Despite such an increase in social protection and spending during COVID-19, many poor people are still excluded due to the lack of a social register and proper implementation and distribution strategies. This study aims to critically examine the support of the government of Bangladesh under the umbrella of social protection during COVID-19 to assess the social justice agenda based on a systematic examination to look at the secondary data. There are currently 120 social protection programs operational in Bangladesh in Fiscal Year 2021-2022, and Table 1 lists some of the major programs in place before COVID-19 (Ministry of Finance [MoF], 2021).
We aim to critically examine the Bangladesh government's support under the umbrella of social protection during COVID-19 to assess the social justice agenda based on a systematic investigation to look at the secondary data on disbursement. Finally, areas for future research on preparing social protection for the next crisis are highlighted. The present scoping paper aims to cover the existing literature on the pandemic's impact on the livelihoods of the poor and vulnerable in Bangladesh, and then provides an evaluation of the performance of social protection policies during the COVID-19 period based on on the available resources.
Key actors producing evidence and potential users of future evidence on COVID-19 and social protection.
Think Tanks and Academia
Local development actors such as non-governmental organizations (NGOs) also actively support the poor and vulnerable. BRAC's Ultra-Poor Graduation Program (UPGP) (Rahman, Bhattacharjee, & Das, 2021) and Urban Development Program (UDP) (BRAC, 2021) are two of the major interventions. The former uses cash-only and integrated cash-plus approaches to lift people out of the poverty trap, while the latter focuses on the welfare of the urban poor.
A study has shown that UPGP participants had shown greater resilience during the pandemic (Rahman & Bandiera, 2021). Community-led, voluntary organizations such as Bidyanondo and the Pashe Achi Initiative have provided support in various ways such as food aid, small capital and asset transfers, market linkages, etc. to the underprivileged and economically disadvantaged as well as the new poor. (Alam et al., 2020; Rahman, 2021b).
Data and Methods
- Urban Areas
- Vulnerable and Marginalized Communities
- Sectoral Analyses
- Situation of Bangladesh in Cross-Country Studies
All of these point to the potential long-term implications of the pandemic if appropriate measures are not taken (Rahman et al., 2022. However, another study by Rahman et al. 2021a) noted rising inequality as income shares of 50% the lowest were estimated to have fallen between February 2020 and February 2021, and linked it to the increase in the incidence of poverty. A report by Ali et al. 2021) notes that key informants had suggested that poverty levels could return to 50% in the South West areas, 40% in the CHT and over 40% in the southern coastal regions, in consultations conducted in 2020.
Thus, the incidence of poverty is estimated on the basis of the Head Count Rate, i.e. proportion. Rising inequality as the income share of the bottom 50% is estimated to have fallen between February 2020 and February 2021. More than 60% of workers had lost their jobs at some point during the pandemic, but the situation improved by the time of the survey .
Poverty rates may go back to 50% in the south-west areas, 40% in the Chattogram Hill Tracts (CHT) and over 40% in the southern coastal regions. A survey of rural respondents estimated that they experienced an 80% drop in income from February to March 2020 – the first month of the first lockdown (LightCastle Partners, 2020). Malek, Truon, and Sonobe (2021) further analyzed the rural economy using the Mahbub Hossain survey sample and observed that households were more economically affected if the head was female, less educated, young, or a casual worker over three the first. months of blocking in 2020.
Moreover, almost half of the younger segments had no income, while among the elderly, this figure was about a third of the respondents. 7 A summary of all studies under this subsection is available in Table 4. While most studies tended to focus on large cities such as Dhaka, a paper by Ruszczyk et al. 2020) assessed the situation in two small towns and reported detrimental consequences for both income and food security status for the low-income group as well as the middle class during the first lockdown. The compounding impact of the pandemic and cyclone Amphan was investigated by Priodarshini et al. 2021) for rural coastal regions in Southwest Bangladesh.
85% of respondents had experienced an income shock, and the rate is highest among the rural poor (91.7%). A very early study using secondary sources claimed that RMG/garment workers were the most vulnerable during the initial phase of the pandemic, as many faced unemployment while others continued to work in the hazardous environment (Sen et al., 2020). .
Lessons From the COVID-19 Experience About Social Protection Policy in Bangladesh
- Identifying Social Protection Needs 1 Issues with Existing Government Databases
- Other Databases Regarding Vulnerability and Need
- Registering Beneficiaries 1. Targeting Efficiency
- Those Left Out During COVID-19: Why and How?
- Accessing Benefits
- Accountability and Governance 1. Reports About Irregularities
- Beneficiaries’ Views of the Social Protection Response
- Performance of Government Institutions and Steps for More Effective Response to Such Crises in the Future
The fair selection process requires the use of a strict selection methodology, which is lacking in the existing selection process for beneficiaries of social security nets. All of the evidence cited points to persistent mismanagement in social safety net programs. Urban floating workers have not received adequate attention in government and NGO support schemes, and targeting them is also problematic due to the lack of an official register for them (Alam et al., 2021).
In addition, the use of mobile financial services (MFSs) for money transfers implies that the beneficiaries who do not hold an account have been excluded (BIGD-ARC, 2021), and financial and technological literacy will be the main challenges to be addressed in the digitization process ( Shonchoy et al., 2021). During the long six-month hiatus in beneficiary payments later on, DSS was reportedly unable to provide any figure on the number of people excluded from the digitization process (Akhter, 2021). This urban advantage emerged quantitatively in the study by Rahman et al.
Mismanagement and mismanagement of the relief system was highlighted in a report by BIGD and ARC (2021), along with failed attempts at digitization in the absence of a strong database of eligible beneficiaries and the inability to ensure the authenticity of NIDs. Lack of sound guidance in targeting beneficiaries and the absence of quick and agile public funds in the early COVID-19 phase were also noted by Akter, Hakim, and Rahman (2021). People were also forced to bribe local elites to be included in the cash transfer schemes, adding to their existing suffering.
This was largely reflected in the absence of a workable NHD at the beginning of the pandemic, and then the subsequent flawed list prepared for COVID-19 relief distribution, as institutional weakness was largely blamed (Islam, 2021; Rahman, 2021a). While digital money transfers minimize corruption to some extent, they are not robust in the absence of an authentic database or record. A "bottom-up" approach in the program targeting process meant the involvement of a large number of staff and bureaucratic functions (BIGD-ARC, 2021).
Scope of Future Research
- Designing Innovative Targeting Mechanisms in Social Protection
- Devising Appropriate Mechanisms for Identifying the Vulnerable Non- Poor
- Factors Contributing to the Modernization of Social Protection in Terms of Verification, Targeting, and Payment
- Social Protection in the Context of Urban Bangladesh
- Innovating Appropriate and Dynamic Approaches for Universal Coverage
Therefore, future research on social protection should include “designing innovative targeting mechanisms in social protection”, where targeting should be more responsive and faster. It would also help the government build a "national safety net database". The proposed research gap can help fulfill the following NSSS 2015 reform agenda: creating a single database, creating a grievance and appeals resolution mechanism, and strengthening beneficiary selection processes. The 2015 SGS defines the vulnerable population as the non-poor who consume below 1.25 times the income of the upper poverty line (GED, 2015).
It is clear that the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in a large number of the poor, as many of the vulnerable non-poor have now become poor. Therefore, a rigorous study on “creating appropriate mechanisms for identifying the vulnerable non-poor” would help build a “national database of the vulnerable non-poor” who would seek social protection during crises and would help build one. Factors contributing to the modernization of social protection in terms of verification, targeting and payment verification, targeting and payment conditions.
From this perspective, a future study on social protection could include "factors that contribute to the modernization of safety nets in terms of verification, targeting and payment." This study can be very important in relation to systematic reforms, improvements in accuracy and effective development of existing accountability mechanisms. NSSS 2015 finds that 30% of rural residents use social protection schemes, while the rate among urban residents is 9%. Thus, it identified access to social protection in urban areas as one of its reform areas (GED, 2015).
The majority of existing social protection schemes (85%) usually meet the needs of rural communities (Hebbar, Muhit, & Marzi, 2020). Therefore, a future study on “social protection in the context of urban Bangladesh” can be conducted to make urban social protection policies more forward-looking and effective in addressing the problems of poverty and vulnerability. Similarly, for example, the government can introduce universal OAA as part of the social security system.
Investigating together the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the livelihoods of persons with disabilities in Bangladesh. Knowledge, practice and economic impact of COVID-19 on small-scale coastal fishing communities in Bangladesh: policy recommendations for better livelihoods. Livelihood challenges and care-seeking behavior of fishermen during the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh's Sundarbans mangrove forest.
Differences in the early impact of COVID-19 on food security and livelihoods in rural and urban areas in the Asia Pacific region. Changes in the rural economy in Bangladesh under COVID-19 lockdown measures: Evidence from a telephone survey of sample households Mahbub Hossain. Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on fish consumption and household food security in Dhaka city, Bangladesh.
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