Declining child mortality is cause for happiness

We are happy that our efforts in reducing child mortality in Bangladesh have been duly acknowledged by the United Nations. The world body has just presented Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, and through her the people of Bangladesh, an award to this effect in New York. This recognition of Bangladesh's sincere efforts in trying to reach the Millennium Development Goals set for 2015, while clearly encouraging for us, is also a reminder for us of what we must yet do in order to tackle the remaining seven of the eight MDGs. Given that as a nation we are resource-strapped and given too that a certain sluggishness has characterised the developed world where a flow of funds from it to the developing world is concerned, the road ahead will be a difficult, if not an insurmountable one. As the prime minister has pointed out in New York, Bangladesh will need $22.1 billion if it has to attain all the MDGs.
That said, the results of our efforts in combating child mortality should now serve as a spur toward action in the other MDG-related areas. Take as an instance the question of poverty. It is certainly a fact that in recent years the rate of poverty in the country has declined from 60 per cent to 37, which proves that we are capable of setting goals for ourselves and attaining them. But let us not be lulled into a sense of complacence here because, even as poverty has declined, the gap between rich and poor has widened. That is where one notices the imbalance. Even in the region of children's health, the malnutrition that children, especially among the poor and in the rural areas, are still prone to is a sign that we cannot rest on our laurels. Sustained efforts, together with clarity and vision in terms of policy making and implementation, are a clear necessity if these conditions have to be improved. As for universal primary education, the good news is that the rate of enrolment has been 90 per cent. The bad news, though, is that the drop-out rate happens to be 50 per cent. In other words, a positive is being cancelled out by a negative. And that is a huge wake-up call for the government, indeed for larger society, since education is the fundamental principle upon which the fulfilment of all other social aspirations rests.
The bottom line for Bangladesh, at this point, is that its success in reducing child mortality must now be followed by proactive efforts toward achieving the seven other MDG targets. Maternal health, for instance, is a wide area where the kind of results we expect to see are yet to materialise. Again, while there is little question that moves have been underway toward ensuring gender equality and women's participation in the workplace, there are yet the taboos and the inhibitions that need breaking down. Women in Bangladesh are yet vulnerable to conditions that are a clear reflection of insensitivity and, to a large extent, male chauvinism. Additionally, the environment in Bangladesh remains susceptible to predatory human instincts. Our forests continue to disappear and unscrupulous men and organisations go on denuding nature of the very elements that sustain life. It is in such areas that redoubled efforts have to be made if the targets set for 2015 are to be met. Expectations of assistance from the developed world are understandable. More important is the question of how much wisdom and dedication we can bring to bear on galvanising the nation towards achieving all the MDGs by 2015.