STAFF CORRESPONDENT

True social protection requires more than cash transfers -- it needs strong social sectors and well-funded support programmes, both long neglected in Bangladesh, said Unicef Bangladesh Representative Rana Flowers at an event yesterday.

She made the remarks at a roundtable titled “A New Bangladesh for Children: A Stronger Social Budget to Bring Childhood Back on Track”, jointly organised by The Daily Star and Unicef with European Union’s support at The Daily Star Centre.

When asked which investment most improves human development, leading economists consistently point to early childhood development (ECD), said Flowers. “If you get health, nutrition, and brain development right early on, education and long-term economic growth follow. Without that investment, you lose decades of potential progress.”

She criticised Bangladesh’s poor investment in key sectors, calling it a “huge gap”.

“Health spending in Bangladesh is among the lowest in the world -- lower than in many African nations and even below the average for least developed countries -- at just 0.7 percent of GDP,” she said.

She added that 40 percent of health centres lack vaccinators, posing serious risks to child health.

Flowers also flagged issues with poor teaching, weak learning outcomes, and the financial burden of private tutoring. “Violence is another crisis. In one week, 27 children were killed by their own families,” she said.

She highlighted systemic problems: fragmented services, underfunding, poor integration, and nearly non-existent early childhood support. Despite high primary school attendance, learning outcomes remain poor, and dropout rates rise in secondary education.

Health and WASH services are inefficient and fragmented across seven departments. Primary healthcare is He

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