Uncompromising Stance On Empowering Women

The current government is committed to attaining the MDG 2015 of gender equality and empowering women as well as implementing the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Beijing Platform for Action. Bangladesh has already substantially achieved the MDG3 as it has secured gender parity in primary and secondary education at the national level. This positive development has occurred due to specific government interventions focusing on girl students, such as stipends and exemption of tuition fees for girls in rural areas, and the stipend scheme for girls at the secondary level. Thus, the UNDP has commented that “Bangladesh has made significant progress in promoting the objectives of ensuring gender equality and empowerment of women”.

The current government under the leadership of Sheikh Hasina has been working relentlessly for ensuring women’s overall development by affording them equal and active participation in the mainstream socio-economic activities and removing the various impediments to their empowerment. According to the “Global Gender Gap Report 2012” Bangladesh was ranked 8th globally in terms of political empowerment of women due to Sheikh Hasina government’s pro-women policies. Bangladesh outperformed its neighbours India and Pakistan in the Gender Inequality Index (GII), a composite index that measures the cost of gender inequality to human development. It ranks 111th on the GII compared to 123rd for Pakistan and 133rd for India.

A Range Of Economic And Social Measures

To expedite women’s economic empowerment, comprehensive initiatives have been undertaken by providing extensive training, creating job opportunities, ensuring participation in labour market and providing support to small and medium women entrepreneurs. Extensive social safety net programmes have been undertaken to provide various kinds of allowances, such as destitute women allowance, maternity and lactating mother allowance, disabled women allowance, divorced women allowance etc. Vulnerable Group Feeding (VGF) is carried out for ensuring food security to vulnerable extreme poor women.

For the economic empowerment of rural women, collateral free micro-credit is given with 5% service charge. Women entrepreneurs receive 10% of the Small Enterprise Fund and 10% industrial plots. Currently more than 3 million women are working in the RMG sector alone. Bangladesh has enhanced its women labor force from 24% in 2010 to 36% in 2013. Like the year before, gender sensitive budgets were prepared for 40 ministries in the recently passed Budget 2014-15, and a special allocation of TK.1 billion was provided for development of women specifically, which is in addition to the sector and ministry wise allocations.

Women’s participation in agricultural production is facilitated through access to agricultural technologies and loans given for agro-processing, homestead gardens, nurseries, bee-keeping and other activities. Marginal and landless farmers, of whom 50% are women, are being given support. Enhanced participation and livelihood of rural poor women is a priority programme of the government implemented through the “One House, One Farm Project”, which gives priority to female households in every village.

To encourage women entrepreneurship, a number of financial incentives are provided. Between 2010 and 2013, banks and non-bank financial institutions has disbursed TK 67 billion to 57,722 women entrepreneurs from their own sources. In 2010, 13,831 women entrepreneurs received TK 18 billion; in 2011, 16,696 women entrepreneurs received TK 20 billion; and in 2012, 17,362 women entrepreneurs received TK 22 billion as SME credit. This indicates that disbursement towards women entrepreneurs has been increasing both in amount and numbers.

Women entrepreneurs can get advantage of re-financing both from ADB fund and Bangladesh Bank fund. Women are getting credit at concessional rate of 10% interest. 15% refinance fund is reserved for women entrepreneurs. Women are also entitled to SME loan upto Tk 2.5 million free of collateral, only against personal guarantee. Moreover, all banks and NBFIs have opened women entrepreneur dedicated desks through which bank officials are providing information and service to women entrepreneurs.

Maternity And Health

Keeping in mind the needs of mothers, the current government extended maternity leave for expecting mothers from four months to six months. Bangladesh has made tremendous success in cutting down maternal mortality rate (MMR) drastically. MMR has declined by more than 66% over the last two decades and is dropping around 5.5% each year which makes Bangladesh highly likely to achieve the target of 143 deaths per 100,000 live births under the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 2015.

According to a 2013 survey by different UN organisations, the estimated MMR in Bangladesh stood at 170 per 100,000 live births. The current government plans to reduce MMR to 63 per 100,000 live births by 2030. Steps have been taken for delivery of primary healthcare services through community clinics to rural, marginal and vulnerable women. Model women friendly district hospitals have been established. Maternal Health Voucher Schemes provides a voucher package of three ante-natal checkups, safe delivery under skilled birth attendants, one post-natal checkup and transport cost.

Education

To empower women, the current government led by Sheikh Hasina has attached top priority to girls’ education. Primary education is compulsory and free for all children aged between age 6 and 10. All children attending primary and secondary schools receive textbooks free of cost. The education of girls up to grade XII in public institutions is also free. To encourage girl students to continue their studies and also to reduce drop-out rates, stipends are awarded. This proactive strategy for girls’ education resulted in gender parity. For example, in primary schools, female enrolment is now 51% and in secondary schools it is now 53%, while male is 47 percent, a sharp departure from even just a few years ago when male was 65% and female was 35%.

National Women Development Policy 2011

One of the principal steps taken for women empowerment by the Awami League led government after coming to power in 2009 was the formulation of the National Women Development Policy 2011 which makes provisions for women to get equal share of property and avail opportunity and business. The policy upholds the rights of all women irrespective of their religions. The Policy asks the State to provide women with full control over their right to land, earned property, health, education, training, information, inheritance, credit, technology and opportunity to earn and enact necessary new laws to put these rights into practice. In August 2013, Ministry of Women and Children Affairs formulated a national work plan for implementing the Women Development Policy 2011. It should be noted that the government of Sheikh Hasina has not bulged from its commitment to ensure equality of all women in Bangladesh despite the 2011 Policy facing severe, often violent, resistance from religious extremists groups like Jamaat E Islami or Hefazate Islam.

Combating Violence Against Women

In December 2010, Parliament passed the Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Act 2010, which was the first express recognition of the problem of domestic violence in Bangladesh by the State. This Act signified Bangladesh’s fulfillment of state obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) as well as Article 28 of the Constitution, guaranteeing special measures for the advancement of women and children. In order to effectively implement this law, the government has formulated the Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Rules 2013.

Other laws enacted by the current government for combating violence against women include Prevention and Restraint of Human Trafficking Act 2012 and the Pornography Control Act 2011. In addition to enactment of laws, one stop crises centers in 7 divisions are providing medical treatment, legal support, policy assistance and rehabilitation to the victims. DNA profiling lab and DNA screening labs have been established in few national hospitals for effective investigation of gender based offences such as rape.

Victim support centers are run by trained, professional women officers making the center more approachable for women victims. Training on international laws and conventions are being imparted to judges, and law enforcement agencies to make them conversant with the existing international framework on violence against women and gender sensitivity. The Ministry of Women and Children Affairs (MoWCA) operates a Central Cell to ensure coordination of work on prevention of violence against women and children and extends necessary support to the victims of violence. The MOWCA now maintains a helpline (10921) to provide legal, medical, rehabilitation and counselling help to victims of violence.

Ending Early And Child Marriages

A nationwide campaign to accelerate action against child marriage called “Girls, Not Brides” was initiated by the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina herself. In Bangladesh, the practice of child marriage has declined in the last two decades. The marriageable age for women is 18, but 20 years ago 52% of the nation’s women would be married within 15 years of age. At present this rate has declined to 17%. The proportion of women marrying in their early teens continues to decline as a result of education, employment and social awareness. The Child Marriage Act of 1929 is being amended and the first Children’s Act has been introduced to ensure the wellbeing of children. Recently, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina pledged to eliminate child marriage from Bangladesh by 2040 while attending the first ever Girl Summit in UK on 22nd July 2014.

Women In Politics, Administration And Security

In order to enhance women’s empowerment, the number of seats reserved for women in the National Parliament have been increased by 5, and made 50. There has been a sharp increase in the number of women parliamentarians elected (20% of total seats) in the last national election. To create opportunities for women’s increased participation in politics, reserved seats for women in union council, Upazila Parishd and municipalities have been increased to one third of the total and women are to be directly elected to those seats. More than 12,000 women were elected as public representatives in the last round of local government elections.

At present in Bangladesh, the Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition, Speaker and Deputy Leader of the House are all women. Number of women among the Justices of the Supreme Court, top positions of the administration – secretaries, additional secretaries, joint secretaries, deputy commissioners, top positions of police, armed forces and UN peacekeepers, indicates improvement in women’s empowerment. This has been possible due to a reserve quota created by this government for women employment at every level of administration to enhance women participation in government jobs.

Gender perspective has been integrated into Bangladeshi peacekeeping missions too. Bangladesh is now the top contributor of female police officers to the United Nations Peacekeeping Operations as Formed Police Unit. Bangladesh female peacekeepers have placed themselves as key driving force to reduce gender-based violence, conflict and confrontation, providing sense of security especially for women and children, mentoring female police officer in the local area and thus empowering women in the host country and promoting social cohesion. Presently 190 female officers from Bangladesh are working in different peace keeping missions around the world.

Looking Towards The Future

In its recent report to the UN General Assembly the Government of Bangladesh has identified the critical importance of addressing both poverty and inequality and putting gender equality and women’s empowerment at the centre of the new post-2015 development agenda. The goals set out in the report include a standalone goal on gender equality and women’s empowerment with four main priorities: eliminating violence against women and girls, women’s economic empowerment, participation in decision-making including in the home, and eliminating child marriage. If performance in the recent past is any indicator, then it is safe to be optimistic that Bangladesh would also be able to achieve the post-2015 goals for women’s empowerment. Under the bold and committed leadership of Sheikh Hasina and her government, no challenges look insurmountable for the women of Bangladesh.