“Or else, the poverty crisis will continue,” she said while speaking as the chief guest at the opening session of a two-day Bangladesh Social Security Conference and Knowledge Fair 2019.
The Cabinet Division and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) organised the programme at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Novo Theatre in the capital, said a press release.
Highlighting the key areas of focus for social security, the Speaker said social protection increases participation of poor and marginalised people in income-generating activities.
“It contributes to reducing inequalities, and is essential for supporting vulnerable communities. Combined effort is needed to create income generating opportunities,” she said.
Dr Shirin Sharmin emphasised that social protection is not a cost but an investment and pointed out that it helps build social capital and empowers women. “We must develop the capacity of poor and marginalised people. A long-term strategy is required to make a sustainable impact and include everyone in the development of Bangladesh.”
The conference engaged social protection implementing ministries, practitioners, academics, NGO and private sector organisations and focused on disseminating and discussing the findings of a number of researches on different burning issues of social protection and reviewing the implementation status of National Social Security Strategy (NSSS).
Social Welfare Minister Nuruzzaman Ahmed said the coming decade will be a time of huge importance for Bangladesh’s socio-economic development. “Improved social security may drive the achievement of middle-income country status in 2021. A series of strains on the social fabric are likely to emerge as Bangladesh moves towards middle income country status.”
He said social protection offers a means of supporting high economic growth with equity by boosting productivity and it reduces the tendency of risk aversion fostering economic participation.
Sudipto Mukerjee, Resident Representative of UNDP Bangladesh, outlined four major priorities -- implementing reforms for persons with disabilities, improving the system for the urban poor, and making concrete progress on flagship programmes, and implementing NSSS gender policy strategy to make the system more gender-responsive.
Dr Shamsul Alam, member (senior secretary) of General Economics Division, presented the keynote paper at the event, while Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Cabinet Division Secretary; Tuomo Poutiainen, Country Director, ILO Bangladesh; Tomoo Hozumi, Country Representative, Unicef Bangladesh; Angela Naumann, First Secretary, Development Cooperation, Australian High Commission in Bangladesh; Judith Herbertson, Country Representative of DFID Bangladesh; Rensje Teerink, Ambassador and the Head of Delegation of the European Union to Bangladesh, among others, spoke at the programme.