet-lagged and sleep-deprived! Be it the youth capacity building session with the IMF officials, or getting a chance to mingle with the IMF sponsored youth leaders and CSOs, the learning only in the first 5 hours of the meetings was phenomenal. I must confess, my mind was boggled, and I felt a little dizzy, either due to sleep-deprivation or due to the information overload, I can’t truthfully say!
It wasn’t until the second day that things came back to normal. Maybe it was the jet lag wearing off; maybe it was the fact that all the other World Bank youth delegates had gelled in so well, as if we had known each other for ages, but there was something about the place that started feeling like home.
Seasonal Hunger: A Forgotten Reality
The seasonality of poverty and food deprivation is a common feature of rural livelihood in Bangladesh, but it is more marked in the northwest region of Rangpur. The recently launched policy interventions in the region provide a test case of what works and what does not in combating seasonal hunger.
Key messages
The analysis of Bangladesh’s experience with seasonal hunger vis-à-vis year-round poverty shows a clear distinction between what is observed and what is excluded from placement and evaluation of poverty-mitigation policies, based on official poverty statistics. The key recommendations from this analysis are as follows:
Increasing interest in diaspora bonds
The side event on diaspora bonds organized during the annual meetings of the World Bank and the IMF attracted significant interest. Senior officials in the Bank considered forming a task force to implement diaspora bonds, while the governors of the central bank of Kenya and that of Bangladesh argued in favor the importance of the diasporas as a source of remittances and investments for their countries. Kenya has issued a new series of infrastructure development bonds and is marketing it to retail diaspora investors until February. The governor of the Bank of Bangladesh also expressed strong interest in issuing a diaspora bonds. Separately, Nigeria's finance minister also issued a press release that Nigeria is going to issue a diaspora bond.
More information on this side event is now posted at http://go.worldbank.org/WC69CPEP60.
In Pursuit of a Better Tomorrow...
On September 17th 2011, six youth delegates from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan & Sri Lanka met for the first time in Washington D.C to attend the ‘World Bank & IMF Annual Meetings 2011’. Though it was the first time we’d seen each other, it felt as if we had known one another for a long time! This was all thanks to our numerous Facebook, Skype and e-mail conversations that took place prior to our final meeting in the U.S.A, which allowed us to recognize the one thing that we all had in common: The aim and drive for socio-economic progress & development in our countries and region and the strong belief that South Asian youth are the key to bringing about the positive change!
What I Learned at the Annual Meetings...
I can still remember making a speech about “Experience is the best teacher,” when I was 14 years old and didn't have much of experience about life and the world.
I think the 168 hours or so that I spent in DC with fellow youth delegates were an enlightening and very powerful experience that changed my perception about the world, people, and myself. The launches, interesting live broadcasts, sessions, presentations, publications all made at least one change in the way I think and the way I interpret what I see. Now I believe I am looking at things in a broader perspective than I used to and I have started thinking about the world in a different way.
How are Bangladeshi Migrants Who Fled the Libya Conflict Starting Afresh?
Earlier this year, Mohammed Faruk Ahmed was one of 37,000 Bangladeshi migrant workers forced to flee the conflict in Libya.
Forsaking his job and only source of income, he returned home empty handed. Watch this video to know how returnee migrants like Ahmed, now have a chance to rebuild their life, thanks to a World Bank-sponsored initiative to repatriate and support Bangladeshi migrants from Libya.
And the Youth Delegates are...
A huge thanks to everyone who participated in the Annual Meeting South Asia Youth Delegates competition!
With so many fascinating and well qualified applicants, it was truly difficult to narrow them down. After days of rigorous review and deliberations, we'd like the candidates below to join us.
No matter what, we would like to continue working together with all of you on different initiatives going forward. Please let us know your thoughts and how we can work together in the near future. Thank you!
Join us to Discuss Bangladesh's Economic Prospects!
We've launched a two-day online discussion on Bangladesh's Economic Growth at the World Bank Bangladesh Facebook page. Through the online discussion, we hope to initiate dialogue with you on Bangladesh's economy, the possibilities and the binding constraints for its continued growth.
Our economists will answer your questions and moderate the discussion. We encourage you to share your thoughts or ask questions on these pertinent issues and are looking forward to hosting more discussions on different themes.
Join us, leave comments, and invite your friends!
What? Bangladesh's Economic Growth: How can Bangladesh can embark on its journey towards higher growth?
When? August 25 and 26, 2011
How Many More Bangladeshis are Now Breaking out of Poverty?
Bangladesh reduced poverty from 40 percent to 31.5 percent between 2005 and 2010, according the new Household Income & Expenditure Survey (HIES) 2010. Progress can also be seen in other dimensions of development.
The HIES is a major source of socio-economic information at the household level in Bangladesh. It provides data on household expenditure, income, consumption, savings, housing conditions, education, employment, health, sanitation, water supply, electricity usage, etc.
Wanted: South Asian Youth Leaders who want to make a Difference!
Update: The participants have been announced!
Thank you so much for the overwhelming interest and applications that you've sent. If you were not selected, we will continue to work together on sharing the ideas in your essays that you've submitted over the next few months. Thanks again!
Are you from a South Asia Region (SAR) country, 18-25 years old and engaged in youth activities and development initiatives?
Apply to join the World Bank & IMF’s Annual Meetings from September 23-25, 2011 in Washington DC, USA.
Application deadline: August 19, 2011. Details below.
I Still Remember Cyclone Sidr…
“I still remember Cyclone Sidr in 2007,” said Hasina Begum, Headmistress of Paschim Napitkhali Primary School in Barguna, Bangladesh.
She fell silent, her face slowly crumpling up - the shadows in her dark eyes gathering into deep pools of sadness.
“There were warnings, but nothing could really prepare us for what happened. Cyclone Sidr hit my hometown, Barguna with ferocious intensity. Powerful gusts of winds and heavy rainfalls frightened the helpless people, many of whom had left their homes and processions to seek the protection of cyclone-shelters, like my school.”
The Paschim Napitkhali Primary School, a non-descript two storied building had played a life-saving role in 2007, when Barguna and other coastal regions were hit hard by the storm surge of over 5 meters (16 ft). Initially established by Hasina’s father, the school was later rebuilt and converted into a school-cum-cyclone-shelter. During the year, the primary school bustles with children – but during cyclones and other natural disasters, the building doubles up as a shelter. In 2007, this cyclone-shelter alone had helped save more than 800 people.