Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal on Sunday said Bangladesh is going to get rid of hunger by 2030 as it is marching ahead economically.
“We do hope we’ll be to build Bangladesh as a country free from hunger by 2030 while the world has set a target to remove its poverty before the end of the century,” he told a discussion in the capital.
BRAC, a leading non-government organisation, arranged the discussion on ‘Eradicating Extreme Poverty: Development Strategy Model’ at BRAC Centre Inn.
Speaking as the chief guest, Mustafa Kamal said, there were about 48 percent of poor people in the country in 2000, but the poverty rate came down to 22 percent in 2015 though about 12 percent people still live in extreme poverty.
He said, the country’s GDP growth must be increased to cut its poverty rate successfully. “If we can increase our GDP growth, the government’ s capacity to fight poverty will go up,” he added.
The Planning Minister said, the Cabinet has already approved the national social security strategy as it would be an excellent document in eradicating poverty and inequalities from the country.
Deputy chief of Planning Commission M Moniruzzman made a power-point presentation on National Social Security Strategy at the discussion while chairman of BRAC University’s Department of Economics and Social Sciences Prof Sayed Mesbah Uddin Hashemi on Comprehensive Analysis on Successful Models for Eradicating Extreme Poverty. Social Welfare secretary Tariq-Ul-Islam and adviser to BRAC chairperson Dr Ahmed Mushtaque Reza Chowdhury, among others, spoke at the discussion.
