Jhenidah tops list of MDG achievers

Jhenidah has ranked top on an index of performance of the country's districts in achieving Millennium Development Goals.
Bandarban emerges as the worst performer, says a study titled Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) 2009 conducted by Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics in collaboration with Unicef.
The survey report was released yesterday at a programme at Sonargaon Hotel where Planning Minister Air Vice-Marshal (retd) AK Khandker and Unicef Representative in Bangladesh Carel de Rooy were present among others.
On the MDG composite index, Jhenidah has scored 6.6 while Bandarban scores -18.6 ranking 64th in nine indicators relating to education, child health, maternal health, HIV/AIDS, and access to safe drinking water and improved sanitation.
The MDG composite index is the sum of indexes of each of the nine indicators.
Other top performing districts are Meherpur, Munshiganj, Panchagarh and Narayanganj.
Khagrachhari, Sunamganj, Rangamati and Cox's Bazar are among the least performing districts.
Surveyors say such differences in performance in achieving MDGs indicate huge disparities among the districts.
Experts suggest geographical targeting to narrow down the inequality to help the whole country achieve the MDGs with equity.
The Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey reveals that the mortality rate of children under the age of five is highest in Sherpur with a record of 102 deaths per 1,000 births.
Pabna's performance in this regard is the best with 43 deaths.
The national average in this indicator is 67 deaths.
Meherpur tops in two indicators--births attended by skilled health personal and net attendance in primary education. Bandarban has performed the worst in the two fields.
"It indicates that huge disparities within the districts remain," said Unicef Representative Carel de Rooy. "We should be exploring very seriously the concept of geographical targeting to reduce disparities to achieve MDGs with equity."
Although there is no improvement in the rate of net attendance at primary education, the MICS has found that retention rate of students at primary schools rose to about 80 percent in 2009 from 63.6 percent in 2006.
The study also shows that progress has been achieved in attaining gender parity in primary education but it is yet to be achieved in secondary education.
The rate of birth registration of children under five has attained a substantial rise, it says.
Despite a near universal progress in access to improved source of water, the MICS has found that 12.6 percent households in the country drink arsenic contaminated water.
“Therefore, special attention is needed for these households," said Planning Minister AK Khandker.
He said this district level data will help the government prioritise interventions and allocate resources as well as design the Sixth Five-Year Plan.