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the European Commission's Delegation

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Bangladesh at a glance
Geography Land and Population
Land Area (sq km) 144,000 sq km
Bangladesh is situated in the north-east of
South Asia. It is guarded by the Himalayas in Population 141+ million (2004)
the north, the Bay of Bengal in the south, the Population Density 950 (2004)
gangetic plains of Indian West Bengal, and
Population Growth Rate 1.3% (2004)
the almost impassable forest of Myanmar and
India to the east.
Politics
A deltaic region, much of the country's land Prof. Dr. Iajuddin
Ahmed (Sworn in as
area has been built up from alluvial deposits
President 17th President on
from the major rivers. The land is mostly flat the 6th September,
except for a range of hills in the south-east 2002)
and it is characterised by wooded marsh
Last Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia
lands and jungles with forest regions
October,
Last national election
2001(Parliamentary)
History Next parliamentary 2007 (date to be
election determined)
The earliest mention of Bangladesh is in the
Hindu epic, the Mahabharata from the 9th
Economic Indicators
century B.C. It is thought that there was then
a strong Mongoloid presence. Soon after, in GDP per capita 445 US$ (FY 2005)
the 5th and 6th centuries B.C. came the GDP growth rate 5.38% (FY 2005)
Aryans from Central Asia and the Dravidians GNI per capita (p.p.p) 1770 US$
from Western India. They were followed by
GNI per capita 470 US$ (FY 2005)
the Guptas, Palas and Senas, who were
Buddhist and Hindu. 6.32 %
Rate of inflation
Gross Reserves 3.02 bn US$
The 13th century A.D marked the beginning International reserves
2.6 bn US$(FY 2005)
of a series of Muslim invasions that was to (in months of imports)
last for 500 years. From the 15th century the
Europeans, namely Portuguese, Dutch, Social Indicators
French and British traders exerted an
Human Development
economic influence over the region. British 0.520
Indicator (HDI, 2005)
political rule over the region began in 1757
HDI rank 139 (out of 177)
A.D. when the last Muslim ruler of Bengal was
defeated. Life expectancy at birth 62.80 years
Infant mortality 54 (year of
(per 1.000 live births) reference 2005)
After the end of British rule in 1947 the land Child malnutrition 52.0% (year of
was divided along religious lines, creating a (% of children under 5) reference 2002)
central, predominantly Hindu, India, and a
Illiteracy (% population 58.9% (year of
separate independent state of Pakistan. As
age 15+) reference 2003)
the majority of Muslims lived in the extreme
east and west of the country, the British Net Primary Enrolment
84.0% (year of
decided to split Pakistan into two (% of school age
reference 2003)
geographical parts – East and West – with a population)
single government (housed in Lahore, in the
West). Religion
Muslims 86.6%
Present day Bangladesh was then known as Hindus 12.1%
East Pakistan. But the movement for Buddhists 0.6%
autonomy started within a couple of years Christian 0.4%
because of linguistic, cultural and economic
Others 0.3%
disparity between the two wings. The seeds
of independence were sown through the All data from 2002 unless indicated
Language Movement of 1952 that established
Bangla as the state language.

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Bangladesh newspapers (english)

In December 1971, after the bloody
nine-month-long War of Liberation, the then New Age
East Pakistan emerged as the sovereign and
The Daily Star
independent state of Bangladesh (land of
Bangla). It is uncertain how many The Independent
Bangladeshis were killed during the war, but
Bangladesh Today
commonly cited estimates fall in the range of
300,000 to 3000,000. The Financial Express

Political context

The country is officially known as the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. It has a Parliamentary
form of Government. The President is the Head of State and the Government is headed by
the Prime Minister.

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (alias Bangabandhu), became the first Prime Minister of the
independent Bangladesh. He was the leader of the Awami League, and is seen as the father
of the independence movement. He was also the father of the present leader of the Awami
League, Sheikh Hasina. Bangabandhu was assassinated in 1975.

Major Ziaur Rahman founded the Bangladesh National Party (BNP) and, following
Bangabandhu's death, declared himself president via a military coup. He was married to the
present leader of the BNP, Khaleda Zia, and his assassination in 1981 ushered in a further
nine years of military-backed régimes.

The first democratic parliamentary elections took place in 1991 with the instalment of a
centre-right BNP government headed by Khaleda Zia.

The second general elections, held in June 1996 under a non-partisan Caretaker
Government, resulted in the return to power of the Awami League, led by Sheikh Hasina. In
1999 the BNP formed a four-party opposition alliance.

The third parliamentary elections took place in October 2001, again under a Caretaker
Government and the BNP alliance won with a two-thirds majority. The term ended in October
2006.

In Bangladesh, politics pervades all socio-economic organisations and political violence is

widespread. The political climate is marked by bitter animosity between rival parties and
leaders, especially between the Awami League on one side and the BNP and Islamist parties
on the other.

The run-up to the 2007 parliamentary elections has been characterised by acute differences
between the major parties regarding the composition and functioning of the Election
Commission and the Caretaker Government. In an unprecedented move, President Iajuddin
Ahmed was sworn in as Chief Advisor in October 2006, thereby serving as both Head of State
and of Government during the interim government period. He resigned as Chief Advisor in
January 2007 and was replaced by Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed, a former governor of Bangladesh
Bank. With a state of emergency presently in force, the parliamentary elections have now
been postponed.The pre-election period has been marred by violence resulting in deaths and
many injuries.

Extremism

Terrorism has emerged as a major challenge in Bangladesh in recent years. There have been
numerous attacks at shrines, university events, and judicial offices. In August 2005 a highly
coordinated nationwide series of explosions took place. Between 300 and 460 bombs are
estimated to have been detonated.

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The majority of these attacks have been attributed to extremist Islamist parties, such as the
Jamaatuul Mujaheedin Bangladesh (JMB) and the Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB).
Although the government outlawed these parties in February 2005, attacks have continued.

The Government has taken other steps to tackle terrorism and several key ringleaders have
been convicted and face the death penalty for their role in atrocities.

Human Rights

Bangladesh has an encouraging legal framework to ensure the protection and promotion of
human rights; there is a generally open, democratic, multi-party system with freedoms of
expression and assembly, and Bangladesh has ratified all the main international human
rights treaties. In spite of this, however, the country is marred by a poor human security
situation.

There are widespread abuses and infringements of civil rights by security forces. Each year
there are over one hundred cases of extrajudicial killings by law-enforcing agencies, the
majority of which are carried out by the special security force, the Rapid Action Battalion
(RAB), followed by the police. Many deaths are attributed to "crossfire".

Ethnic and religious minority groups, such as the Urdu-speaking Bihari Bangladeshis and
Hindus, face persecution. The low-caste Hindu Dalits, (Untouchables) are treated as pariahs.

There is a free press but journalists face a regular threat of violence and a culture of
impunity reigns over violent attacks by extremists against journalists and political/human
rights activists. Lax enforcement of most economic and social rights contributes to a poor
state of governance.

Women still form a marked underclass. Around 50% of women are estimated to have
experienced domestic violence. The ratio of female to male earned income is 0.54[1]. and
although the leaders of the two main political parties are female, women still only hold 8.3%
of the parliamentary seats[2].

The situation for children is alarming. Almost 50% of children are underweight for their age,
1 million live on the streets and about 17% are involved in child labour and at least 3 million
children of primary school age receive no education. Bangladesh has nonetheless made
important progress in several key areas, including achieving gender parity in primary
education.

There are currently around 20,000 Rohingya refugees living in degrading conditions in the
two official camps in southeast Bangladesh. Efforts to find a permanent solution to this
problem, for example through local integration, have not been accepted by the Government
of Bangladesh, which favours repatriation to Burma/Myanmar as the preferred option. The
European Commission continues to fund a major UNHCR programme to deliver relief to the
camps.

The Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) region is a distinct socio- geographical area in south-eastern
Bangladesh, (comprised of Rangamati, Bandarban and Khagrachari districts) that suffered
prolonged armed conflict until the 1997 Peace Accord. The rights of the indigenous
population of CHT, including those relating to land ownership and elections to the Hill District
Councils, have not been fully recognised.

Good Governance

One of the greatest challenges remains to address the structural poverty of the country – the
main factors of which are an unequal distribution of productive assets, inequitable
distribution of income, massive under-employment and low levels of human resource
development. To these must be added an unbalanced social system, a low level of law and

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order, endemic corruption and a lack of good governance.

Effective poverty alleviation is impossible without good governance. It is therefore essential

to enhance capacity to establish good governance practices, greater accountability and
transparency as well as building efficient, well managed and responsive institutions.

The EC is concentrating on a Human-Rights-based approach to improving human

development indicators, with in-built good governance and institution building elements. The
EC is committed to mainstreaming good governance and institution building in all its
development and economic cooperation with Bangladesh.

Social Structure

Bangladesh has made major progress in improving the standard of living of its people over
the past two decades. It has successfully reduced the fertility rate from 7 to 3.13 births per
woman; infant mortality rates have fallen to 54 per thousand live births and life expectancy
is now 62.80 years.

The population growth rate fell from over 3% in the 1970s to 2.09% in 2005. Primary
education enrolments have doubled in less than 20 years and the adult illiteracy rate has
fallen to 41.10%.

Bangladesh belongs to the countries in its region having made most progress on the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), having already reached four MDGs.

At the same time, development needs are still huge; 82.8 % of the population live on under
$2 a day, and efforts to achieve nine MDGs by 2015 are not on track. The new
EC-Bangladesh Country Strategy Paper (2007 – 2013), in alliance with Bangladesh's own
Poverty Reduction Strategy paper, issued in November 2005, sets a solid strategic
framework as to how these challenges can be reached.

Economic Structure

Bangladesh remains a largely agrarian country. The total cultivable area is around 24 million
acres and there are a little more than 14.5 million cultivators. Major agricultural products are
rice, jute, wheat, potato, pulses, sugarcane, tea, tobacco etc. Tea, leather and frozen shrimp
are also major foreign exchange earners. There has also been a rapid growth in
manufacturing industries, which offer a wide range of exportable goods such as leather goods
and ready-made garments.

At the beginning of the 1990s, significant strides were taken towards pro-market reform.

In the second half of the 1990s annual economic growth level was maintained at an average
of 5.1% (below the originally targeted 7%), and inflation at a single-digit rate. Per capita
income levels still remain distressingly low at around US$1 per day. Despite significant
achievements in the '90s in macro-economic stability, a major problem remains the narrow
tax base and poor tax collection.

Agriculture, to a large degree based on subsistence farming, is still (FY 2005) the most
important sector with a 21.91% share in the GDP and around 63% of the total labour force.

The public banking sector remains a handicap to sound economic development. Although the
share of non-performing loans (NPLs) to total lending has been declining in the recent years,
the state-owned banks are still burdened with NPLs. From September 2005, the gross share
of NPLs in total lending stood at 34.52% for state-owned specialised banks and 24.47% for
state-owned commercial banks.

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The composition of the export basket is a further significant problem. Almost 85% of
Bangladesh’s world exports are ready-made garments. The heavy dependence on this sector
brings about a considerable vulnerability of the country’s economy to world economic
developments. The sector also faces significant challenges in improving working conditions
for its workers in line with growing demands from the market for manufacturers to fulfil
“social compliance” requirements. Terrible incidents, such as factory fires, and regular
protests against low wages and poor conditions, have created instability in the industry in
recent years.

[1]According to UNDP Human Development Report 2005

[2]According to UNDP Human Development Report 2005

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