Country may reach 6 out of 8 MDGs by year-end

Bangladesh may reach about five to six goals out of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the end of 2015, the deadline for achieving the targets, said Muhammad Musa, newly appointed executive director of Brac, yesterday.

He mentioned poverty alleviation, decreased infant mortality rate, and increased primary school enrolment as some of Bangladesh's achievements.

He was addressing a programme at Brac Centre in the capital, which launched the organisation's annual report.    

Referring to statistics of the Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) 2010, Musa said poverty rate came down to 31.5 percent from 56 in the last two decades due to continued efforts of the government and development organisations like Brac.

He further said that according to statistics of the government, the poverty rate now has come down to 26 percent.

However, Musa said there were still some challenges left to improve lives of the ultra-poor, adding that their lives needed to be improved for the country to become a middle-income one by 2021.

The Brac executive director said percentage of primary enrolment was 97 percent.   

Emphasising that the young generation is an asset to the nation if employment opportunities for them can be ensured, Musa said around 20 percent of the young generation remain unemployed and underemployed.

He said Brac works to create jobs for the young generation.

Replying to a query about the fate of farmers, Mahabub Hossain, an advisor to Brac, said farmers are ensuring good production, but they are not getting their due profit due to the government's flawed implementation policy.