Development Studies - a medium to reach the unheard

Saad Adnan Khan
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In the 1950s, the dominant meaning of well-being was the economic well-being and the dominant measurement of well-being was represented through GDP growth. In the late 1980s, increased awareness of the commonly used economic measures of development were far too limited and led the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to devise the Human Development Index (HDI). The dominant meaning of well-being evolved into human development/capabilities, universal rights, livelihoods and freedom, while measurement of well-being started being presented through human development and sustainability, the MDGs (Millennium Development Goals) and 'new' areas: risk and empowerment. Different imaginations started to emerge, which are not based on numerical figures, for example Bhutan, one of the world's smallest and least developed countries in the world, uses the assessment of GNH -- Gross National Happiness, instead of GDP, to measure quality of life and social progress based on pillars such as conservation of natural environment and establishment of good governance. In the context of Bangladesh as well, the definition of development needs revisiting. The textbook lesson of Lekha pore kore je, gari ghora chore she (One who gets education, gets to buy cars) - the ideal definition of development and success, which has being inculcated in our minds needs to be dismissed and discarded. There are other imaginations that need urgent acknowledgement, imaginations that the field of development studies has to offer us.

Success is very difficult to measure and count because quite simply there cannot be a pristine definition of success. However, to measure success in the reality of Bangladesh, we need to go to the grassroots and see what kinds of changes are being brought in the lives of people. It is important to debunk the myth that wealth is the only element that a country needs to attain, because with great wealth comes great inequality. Instead of running to the World Bank for solutions and money, it is important that we, ourselves redistribute money and sources equitably through good governance and extract solutions from the local minds, because solutions from the “third world” can be effective and can bring results as well, when implemented. For instance, a study in Nepal found that children are less likely to be underweight if their mothers own land and a study in Ghana found that families allocate larger proportion of their household budget to food when the woman owns a larger share of the household's farmland. When women in Rwanda and India, started to secure rights to the land either jointly with their husbands or on their own, the family started to have improved education, improved nutrition and improved health.

Development itself is recognised as a human right, for which, through the knowledge of development studies, one can reach the ultra-poor and the most vulnerable people of the country. The individuals, or the “actors” who go to the field and watch, listen, learn, understand and then work for the development, either by spreading information regarding hygiene or by providing sanitary napkins or by advocating a group of women on how to turn their livestock into a source of income, do so because they are free of the school-taught, inculcated imagination. They go to the margins and extract stories and different imaginations from there, and this happens with no dramatic score on the background or camera filming or taking their pictures.

By 2015, Bangladesh is supposed to achieve the MDGs, and currently if we look at some of them, we will understand that there have been progress and success stories in several areas. MDGs are eight international development goals that all 192 United Nations member states have agreed to achieve by the year 2015. The aim of the MDGs is to encourage development by improving social and economic conditions in the world's poorest countries. The MDGs are:

1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

2. Achieve universal primary education

3. Promote gender equality and empower women

4. Reduce child mortality

5. Improve maternal health

6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases

7. Ensure environmental sustainability

8. Develop global partnership for development

Of course GDP is important, because it reflects the size of the economy and shows whether the nation is progressing or not, but we cannot only rely on the figure of the GDP to understand Bangladesh. GDP does not reflect the rural, underground and the informal economy and it also does not reflect how wealth is distributed among population. In 2011, Bangladesh had a Human Development Index (HDI) score of 0.500, which is consistent with medium human development. The most progress is seen in MDGs 3, 4 and 6.

“Gender is the basic entry point of development. Now if you go to villages, women will come out to talk and discuss issues along with men. Women are doing sharecropping, alongside live stocking and seed sapling. What NGOs have done is that they have given an economic value to all the traditional work women do in order to generate income. Women's activities and contribution in agriculture is increasing day by day, because men are finding other options and migrating,” says Shipa Hafeeza, Director, Gender Justice and Diversity Advocacy, BRAC.

“Since we are only four years away from achieving all the MDGs, public and private organisations and individuals should work together. Currently there are 90,000 women health volunteers who work in different corners of the country to spread information on health, provide women with contraceptives, pills and sanitary napkins. We try and reach chors, haors and slums where people have little access to knowledge and instrument of hygiene and sanitation,” says Md Akramul Islam PhD, Program Head, Health, BRAC.

The Bureau of Health Education (BHE) uses multiple ways of campaigns, which include, among others, performing target specific health education activities in selected model villages, rallies (anti-smoking, health and others), folk songs, video shows, uthhan baithhak, film shows, mass media activities, health fairs etc. Bangladesh is on track regarding reducing malnutrition among children, gender access to primary and secondary education and infant mortality, but needs to gear up in areas like skilled birth attendance, antenatal care, safe drinking water, basic sanitation, CO2 emission and poverty. There are other prevailing issues that need attention and development, such as the matter of indigenous people and their land entitlement. Association for Community Development (ACD) started a campaign to identify khas land and prepare deeds for the landless minority families -- the paper work has started. There are other vulnerable groups who need social and infrastructural support such as dalits, hijras and the biharis, for the development of their communities.

According to Britha Mikkelsen's “Methods for development work and research,” the quality of life and well-being should be measured not by people's wealth, but by their freedom. Freedom, or human right, is both the primary aim as well as the principal means of development. More people should become aware of the necessity and importance of this field of study for Bangladesh. More people should help to spread information, should get degrees and short trainings and join people's organisations and work to achieve the MDGs. More people should join the ones who are already working, who do not think twice to manoeuvre to the margins, sit on the unadulterated earth and mud and talk to the ones who live in a completely different reality.

(The writer is a student of English Literature at East West University and Reporter, Star Campus.)