Use demographic dividend for socio-economic benefits

Bangladesh currently has a window of opportunity to use its demographic dividend to bring out socio-economic benefits amid the ongoing pandemic, speakers told an e-conference yesterday.

"Defying the emerging challenges induced by Covid-19, the country should stay en-route to reap its demographic gift," they said.

During the inaugural session, Planning Minister MA Mannan highlighted how the coronavirus has impacted Bangladesh's population indicators.

The two-day "International Conference on Emerging Population Issues" was jointly organised by the Department of Population Sciences of the University of Dhaka and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

To address the Covid-19's fallouts, Mannan emphasised on the need for multidimensional investments through government-NGO collaboration to grasp the first, second and third demographic dividends.

"The government is committed to address the country's population and development issues," he said, adding that only through public-private partnerships could the country grasp all its opportunities.

Similarly, Dr Asa Torkelsson, UNFPA representative to Bangladesh, urged all stakeholders to devise and implement innovative social interventions, especially in health and education, to lower the dependency ration and develop a better social landscape.

Past the Covid-19 pandemic, it will be imperative to realise the country's three transformative results, namely zero maternal death, zero unmet need for family planning and zero incidence of gender-based violence, Torkelsson added. While inaugurating the conference, Dr Md Akhtaruzzaman, vice chancellor of the University of Dhaka, said the coronavirus pandemic has left a number of socio-economic impacts on the country's population.

"But with prompt, supportive, and empathic collaboration between the government, its development partners, citizens and health experts, Bangladesh will be able to achieve its goals," he said.

This includes Vision 2041, the ICPD Program of Action, Global Agenda 2030 and Sustainable Development Goals, Akhtaruzzaman added. During the first session of the e-conference saw three technical sessions participated by over 300 researchers, faculty members, students and government representatives from around the world.

Two more technical sessions will be held today followed by the concluding session.

The technical sessions focused on population issues such as human capital, demographic dividend, migration, active ageing, universal health coverage, climate change and displacement.