STAFF CORRESPONDENT

Around 12 percent of Bangladesh’s population is undernourished, according to the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2024.

The report, unveiled at a Dhaka hotel, also highlights the need for increased efforts to reach the Sustainable Development Goal of zero hunger by pointing out that 2.9 percent of children in Bangladesh die before turning five, 11 percent of the surviving ones are wasted, and 23.6 percent are stunted.

The event, themed “Towards Zero Hunger: Challenges and Way Forward,” was organised jointly by Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe.

While incremental progress has been made in reducing hunger, the pace is insufficient to meet global commitments, such as the UN’s SDG 2, GHI 2024 revealed.

With a score of 19.4, Bangladesh was ranked 84th out of 127 countries in the GHI 2024, falling into the “moderate hunger” category.

In comparison, the report places India at 105th position (score 27.3), Pakistan at 109th (score 27.9), and Afghanistan at 116th (score 30.8).

Meanwhile, Myanmar (15.7), Nepal (14.7), and Sri Lanka (11.3) are placed ahead in the ranking.

While this is a significant improvement from a score of 33.8 in 2000, experts noted that progress is not fast enough to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 2 (Zero Hunger).

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