Child Development to Human Capital: Leveraging Social Protection for Social Mobility

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Dhaka, 17 May 2026: BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD) and Oxford Policy Management (OPM) brought together government officials and representatives from development agencies, academia and civil society in an event which highlighted the causal connections between early childhood development (ECD), education, poverty, and social mobility, and identified social protection strategies that could address these issues. Investing in children, whether through supporting parents to provide early stimulation, pre-primary education, nutrition, health or family income, promotes a population equipped to face the challenges and embrace the opportunities of the 21st century.

BIGD and OPM co-created the event, with researchers from OPM programmes, DEEP and Thrive, with the aim of promoting dialogue between research and policy while making the case for integrating early childhood development and social protection into the Bangladesh national poverty strategy to create the conditions for increased social mobility.

This brief explores how social protection can contribute to human capital development and upward social mobility in Bangladesh, drawing on evidence and insights from the workshop. Workshop presentations and discussions reviewed evidence on interventions that have demonstrated positive impacts and reflected on the key structural constraints Bangladesh faces in this area. They highlighted actionable reforms that the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Planning could undertake as part of ongoing social protection considerations.