State of Governance in Bangladesh 2020–2021 - Governing COVID-19 in Bangladesh: Realities and Reflections to Build Forward Better

The State of Governance 2020–2021 report by the BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD), BRAC University, and the Accountability Research Center, American University, assesses the governance of COVID-19 in Bangladesh to document how policies were made and delivered, analyse the responses of political and government institutions, and derive lessons from the ongoing pandemic to support s. [...] The framework used to research and analyse the governance of the pandemic draws on broad insights into the political economy of the pandemic in Bangladesh: the political dominance of the ruling Awami League party, the government’s imperatives to demonstrate “performance” as a source of legitimacy, and the limited capacity of the state to impose unpopular policies despite having a relatively strong. [...] These include, at the minimum: the prevalence and spread of the virus; the porousness of the country’s borders; existing health services and health status of the population; capacities to track, trace, test, and vaccinate; capacities to take effective and appropriate policy decisions, often unpopular or costly, and to enforce those decisions; resources and infrastructure to support populations thr. [...] The framework draws attention to the state capacity and the political commitment to protect citizens from the virus and mitigate the economic and social costs of managing the crisis. [...] Chapter 5: Achievements and Challenges in the COVID-19 Relief Program The government attempted a substantial relief program for the poor and vulnerable people of the country throughout the first wave of the virus in 2020.