Top Priorities for Bangladesh
One-in-Eleven Death Could Be Averted; Billions of Lives Saved
Our Eminent Panel, including a Nobel laureate economist and Bangladeshi economic experts, announced a prioritized list of investments that would produce phenomenal benefits for Bangladesh, saving billions of takas and averting one-in-eleven deaths.
Following the Copenhagen Consensus framework, the panel’s top priorities for Bangladesh were investment in tuberculosis (TB) treatment, infant nutrition, and e-government.
A Pioneering Project
For more than a decade, the Copenhagen Consensus approach has been applied at a global level – most recently to provide an economic input to the United Nations’ ‘Sustainable Development Goals’. This collaboration with BRAC is the first time it has been used at a national level.
"Bangladesh has a proud tradition for trailblazing ideas, distributing innovative BRAC solutions to many nations, and making microfinance a solution across the world. This project is a global first, and this once again makes Bangladesh a pioneer.”
- Bjorn Lomborg
Compelling New Economic Research
After public engagement and roundtables held with government, NGOs, and universities, seventy-six policy options were selected for analysis. More than 60% of the researchers in the project were Bangladeshi. The entire volume of new policy research has been placed in the public domain
The Eminent Panel considered the entire volume of research, well over 1,000 pages of new evidence on the costs and benefits of Bangladeshi policy options and prioritized the following list of investments.
This list will help both government and donors to prioritize future policy choices for Bangladesh. By encapsulating the social, environmental, and economic returns on cost, this provides us with a very valuable insight.”
- Dr. Kas Murshid, Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies Director General
Click here to learn more about the top three investmetns or download the Eminent Panel’s full findings. Scroll down to view the full eminent panel ranking.
| Rank | Intervention |
|---|---|
| 1 | TB treatment |
| 2 | e-procurement across government |
| 3 | Nutrition & micronutrients, ½-5 year olds |
| 4 | Land records digitization |
| 5 | Bus Priority for Dhaka |
| 6 | Increase secondary education for girls |
| 7 | Iron and folic acid in pregnancy |
| 8 | Psycho-social stimulation for stunting |
| 9 | Immunize children in urban slums |
| 10 | Hypertension medication |
| 11 | Union Digital Center migration services |
| 12 | Retrofit kilns, outdoor air pollution |
| 13 | More services at Union Digital Centers |
| 14 | Treat arsenic for 20% worst affected |
| 15 | Newborn homecare by health workers |
| 16 | Reform VAT and automate collection |
| 17 | Access to contraception |
| 18 | Golden Rice R&D |
| 19 | Expand village courts |
| 20 | RMG factory compliance |
| 21 | Balanced protein energy in pregnancy |
| 22 | Solid waste management in Dhaka |
| 23 | Multi-drug resistant TB treatment |
| 24 | Tobacco tax |
| 25 | Immunize children in remote areas |
| 26 | Facility births with skilled attendant |
| 27 | Shared diesel to replace kerosene |
| 28 | Import coal for more power |
| 29 | Calcium in pregnancy |
| 30 | RMG Palli special zone |
| 31 | Gasifier stove |
| 32 | Ultra-poor graduation programs |
| 33 | Skills training for migrants |
| 34 | Expand broadband |
| 35 | Diabetes treatment |
| 36 | Trade liberalization |
| 37 | Household solar to replace kerosene |
| 38 | Sanitation |
| 39 | Group and teach according to ability |
| 40 | Biomass cookstoves, indoor air pollution |
| 41 | Hand-washing promotion |
| 42 | Stormwater drainage in Dhaka |
| 43 | Transport infrastructure for Dhaka |
| 44 | Treat arsenic for all affected |
| 45 | Boost agricultural productivity |
| 46 | Early warning systems and shelters |
| 47 | Restoration of Buriganga river system |
| 48 | On-the-job management training |
| 49 | Smokeless tobacco cessation |
| 50 | Resettlement to manufacturing cities |
| 51 | Improve teacher accountability |
| 52 | Polders, flood level less than 3m |
| 53 | Padma Bridge |
| 54 | Improve school management |
| 55 | New hybrid kilns, outdoor air pollution |
| 56 | Trade facilitation |
| 57 | Treat and immunize cervical cancer |
| 58 | Seasonal migration stipends |
| 59 | Mangrove protection in Sundarbans |
| 60 | Livelihood programs |
| 61 | Flexible microfinance |
| 62 | Traditional microfinance |
| 63 | Vocational training |
| 64 | Provide BAU inputs like textbooks |
| 65 | LPG cookstoves, indoor air pollution |
| 66 | Unrestricted roads to North East India |
| 67 | Unconditional cash transfers |
| 68 | Unrestricted roads to Bhutan and Nepal |
| 69 | Import and domestic coal for more power |
| 70 | Computer assisted learning |
| 71 | Bond market |
| 72 | Polders, flood level more than 3m |