COVID-19 and Bangladesh

Debapriya Bhattacharya is Distinguished Fellow, Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), Bangladesh; Member, United Nations Committee for Development Policy (UN-CDP), and Convenor of the Citizen’s Platform for SDGs, Bangladesh. He is also the Founding Chair of Southern Voice and former Ambassador of Bangladesh to the WTO and UN Offices in Geneva and Vienna.Towfiqul Islam Khan is Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), Bangladesh. He is a member of the “SDG Task Team” of the Prime Minister’s Office, Government of Bangladesh.

• List of Figures and Tables ix List of Contributors xii Preface xv Acknowledgments xvii List of Abbreviations xix 1 COVID-19 Implications in Bangladesh: Lessons for Inclusive Policy Transition 1 DEBAPRIYA BHATTACHARYA, TOWFIQUL ISLAM KHAN 2 Choices and Challenges in Assessing COVID-19 Impact on Disadvantaged Groups 15 DEBAPRIYA BHATTACHARYA, SARAH SABIN KHAN AND TOWFIQUL ISLAM KHAN 3 Macroeconomic Impact and Policy Implications 35 DEBAPRIYA BHATTACHARYA, TOWFIQUL ISLAM KHAN AND MURSALIN HOSSAIN RABBI 4 The Economic Impact of COVID-19 and Lockdowns on Disadvantaged Households in Bangladesh 48 DEBAPRIYA BHATTACHARYA, ESTIAQUE BARI, TOWFIQUL ISLAM KHAN, FAHIM SUBHAN CHOWDHURY AND NAJEEBA MOHAMMED ALTAF 5 Dealing with the Aftermath of COVID-19: Adjustments and Adaptation Efforts of the Apparel Workers in Bangladesh 68 DEBAPRIYA BHATTACHARYA, TOWFIQUL ISLAM KHAN, FAHIM SUBHAN CHOWDHURY AND AFRA TAHSIN CHOWDHURY 6 Household-Level Adjustments in the Labor Market 85 MUSTAFIZUR RAHMAN, TOWFIQUL ISLAM KHAN, MUNTASEER KAMAL, MARFIA ALAM,MD. SABBIR HOSSAIN AND NAWSHIN NAWAR 7 Approaches Adopted by Disadvantaged Groups to Cope with the Pandemic Fallout 104 DEBAPRIYA BHATTACHARYA, ESTIAQUE BARI, TOWFIQUL ISLAM KHAN AND AFRA TAHSIN CHOWDHURY 8 Vaccinations, Food Consumption, and Access to Health Services 125 DEBAPRIYA BHATTACHARYA, TOWFIQUL ISLAM KHAN, ESTIAQUE BARI, FABIHA BUSHRA KHAN AND FARIA TAHMEEN MOMO 9 New Realities in the Education Sector Confronting the Disadvantaged Communities 141 DEBAPRIYA BHATTACHARYA, NAJEEBA MOHAMMED ALTAF, TOWFIQUL ISLAM KHAN AND ESTIAQUE BARI 10 Assessing COVID-19 Impact on SDG Delivery in Bangladesh: Framework, Measurement, and Perspectives 162 DEBAPRIYA BHATTACHARYA, FABIHA BUSHRA KHAN AND TOWFIQUL ISLAM KHAN 11 Public Policy Responses and Options 183 DEBAPRIYA BHATTACHARYA, TOWFIQUL ISLAM KHAN, MARFIA ALAM AND MURSALIN HOSSAIN RABBI 12 Raising Delivery Effectiveness of Support Measures for Disadvantaged Households 203 MUSTAFIZUR RAHMAN, TOWFIQUL ISLAM KHAN, MUNTASEER KAMAL, MARFIA ALAM,MD. SABBIR HOSSAIN AND MOSTAFA AMIR SABBIH 13 Data Initiatives for Evidence-based Policymaking 220 DEBAPRIYA BHATTACHARYA, TOWFIQUL ISLAM KHAN, MUNTASEER KAMAL, MARFIA ALAM AND NAJEEBA MOHAMMED ALTAF Index 237