Poverty reduction by creating new jobs is the biggest challenge for the government as a large number of urban people working in informal sector have already lost their jobs during covid-19 pandemic.
Urban people, mainly day laborers, rickshaw pullers, kindergarten school teaches, construction workers and other non-government workers in different municipal areas have lost their income source in last eight months.
Although municipal authorities with the help of government and other organisations are trying to resolve the crisis, the resources are very limited.
Speakers came up with these remarks at a webinar on “Lessons learned from Covid-19 impact by the municipalities of Bangladesh and recommendations for effective prevention through policy advocacy” organised by Municipal Association of Bangladesh (MAB) on Monday.
Urban Development Journalist Forum, Bangladesh (UDJFB) was the co-organiser of the programme while Livelihoods Improvement of Urban Poor Communities Project (LIUPCP) and Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) gave the financial and technical support.
MAB president Dewan Kamal Ahmed presided over the webinar, and former president of UDJFB Amitush Paul moderated the programme.
Mayors and councilors from different municipalities in Bangladesh expressed their experiences and challenges of their activities at the webinar.
More than 4.5 crore people are living in 329 municipalities in Bangladesh. From these municipalities, about 35 mayors, 60 councilors and 185 employees of these municipalities were infected with covid-19 until Monday.
Shoriatpur Municipality Mayor MdRafiqul Islam, also the Secretary General of MAB, presented the keynote papeer at the webinar.
He said, “Mayors and local representatives are working mainly on ‘advocacy’ and ‘building public awareness’ on coronavirus. To build awareness and ensure social distancing, we have distributed leaflets and masks among the people. Besides, we are also distributing relief among worst affected people within our limited resources.”
Nilphamari Municipality Mayor Dewan Kamal Ahmed, President of MAB, said, “We, the mayors, are working relentlessly for the people during this pandemic. Although municipalities are not getting enough funds, we are working for the people with our own fund. However, our activities are not being publicized.”
Faridpur Municipality Mayor said, “Day labourers like construction workers lost their earning as most of the development activities came to a standstill. Besides, van and rickshaw pullers and kindergarten school teachers are also living an inhuman life.”
Social Development Adviser to FCDO Anowarul Haq said, “More people living in urban areas have lost their source of income than in villages. The role of public representatives is very crucial during the pandemic.”
“The poverty rate on average has increased to 30 percent which was around 22 percent before the pandemic. Even if the economy turns around now, the poverty rate will be around 27 percent. The country needs at least two years to recover the losses,” he added.
Yugesh Pradhanang, International Technical Advisor to LIUPCP of UNDP Bangladesh, said, “We know how badly affected are the poor people due to financial crisis. About 25 percent people have lost their jobs. The income of around 40 percent household has decreased.”
He also said, “In this situation, we have provided food to 70,000 households. We will continue extending our help for the poor people under LIUPCP project.”
Bogra Municipality Mayor Advocate AKM Mahbubur Rahman said, “Bogra is one of the biggest municipalities in the country were about seven lakh people live. However, the fund from government is very limited. We could not provide support to poor people as there is no fund. Support for the poor people should be increased.”
Jhinaidha Municipality Mayor Sydul Karim said, “Many employees working in local shops have lost their job in the pandemic. We did not see any activities of NGO in my area.”
Among others, Gopalganj Municipality Mayor Kazi Liakat Ali, Faridpur Municipality Mayor Kamruzzaman Mazed, Madaripur Municipality Mayor Khalid Hossain, UDJFB president Motin Abdullah and general secretary of UDJFB Shohel Mamun, were also spoke.
