The South Asian nation has shown progress in addressing hunger, but still ranks among 40 countries where hunger remains a serious issue with a score of 20.4 on the Global Hunger Index. A high GHI score can indicate a lack of food, poor diet quality, inadequate child care practices, unhealthy environment, or a combination of these factors. The GHI rates countries on a scale of 0 to 100, with 0 being the best score (no hunger) and 100 being the worst. The 2020 Global Hunger Index, jointly published by Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe, was released online on Friday. The report classifies countries into levels of moderate, serious, or alarming hunger based on the most recent official data from sources like FAO, UNICEF, and WHO. The Index does not take into account the current impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The report warns that achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development goal of 'Zero Hunger' by 2030 will be a significant challenge. GHI scores indicate that hunger and undernutrition have worsened in countries with high levels of hunger. The report also notes that progress in many countries is slow or even regressing. GHI scores are calculated based on four indicators: undernourishment, child wasting, child stunting, and child mortality. Based on the index, Bangladesh has seen a significant decrease in child stunting, with a 12.8 percentage point drop between 2012 and 2020. However, there is still an issue with undernourishment, affecting 13 percent of the population, which is a slight improvement from 13.8 percent in 2012. Additionally, the under-five mortality rate has decreased to 3 percent in 2020 from 4.3 percent in 2012. The country is also facing a potential doubling of the poverty rate this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, Hasina Rahman, Assistant Country Director at Concern Worldwide, highlighted that Bangladesh is highly susceptible to increased food and nutrition insecurity due to the intersecting Health, Economic, and Environmental crises of 2020. She emphasized the importance of collaborating to transform food systems to be equitable, healthy, and eco-friendly to combat current challenges, prevent future crises, and work towards achieving Zero Hunger by 2030. According to the latest index, Sri Lanka and Nepal have lower levels of hunger compared to Bangladesh, while India ranks lower than Pakistan and Afghanistan is also included in the index. The rankings for 2020 have not yet accounted for the impact of COVID-19 on these countries. That being said, it clearly indicates where existing vulnerabilities to food insecurity are located. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the world was already not on track to achieve Zero Hunger by 2030. This negative trend has been significantly worsened by the events of this year, with the economic downturn affecting all parts of the world. The significant impact of these multiple crises, along with the ongoing challenges of climate change and conflict, is rapidly increasing food and nutrition insecurity for millions, particularly for those who were already most at risk. COVID-19 has revealed the serious deficiencies of the world's food system and its inability to address overlapping global and regional crises. Experts believe that only by adopting an integrated and holistic approach to global and environmental health can we hope to achieve Zero Hunger by 2030.