Resource Type: Technical Brief
Authors: Hossain Zillur Rahman, Mohammad Abdul Wazed
Published: June 2018

Resource Description: Bangladesh has rich experience in implementing a large number of social safety net programs (SSNPs) that rely on targeting as a key operational tool. One priority, which remains significantly under-addressed, is the poverty risk associated with high out-of-pocket (OOP) expenditure on healthcare. With the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that prioritize Universal Health Coverage (UHC) as Goal 3.8, new programming initiatives must ensure inclusion of the poor to help achieve UHC. However, targeting the poor presents both design and implementation challenges for programs. It is thus very timely that the Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC) with support from USAID’s Health Finance and Governance (HFG) project undertook a qualitative study exploring a more effective pro-poor targeting strategy with the end-goal of informing new program initiatives about better inclusion of the poor for UHC. The study was a qualitative review of targeting approaches used in six selected programs covering both health and non-health sectors, and implemented by both government and non-government organizations (NGOs). The qualitative review was supplemented by a brief literature review and a summary look at the Government’s new initiative to establish a national household database for assisting better targeting by SSNPs.