Contents

Introduction................................................................................................................................2
What is sustainable development?.............................................................................................2
Sustainable Development Goals................................................................................................2
Goal 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages....................................4
Challenges faced by Bangladesh................................................................................................4
Limited Public Facilities:.......................................................................................................4
Lack of Essential Commodities..............................................................................................4
Lack of Local Level Planning................................................................................................5
Political Instability and Lack of Commitment.......................................................................5
Recommendation for achieving goal 3 in Bangladesh:..............................................................6
Goals 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning
opportunities for all....................................................................................................................6
Challenges faced by Bangladesh in Goal 4................................................................................7
Quality and relevance:............................................................................................................7
Equitable access......................................................................................................................7
Governance and management.................................................................................................7
Financing................................................................................................................................7
Recommendation for achieving goal 4 in Bangladesh...............................................................8
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................9
Reference..................................................................................................................................10

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Introduction
Sustainable development is one of the most discussed and desired things for last few decades
in Bangladesh and whole of the world. Economist, Development planners are trying to find
out a way to achieve sustainable development or make the development sustainable. But due
to a lot of challenges it is really tough to prepare and execute a proper plan for achieving
sustainable development. In this assignment I will try to analyze two of the major challenges
for sustainable development in our country.

What is sustainable development?

The concept “sustainable development” has a long history and it contains a much deeper
meaning than it appears. “Sustainable development” was used in the Brundtland Commission
report “Our Common Future” in 1987. In the report, the commission coined what has become
the most often-quoted definition of sustainable development: "development that meets the
needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own
needs.

The concept of sustainable development must be understood in terms of human needs, rights
and responsibility towards the environment as well as in terms of solidarity – between
generations and between communities. Unless we keep this in mind too many people will
persist in maintaining that we should deal with poverty and growth first and then take a look
at the environment.

Sustainable Development Goals

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were born at the United Nations Conference on
Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro in 2012. The objective was to produce a set of
universal goals that meet the urgent environmental, political and economic challenges facing
our world.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a collection of 17 global goals set by the United
Nations General Assembly in 2015. The SDGs are part of Resolution 70/1 of the United
Nations General Assembly "Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development." That has been shortened to "2030 Agenda. The goals are broad and
interdependent, yet each has a separate list of targets to achieve. Achieving all 169 targets
would signal accomplishing all 17 goals. The 17 goals are listed below,

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  Goal 1: End poverty in all its forms everywhere.
 Goal 2:  End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote
sustainable agriculture.
 Goal 3:    Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.
 Goal 4:  Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong
learning opportunities for all.
 Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.
 Goal 6:    Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for
all.
 Goal 7:  Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.
 Goal 8:  Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and
productive employment and decent work for all.
 Goal 9: Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable
industrialization and foster innovation.
 Goal 10: Reduce inequality within and among countries.
 Goal 11:   Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.
 Goal 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.
 Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts*.
 Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for
sustainable development.
 Goal 15: Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems,
sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land
degradation and halt biodiversity loss.
 Goal 16: Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development,
provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive
institutions at all levels.
 Goal 17: Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global
Partnership for Sustainable Development.

Now I will discuss about Sustainable Development goals 3 and goals 4 under Bangladesh
perspective. How much challenges face by Bangladesh and how to achieve these goals in
Bangladesh that’s are discuss in below.

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Goal 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.
Ensuring healthy lives and promoting the well-being at all ages is essential to sustainable
development. Significant strides have been made in increasing life expectancy and reducing
some of the common killers associated with child and maternal mortality, but working
towards achieving the target of less than 70 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births by 2030
would require improvements in skilled delivery care.

Achieving the target of reducing premature deaths due to incommunicable diseases by 1/3 by
the year 2030 would also require more efficient technologies for clean fuel use during
cooking and education on the risks of tobacco.

Challenges faced by Bangladesh

Despite these successes, the Bangladesh health system continues to suffer from many
drawbacks. Some of the major drawbacks of the health system include:

Limited Public Facilities:

A total of 536 public hospitals with 37,387 beds provide inpatient care services in
Bangladesh for a population of 160 million. There are 492 Upazila (sub-district) Health
Complexes which have limited inpatient care services. Most UHCs has 20 beds primarily to
cater to emergency needs of pregnant women. District hospitals are usually termed secondary
care hospitals since unlike the medical college hospitals these have fewer specialty care
facilities. Apart from these, there are different types of special care centers such as, infectious
disease hospitals, tuberculosis hospitals, and leprosy hospitals which fall under secondary
care health facilities. The medical college hospitals are located in the regional urban hubs
covering several districts, and provide specialty care in a wide range of disciplines. When
compared with other developing countries, it becomes clear that Bangladesh does not have
adequate number of hospital beds to serve its large population.

Lack of Essential Commodities

Availability of drugs, medical supplies and family planning commodities is almost a constant
problem in many public health facilities throughout the length and breadth of Bangladesh.
While part of the problem lies with lack of effective supply chain management, lack of funds
to pay for supplies is also a serious problem. Shortage of logistics in most public health care
centers, especially at the Upazila Health Complexes and district hospitals is a common
phenomenon. It is widely known that almost 65% of the ambulances in these facilities are
non-functional at any point of time either because of lack of maintenance or fuel money. In

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many public health facilities x-ray machines to incubators to various lab equipment are in
need of either urgent repair or of replacement. Often essential drugs and family planning
commodities meant for free distribution to patients and users are pilfered and sold to the
private sector vendors.

Lack of Local Level Planning

It seems that Upazila Health and Family Planning officials are always asked to develop a plan
of action to be implemented during the coming year based on local epidemiological and
demographic situation. Although these local area plans are routinely submitted to the
Ministry, they seldom receive any attention while developing overall health sector plans. It is
apparent that they remain largely an exercise in futility.

Political Instability and Lack of Commitment

As a developing country Bangladesh is faced with political instability and unrest that often
turn into violence. Such political unrest has significant adverse impact on the economy.
Health system is the indirect victim of such political turmoil. During hartal doctors and
nurses are afraid to go to work due to lack of safety and security. Patients also face similar
problems and can hardly seek needed health care services during such political disturbances.

The goal-3 includes 9 specific targets.

 By 2030, reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live
births.
 By 2030, end preventable deaths of newborns and children under 5 years of age, with
all countries aiming to reduce neonatal mortality to at least as low as 12 per 1,000 live
births and under-5 mortalities to at least as low as 25 per 1,000 live births.
 By 2030, end the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical
diseases and combat hepatitis, water-borne diseases and other communicable diseases.
 By 2030, reduce by one third premature mortality from non-communicable diseases
through prevention and treatment and promote mental health and well-being.
 Strengthen the prevention and treatment of substance abuse, including narcotic drug
abuse and harmful use of alcohol.
 By 2030, ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services,
including for family planning, information and education, and the integration of
reproductive health into national strategies and programs.

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  Achieve universal health coverage, including financial risk protection, access to
quality essential health-care services and access to safe, effective, quality and
affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all.
 By 2030, substantially reduce the number of deaths and illnesses from hazardous
chemicals and air, water and soil pollution and contamination.
 Strengthen the implementation of the World Health Organization Framework
Convention on Tobacco Control in all countries, as appropriate.

Recommendation for achieving goal 3 in Bangladesh:

Bangladesh has made huge strides in reducing child mortality, improving maternal health and
fighting HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases. Since 1990, there has been an over 50
percent decline in preventable child deaths globally. Maternal mortality also fell by 45
percent worldwide. New HIV/AIDS infections fell by 30 percent between 2000 and 2013,
and over 6.2 million lives were saved from malaria.

Despite this incredible progress, more than 6 million children still die before their fifth
birthday every year. 16,000 children die each day from preventable diseases such as measles
and tuberculosis. Every day hundreds of women die during pregnancy or from child-birth
related complications. In many rural areas, only 56 percent of births are attended by skilled
professionals. AIDS is now the leading cause of death among teenagers in sub-Saharan
Africa, a region still severely devastated by the HIV epidemic.

These deaths can be avoided through prevention and treatment, education, immunization
campaigns, and sexual and reproductive healthcare. The Sustainable Development Goals
make a bold commitment to end the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and other
communicable diseases by 2030. The aim is to achieve universal health coverage, and
provide access to safe and affordable medicines and vaccines for all. Supporting research and
development for vaccines is an essential part of this process as well.

Goals 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong
learning opportunities for all.
Quality of higher education should mean the standard form of education system where
students will be able to achieve the skills as well as values to meet the needs of themselves,
the industry and the country and build an equitable knowledge-based society. Bangladesh is a
rapidly growing country with an aim of becoming middle income country (MIC) by the year

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2021 and subsequently stepping its footprint into the club of developed countries. To achieve
that target, there is no alternative to assurance of quality education along with utilizing the
technology for positive change.

Challenges faced by Bangladesh in Goal 4

Quality and relevance:
Bangladesh’s workforce of 87 million is largely undereducated and the overall quality of the
country’s human capital is low. National learning assessments conducted by the Government
of Bangladesh show poor literacy and numeracy skills among students – only 25 percent to
44 percent of the students in grades 5 through 8 have mastery over Bangla, English and math,
and performance on these measures is especially low among poor students. In general,
students have weak reading skills, and curricula, teaching approaches, and examination
systems at all levels focus more on rote learning than on competencies, critical thinking, and
analytical skills.

Equitable access
Repetition and dropout rates are still significant in Bangladesh, and only 50 percent of the
students who enroll in first grade reach grade 10. Around five million Bangladeshi children
between the ages of six and 13 – mostly from poor families, urban slums, and hard-to-reach
areas – remain out of school. Women continue to lag behind men in higher secondary and
tertiary education. In addition, student enrollment is progressively lower for the poor from the
secondary to the tertiary levels.

Governance and management

Bangladesh’s Ministry of Primary and Mass Education (MoPME) is responsible for primary
education (grades 1 to 5), and the Ministry of Education (MoE) oversees secondary and post-
secondary education. The Government of Bangladesh recently announced that it will extend
free and compulsory primary education to all students through grade 8, a policy that will
require close collaboration between MoPME and MoE.

Financing
Government spending on education as a share of the gross domestic product is around 2
percent, the second lowest in South Asia, and lower than in most other countries at similar
levels of development.

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The goal-4 includes 7 specific targets. These are,

 By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood
development, care and preprimary education so that they are ready for primary
education.
 By 2030, ensure equal access for all women and men to affordable and quality
technical, vocational and tertiary education, including university.
 By 2030, substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant
skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and
entrepreneurship.
 By 2030, eliminate gender disparities in education and ensure equal access to all
levels of education and vocational training for the vulnerable, including persons with
disabilities, indigenous peoples and children in vulnerable situations.
 By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote
sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable
development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a
culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural
diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development.
 Build and upgrade education facilities that are child, disability and gender sensitive
and provide safe, nonviolent, inclusive and effective learning environments for all.
 By 2030, substantially increase the supply of qualified teachers, including through
international cooperation for teacher training in developing countries, especially least
developed countries and small island developing states.

Recommendation for achieving goal 4 in Bangladesh

The government provided enough emphasize on quality education. It emphasized on

1) Improve the Teaching Learning process in schools.

2) Ensure participation and reduce disparity.

3) Ensure Decentralization and enhance effectiveness.

4) Establish Effective Planning and Management.

5) Increasing the rate of enrolment.,

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6) Capacity increase in reading, writing, listening & speaking.

7) Necessary steps reducing the rate of dropout.

8) Encouraging female enrolment, and inclusion of all children in the education system.

Conclusion
The Sustainable Development Goals make the co-creation of new knowledge among
countries, state institutions and non-state actors a must, and indeed for most countries,
achieving the goals may well depend on it. The proposed universality of the SDGs
underscores the reality that most countries acknowledge. It is well recognized that SDGs are
all interconnected within a system. We are to achieve all goals not to single one. However, all
goals and targets interlink and relations are not simple to acquire. The interaction among
some goals and targets are stronger than others. The 2030 Agenda comes at a time when
Bangladesh has already kicked off its journey towards an upper middle income country by
2030 and a developed country by 2041. Bangladesh has incorporated priorities of SDGs in all
her development policies. The Government has adopted an inclusive approach to
development so that the poorest and the most vulnerable section of the country can be
integrated into its national development efforts. As the country moves ahead, challenges in
several areas, including in resource mobilization and data management, will have to be
addressed. Bangladesh is confident to set the example of a leading SDGs achiever.

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Reference
www.bd.undp.org/content/bangladesh/en/home/...goals/goal-4-quality-education.html

www.socialwatch.org/node/18086

www.theindependentbd.com/printversion/details/14311

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