Bangladesh has made significant progress towards implementing the SDGs. The UNESCAP SDG Gateway highlights that Bangladesh has demonstrated notable performance in 31 per cent of all 248 indicators.
Bangladesh is also cited as one of the countries making better progress than the regional average on SDG 4 (Quality of Education) and SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy).
The head of the interim government of Bangladesh, Nobel laureate Professor Dr Muhammad Yunus, will deliver a speech on Bangladesh's SDG scenario and the people's achievements in this regard.
The 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) 2024 is particularly significant for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as world leaders will discuss the issue on 22 and 23 September. They have only six years left to meet the 2030 Agenda deadline.
A review of the Sustainable Development Report 2023, Bangladesh Country Profile, shows that Bangladesh has made significant progress in several key areas, with moderate improvements in gender equity in primary and secondary education (SDG 4), poverty reduction (SDG 1), zero hunger (SDG 2), lowering neonatal and under-5 mortality rates (SDG 3), expanding access to electricity (SDG 7), increasing the annual growth rate of real GDP per employed person (SDG 8), raising the share of manufacturing in GDP (SDG 9), and increasing budget allocations for social protection (SDG 10).
Meanwhile, world leaders and Heads of State and Government are meeting at the UN Headquarters in New York to reaffirm their commitment to the global effort and outline ways to accelerate progress towards the 17 SDGs.
Adopted in 2015 by 193 countries at the UN General Assembly, the 17 SDGs with 169 associated targets and 248 indicators remain the highest aspirations cherished by all humanity to build a fairer, greener, and more prosperous world by 2030.
"In seven years, Bangladesh has made plausible progress in the Global SDG ranking, moving from 120th to 101st place, with a score of 65.9 among 166 countries," the report stated.
In South Asia, Maldives (68th place, scoring 71.3), Sri Lanka (83rd place, scoring 69.4), and Nepal (99th place, scoring 66.5) have outperformed Bangladesh, while Bangladesh has performed better than India (112th place, scoring 63.4) and Pakistan (128th place, scoring 59.0).
Bangladesh has made notable progress in poverty reduction (SDG 1); however, a large portion of the population remains poor. According to the Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) 2022, the extreme poverty rate in Bangladesh fell from 12.9 per cent in 2016 to 5.6 per cent in 2022.
The upper poverty rate has fallen from 24.3 per cent in 2016 to 18.7 per cent in 2022. Bangladesh is also progressively moving towards zero hunger (SDG 2), as the daily per capita calorie intake increased to 2,393 kilocalories from 2,210 kilocalories in 2016.
One of the most significant steps taken by Bangladesh in achieving its development targets, particularly at the District and Upazila levels, is the adoption of 39+1 priority targets for localising the SDGs from a local perspective.
Bangladesh has presented two Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) on SDG progress at the UN High-Level Political Forum in 2017 and 2020.
However, experts believe that despite positive strides towards the 17 SDGs, Bangladesh faces multiple challenges in achieving the targets due to a lack of transparency and accountability in administration, which has been politically biased.
Bangladesh is scheduled to graduate from LDC status in November 2026. This transition will bring new challenges that Bangladesh must face.
The achievement of the SDG agenda post-2026 will depend on the country's readiness to handle these opportunities and challenges, according to experts.
However, the 2023 UN Sustainable Development Goals Report Special Edition highlights that at the midpoint to 2030, the aspiration to leave no one behind is in jeopardy.
The prospects for success are poor, with most SDGs far from being achieved. Challenges include the short timeframe remaining for their fulfilment, constraints on resource allocation, and the disconnect between aspiration and long-term planning.
The overall average progress towards achieving all 17 SDGs in Asia and the Pacific has reportedly increased from 4.4 per cent in 2017 to 17.0 per cent in 2023. However, the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) SDG Progress Report 2024 warns that progress for many of the 17 SDGs in the region remains worryingly slow, and no single goal is on track to be fully achieved by 2030.
Experts emphasise the importance of Bangladesh's interim government implementing necessary reforms through inclusive and interactive engagement with stakeholders.
To ensure the rule of law and transparency in both public and private sectors, consensus-building and public participation in decision-making processes are crucial, as these elements were lacking under the previous government's rule.
