Policy responses to the emerging population ageing in Bangladesh: a developing country’s experience

Mehedi Hasan Khan, Department of Population Sciences, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh

This paper reviews the policy interventions addressing the emerging ageing issues in the population and development dynamics context of a developing country in Bangladesh. Although the percentage seems not that high (6.6% in 2007), the continuously increasing absolute number of the elderly since the 1950’s (from 1.9 million in 1951 to 9.4 million in 2007) is quite alarming. This sheer number would become a serious development factor for the country’s underdevelopment situation. Disintegration of different traditional institutions related to the welfare of the elderly is degrading them into a vulnerable group. Although some policy interventions from different levels are being executed, these are not adequate enough to address the issues. This paper suggests to take this population dynamics positively and initiate appropriate policies and its implementation for the betterment of this population as well as to integrate the issues in the mainstream development activities for a sustainable future of Bangladesh.