Since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda, countries across the world have been striving to operationalise the spirit of the agenda is Leave No One Behind – LNOB. This powerful aspirational principle demands unpacking within contextual realities by identifying who are being left behind in a particular country. This report does exactly this in the case of Bangladesh. The effort is a pioneering one – not only for the country, but also globally.
The CPD researchers have creatively developed a methodology to identify those “most left behind in Bangladesh” through the conceptual prism of “vulnerability.” CPD researchers have prepared a “vulnerability index” based on disaggregated data from nationally representative survey data. The analytical approach of the report has also taken note of the existing knowledge in the concerned areas which has been supplemented by extensive discussions with issue experts as well as different focus groups to identify the needs of the vulnerable groups and assess existing policies.
Some of the findings reinforce the obvious, while others are very startling. It emerges that vulnerability begets vulnerability; well-intended policies are often not resourced; and uncounted individuals end up being left behind.
“The present piece of research is a pioneering one of its kind – not only in the context of the country, but also globally.”
– Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, Distinguished Fellow
Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), Dhaka