Early Years Programs: Sowing the Seeds for a Brighter Future

Reaping the gains

Bangladesh's National Social Security Strategy and Five-Year Plan prioritize programs that invest in early childhood development, focusing on interventions from conception to the first 1,000 days of a child's life. Multiple pilots, such as Shombhob and the Transfer Modality Research Initiative (TMRI), demonstrated that cash transfers combined with behavior change communication led to substantial improvements in maternal knowledge and practices and a significantly lower incidence of wasting and stunting.

Scaling Up: Income Support Program for the Poorest-Jawtno

Building on the success of the Shombhob and TMRI pilots, in 2015, the government launched the Income Support Program for the Poorest (ISPP)-also known as Jawtno, meaning care in Bangla-which is the first of its kind to incentivize mothers to utilize health and counseling services to promote better health and readiness for school for their children. The program supports 600,000 poor pregnant women and mothers with children under 5 with cash payments to incentivize their use of services focused on improving their children's nutrition and cognitive development. The program benefits the poorest households across 43 Upazilas with high child malnutrition and poverty rates in seven districts, namely, Jamalpur, Mymensingh, Sherpur, Gaibandha, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, and Nilphamari.

Program beneficiaries withdraw quarterly payments between BDT 1200-1800 (US$14-21) using their biometrically authenticated cash cards at the Union Parishad Post Offices. To qualify for the payment, a pregnant woman needs to make at least four antenatal care visits to the community clinics; mothers of children under five need to ensure children's regular growth monitoring, and all beneficiaries need to attend monthly counseling sessions. These sessions cover topics such as pregnancy care; child feeding practices and healthy diet; immunization, health, and hygiene; social and language development, and parenting tools.

The program is implemented by the Local Government Division through Union-level program staff, who coordinate with community clinics and health centers, and the Union Post Office.