The South Asian nation has made progress in the fight against hunger, but still ranks among 40 countries with a high GHI score of 20.4, down from 25.8 last year. A high GHI score can indicate issues such as food scarcity, poor diet quality, inadequate child care practices, and unhealthy environments. The GHI ranks 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. Countries are classified into moderate, serious, or alarming hunger levels based on the most recent official data from sources like FAO, UNICEF, and WHO. The Index does not currently reflect the 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. The Global Hunger Index indicates that hunger and undernutrition have worsened in countries with high hunger levels. Progress in many countries is slow or even deteriorating, according to the report. GHI scores are calculated based on four indicators: undernourishment, child wasting, child stunting, and child mortality. According to the index, Bangladesh has made significant progress in reducing child stunting, with a decrease of 12.8 percentage points between 2012 and 2020. However, undernourishment continues to be a problem, affecting 13 percent of the population. This is a slight improvement from the rate of 13.8 percent in 2012. Additionally, the under-five mortality rate in the country has decreased to 3 percent in 2020, down from 4.3 percent in 2012. The COVID-19 pandemic may lead to a potential doubling of the country's poverty rate this year. Hasina Rahman, Assistant Country Director at Concern Worldwide, highlighted Bangladesh's vulnerability to worsening food and nutrition insecurity due to the overlapping crises of 2020. She emphasized the need for collective action to reshape food systems to be fair, healthy, and environmentally friendly in order to address current crises, prevent future ones, and work towards Zero Hunger by 2030. Bangladesh ranks lower on the index compared to Sri Lanka and Nepal, who have 'moderate' levels of hunger. India is behind Pakistan in the rankings, with Afghanistan also featuring in the index. The 2020 rankings do not yet reflect the impact of COVID-19 on countries. It is clear that existing vulnerabilities to food insecurity have been highlighted by recent events. Concern Worldwide Chief Executive Dominic MacSorley stated that even before COVID-19, the world was not on track to achieve Zero Hunger by 2030. The economic downturn, along with other crises such as climate change and conflict, has worsened the situation. COVID-19 has revealed the shortcomings of the world's food system in dealing with multiple crises. Experts suggest that a holistic approach to global and environmental health is necessary to achieve Zero Hunger by 2030.