The South Asian nation has made progress in fighting hunger, but it still ranks among 40 countries with a 'serious' level of hunger at a score of 20.4, down from 25.8 last year according to the 2020 report. A high Global Hunger Index (GHI) score could indicate a lack of food, poor diet, inadequate child care, 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 launched online on Friday. The report categorizes countries into moderate, serious, or alarming levels of hunger using the most recent official data from sources such as FAO, UNICEF, and WHO. The impact of the current COVID-19 pandemic is not taken into account in the Index, resulting in a challenge for the world to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development goal of 'Zero Hunger' by 2030. The report shows that hunger and undernutrition have worsened in countries with high levels of hunger, with progress being too slow or even worsening in many places. GHI scores are determined by four component 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 represents a slight improvement from the rate of 13.8 percent in 2012. Additionally, the under-five mortality rate in the country has dropped to 3 percent in 2020 from 4.3 percent in 2012. The COVID-19 pandemic may lead to a potential doubling of the country's poverty rate this year in Bangladesh. Hasina Rahman, Assistant Country Director at Concern Worldwide, emphasized that Bangladesh is at high risk for worsening food and nutrition insecurity due to the various crises of 2020. She stressed the importance of working together to transform food systems to be fair, healthy, and environmentally friendly to address current issues, prevent future crises, and achieve Zero Hunger by 2030. In the region, only Sri Lanka and Nepal have better scores than Bangladesh on the hunger index, with India trailing behind Pakistan and Afghanistan also included in the rankings. The official data for 2020 does not yet account for the impact of COVID-19 on countries. The text emphasizes that existing vulnerabilities to food insecurity have been highlighted by recent events. Concern Worldwide Chief Executive Dominic MacSorley notes that the world was already off track to achieve Zero Hunger by 2030 even before COVID-19, and the current economic downturn is worsening the situation globally. The combination of multiple crises, including climate change and conflict, is rapidly increasing food insecurity for millions, particularly for the most vulnerable populations. COVID-19 has revealed the shortcomings of the world's food system in dealing with simultaneous global crises. Experts suggest that a comprehensive and integrated approach to global and environmental health is necessary to reach the goal of Zero Hunger by 2030.