Malnutrition in Bangladesh: Harnessing social protection for the most vulnerable

Social protection is a human right and a means for states to protect their most vulnerable citizens. Bangladesh’s current social protection system is fragmented and ineffective – in 2010 reaching just 35% of those living below the poverty line. As the Government of Bangladesh leads a significant reform of its National Social Security Strategy, harnessing the potential of social protection for nutrition is vital.

The report guides the reader through a pathways approach to understand how developing social protection across the lifecycle – with a greater focus on nutrition behaviour change, adolescent girls, early marriage, empowering women and the 1,000-day window of opportunity between a woman’s pregnancy and her child’s second birthday – will help shape healthier and more prosperous futures for all.  

Essential lessons are shared on an integrated approach to tackling malnutrition through social protection internationally, the importance of national systems and contextual programme design.