Urban Poverty Alleviation in Bangladesh: An Evaluation of Strategies and Programmes

Abstract

The study on "Urban Poverty Alleviation in Bangladesh: An Evaluation of Strategies and Programmes" was an attempt to focus on the urban poverty policies, strategies, programs, and programmes/projects of the Government of Bangladesh and other stakeholders and their contribution to reducing poverty in urban areas of the country. Two specific objectives were explored under this research: firstly, to clearly identify the policies, strategies, and programmes/projects applied in urban areas in order to alleviate the poverty of urban areas since 1972; and secondly, to evaluate the effectiveness and contribution of policies, strategies, and programmes/projects to alleviate urban poverty in Bangladesh. It evaluated the policies and strategies of the government of Bangladesh and of other international organizations, as well as programmes/projects of non-governmental organizations and international non-governmental organizations/development partners directly focused on reducing urban poverty, by applying an impact evaluation using the ROAMEF framework (which refers to Rationale, Objectives, Appraisal, Monitoring, Evaluation, and Feedback and is a simple method of stating a complex process) through an exploratory analytical approach. A combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches was applied in this study. Data collection tools include the HHs survey, FGDs, KIIs, and IDIs. The study found that Bangladesh has adopted goals set by the United Nations, e.g., the MDGs and SDGs, as a baseline to influence poverty policies, strategies, and programmes/projects in the country, which is well documented in our recent policies, strategies, and plans. The study revealed that the reviewed policies and strategies have clear goals and objectives and are concerned with the public interest. However, measurable implementation tools and a balanced, holistic, and focused approach to urban poverty are completely absent from these documents. Moreover, the social security/safety net programmes of the government are very inadequate in both numbers and coverage for the security of the poor living in urban areas. Likewise, NGOs, INGOs, and development partners working directly in reducing poverty among the urban poor provide mostly microfinance, while very few of them have programmes or projects in other sectors, e.g., health, environment, women's empowerment, etc., where there is a huge lack of programmes/projects on housing and education. This research explored whether programmes/projects targeted at the urban poor have positive contributions to the socioeconomic welfare of the poor due to their well-designed nature and financial support from

various organizations. However, the contribution is limited due to its small coverage, lack of

funds,

inefficiency in implementation, huge number of poor people, sustainability of the project, etc. The urban poor demand extended programmes/projects that consider their basic human rights. The selected programmes/projects not only represent positive contributions but also show various types of gaps and lapses within them. Moreover, in some cases, the urban poor suffer from various types of economic burdens due to the inefficient implementation of the programmes/ projects, which requires more attention from all concerned stakeholders.