Women Empowerment and Bangladesh

“Without gender equality and a full role for women in society, in the economy, in
governance, we will not be able to achieve the world we hoped for.” – Phumzile Mlambo,
UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director, UN Women
Women’s empowerment is a core issue of contemporary development. It underscores the notion
that women are active agents, not passive recipients of development outcomes. Indeed, without
empowering women–half the world’s population–national emancipation and development remain
a far cry. The achievement of gender equality by empowering women is the fifth of 17 Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) laid out in the Sustainable Development Agenda adopted by UN
Member States in 2015.
Women Empowerment:
“Think like a queen. A queen is not afraid to fail. Failure is another stepping stone to
greatness.” ― Oprah Winfrey.
Women empowerment refers to allowing women the power of participation in the
decision-making process of all the fields leading to a quality life. Empowering women is
the process of making women independent in all aspects of thoughts, rights, decisions,
and actions.

Economic

Social Political

Women
Empowerment

Political Economic

Women Educational
Empowerment

Social
Physiological

Fig: Dimension & Types of of Women’s Economic, Politic and Social Empowerment
Women Empowerment can be achieved by…

Women Empowerment in Bangladesh:

According to the latest ‘Population and Housing Census 2022’ Report of Bangladesh
Bureau of Statistics (BBS), ‘Female population of Bangladesh now 8.33cr, male 8.17cr’

Bangladesh will transit from a middle-income country to a developed country by 2041 with the
joint efforts of the country's men and women. Bangladesh has become the world's role model in
women's empowerment. The country's progress in women's political, social and economic
empowerment is today appreciated by all over the world. Bangladesh is at the top among South
Asian countries in establishing gender equality.In this regards Honorable Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina has said “I believe sustainable future of our planet is a shared responsibility
of our women and men. We have arrived at a time in our history when gender equality is
no longer an aspiration, but a real possibility everywhere.”
Some Example of Woman Empowerment in Bangladesh which represent the scenario of
Women empowerment of Bangladesh.
 Selina Hossain: President of the Bangla Academy
 Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury:- Speaker of the Jatiya Sangsad
 Rabab Fatima: Representative of the United Nations for the least developed countries,
landlocked developing countries and Small Island developing states (UNOHRLLS)
 Sheikh Hasina:
  13th prime Minister of Bangladesh
 The Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA)
Position: Vice President (2021-2023)

The State of women empowerment in Bangladesh:

Bangladesh has made remarkable progress in the last 20 years in improving the lives of women
and girls. Bangladesh has been named as the most gender-equal country in South Asia for the
eighth consecutive year in the Global Gender Gap Report 2022.
According to the report of the World Economic Forum, “The country is the only one to have
closed more than 70% of the gender gap among others in the region.”

(N.B 2023 এর ররপ োর্ট প্রকোরিত হয়রি এখপিো)

"Bangladesh is comparatively doing well in gender parity. It has been outperforming other
South Asian countries for a long time. If we look at Bangladesh's performance in the major
indices, we'll notice that the performance is satisfactory,"-Fahmida Khatun
Executive director of the Centre for Policy Dialogue
Women’s right in the constitution of Bangladesh:
The Constitution of the Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh is supposed to ensure
equal rights for women-
 According to Article 27 of the Constitution, all citizens are equal before the law and are
entitled to equal protection of the law.
 In case of non-discrimination, Article 28 (1), The State shall not discriminate against any
citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth.
 In Article 28 (2) -Women shall have equal rights with men in all spheres of the State and
of public life.
  In Article 28 (3) -No citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex or place of
birth be subjected to any disability, liability, restriction or condition with regard to access
to any place of public entertainment or resort, or admission to any educational institution.
 According to the Article 28 (4) -Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making
special provision in favour of women or children or for the advancement of any backward
section of citizens.
 In the case of participation in politics, the term of reserved seats for women members in
the National Assembly is extended up to 25 years and the number of seats is increased to
50 in accordance with Article 65 (3) of the Constitution
Bangladesh’s achievments in Women Empowerment:
Bangladesh’s achievements in the past decade have been exemplary in many sectors such as in
reducing infant and child mortality, poverty alleviation, increase in women entrepreneurship,
education, and health.
Gender Budget:
An allocation of Tk 4,755 crore has been proposed for the Ministry of Women and Child Affairs
in the financial year 2023-2024. The new gender budget is Tk465 crore higher than the Tk4,290.5
crore allocated in the proposed budget for FY2022-23, and Tk354 crore higher than the Tk4,402.6
crore revised gender budget.
The budget for FY24 includes an allocation of Tk3,242.7 crore for women development, which
is Tk205.4 crore higher than in the last fiscal year. The total gender-related budget for 44
ministries is Tk454,211.3 crore, which is an increase of Tk33,206.3 crore from the last fiscal year.
Achievement in Education:
“You educate a man; you educate a man. You educate a woman; you educate a
generation.”― Brigham Young

Literacy rate in Bangladesh is now 74.66 percent, according to the report of "Population and
Housing Census 2022". Although The rate is higher among the male population which is 76.56
percent, while among female population it is 72.82 percent.
 Fig: Percentages of female student in educational Institutions

"Give me an educated mother, I shall promise you the birth of a civilized, educated
nation" - Napoleon Bonaparte
 The government has put emphasis on women development in education assistance sector
under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s priority project Ten Special Initiatives.
 Gender-based budgetary allocation has also been increased in education sector for fiscal year
2022-2023 (FY23) as the government enhanced allocation for Primary and Mass Education
Ministry and Secondary and Higher Education Division by 60.21 percent and 44.73 percent
respectively.
 The government has provided free primary education to all children in the age group of 6-10
years and girls can study free of cost in government institutions up to class 12.
 Free textbooks are distributed up to secondary level and stipends are given to girls to
encourage them to go to school.
 Recently, the government announced that free food will be distributed to government primary
schools.
1. Female students in primary level 50.50%
2. Female student in secondary level 53.61%
3. Number of femal students getting stipend 40,00,000 students

“Bangladesh has made significant strides towards educating girls and giving women a
greater voice, both in the household and the public sphere. These efforts have translated
into improvements in children's health and education. ”-Kaushik Basu, World Bank Chief
Economist
Achievement in Health Sector:
In FY2023-23 budget speech, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said some of the key
activities to ensure the welfare of women and children to be implemented in FY24 are the
establishment of day-care centres in 64 districts for the children of working mothers; manufacture
and distribution of sanitary towels for adolescent health protection and women's economic
empowerment; and providing bicycles to school-going girls for adolescent empowerment.
Bangladesh has made great strides in the health sector in the last decade.
 Both the infant birth rate and the infant mortality rate have declined over the past two
decades. Maternal services and ensuring proper care of mothers after childbirth have
reduced neonatal mortality.
 Female health workers, recruited to deliver door-to-door family planning services, are
behind a rapid fall in fertility from 7 births per woman in 1971 to 1.37 in 2022
 Current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina launched the Maternity Health Voucher Scheme in
her first term. At present one and a half lakh women are getting help through this scheme.
 The government initiated a project called ‘Revitalization of Community Health Care
Initiatives in Bangladesh (RCHCIB)’ to further develop the Community Clinics (CCs) and
strengthen their operations in delivering primary health care.
  Moreover, another 13,000 maternity centers are established across the country.
 Due to some effective legislative measures, women now get six months of paid maternity
leave.
Women in leadership and decision making:
"In the future, there will be no female leaders. There will just be leaders."-Sheryl Sandberg
The best indicator for the South-Asia region is political empowerment, which has usually been
strong due to the high share of women in political leadership. Bangladesh, India and Nepal, where
women have held the highest office in the country or participate more widely in government,
scored the highest in the region on this front.
In addition to these 300 general members, since 2011 there are 50 reserved seats for women in
parliament, who are appointed by the elected members of Parliament.
Women in politics Number
Head of the political party 2
Speaker of the parliament 1
Minister 5
Elected women Member of parliament 22
Total women MP 72
Elected women UP members 13500
In the local government system, 30% representatives from women have been ensured.
Women in Administration:
Women’s participation in the civil administration has increased a lot over the years, according to
statistics of the ministry of public administration.
Category (Women) Number
Secretary 11
Additional Secretary 81
Joint Secretary 87
Senior Assistant Secretary 454
Assistant Secretary 472
 Besides A total of 106 women Upazila Nirbahi Officers (UNOs) have been working in field
administration across the country.
 There were some 274,114 women in government service in 2009 and the number increased to
468,819 in 2022.
 There are 5,759 officials in the administration cadre of the civil service. Of them, 1,100 are
women.
Women in sports:
Bangladeshi girls in sports have maintained their success over the past few years. The women
players of the country have shown unprecedented success in the international arena.
 Bangladesh women defeated Nepal in the 2015 final of the AFC U-14 Women’s Football
Championship to win the regional championship. The Bangladeshi youths once again won
SAFF Women Championship 2022.
 The Bangladesh women’s cricket team defeated India to win the Asia Cup title in 2018.
Additionally, the women’s cricket team from Bangladesh has successfully qualified for the
50-over Cricket World Cup for the first time. Bangladesh won the ICC Women’s T20 World
Cup Qualifier 2022 by defeating Ireland by seven runs in September’s thrilling final and
qualified for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in South Africa the following year.
 2016 AFC Under 16 Champion, 2015 Under 15, 2018 Jockey Cup, 2019 Bangmata
International Football Under 19 jointly won by Bangladesh girls.
 In 2018, Bangladesh women's cricket team won the Asia Cup after defeating India in Malaysia.
Women as Entrepreneurs:
“We need women at all levels, including the top, to change the dynamic, reshape the
conversation, to make sure women’s voices are heard and heeded, not overlooked and
ignored.” ― Sheryl Sandberg
Currently, 14,500 female entrepreneurs are
registered and selling products on the e-
commerce platform lalsabuz.com.
The budget for FY 2023-24 has proposed a
Tk2368.4 crore allocation for the Information
and Communication Technology Division,
including TK374.5 crore for development in
women empowerment and promotion of social
status. The allocation for the ICT Division was
Tk1,915.5 crore with 294.1 crore for the
development of women in the last fiscal year. Bangladesh Bank has undertaken a number of policy
initiatives for women entrepreneur. These are as follows:
 To encourage women entrepreneur for taking SME initiatives, financing facilities is being
provided at low cost (bank rate + 4%) where Banks/NBFIs get refinance at bank rate.
 Minimum 15% of all refinance windows has been allotted for women entrepreneur.
 Regulatory provision for collateral free loan for women entrepreneur against personal
guarantee up to BDT 25 lac has been made.
 For greater inclusion of the marginal and home-based women entrepreneur, loan limit has
been set up to BDT 10,000/- and group-based lending of up to BDT 50,000 is permitted.
“We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back. We call upon our sisters around the
world to be brave – to embrace the strength within themselves and realize their full
potential.” – Malala Yousafzai, Nobel Peace Prize winner
Women contribution in Economy:
“Women empowerment is a must for successful achievement of the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) as women are the most important drivers of transformation,”
 – Honourable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina
 More than 80 percent of Bangladesh's export earnings
come from the apparel industry. About 54 percent of
total garment workers are women.
 According to the data of Manpower, Employment and
Training Bureau, from 1991 to 2021, a total of 9 lakh
35 thousand 466 women went to work abroad.
 According to the Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD),
the contribution of women to the Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) is about 20 percent.
 According to the information of the Agricultural Information Service, 90 lakh 11 thousand
women (71.5 percent of the female labor force) are engaged in agricultural work.
 According to the 2019 data of Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, 7.2 percent of women are in
service sector. 3.7 million women are working in the service sector.
Challenges of women empowerment:
“Removing the barriers that keep women and girls on the margins of economic, social,
cultural, and political life must be a top priority for us all” – UN Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon
The journey of the women of Bangladesh has not been a smooth one. From social taboos to
conservative attitudes, they had to face a number of obstacles to arrive where they are today.
 Enslavement of male domination: The vast majority of the women of our country are directly
and indirectly dependent on male dominated society because of economic insolvency.
 Household discrimination: In Bangladesh, there is discrimination against girl children
regarding the household expenditure on education and health care.
 Access to resources: The women of Bangladesh have been deprived of father's house to
husband's abode in terms of access to resources.
 Lack of education: Though education is the backbone of a nation, the vast portion of women
spends their life time without having education or remaining under the darkness of education.
 Unemployment: As Bangladesh is a
poor country where men
have limited opportunity
for employment, women
suffer most for
unemployment.
 Social outlook: Women
are thought to be inferior
to men generally in
Bangladesh, particularly
in the remote rural areas.
 Religious shackles: Fatwa delivered by religious personnel harms women's empowerment.
Laws to prevent violence against women:
The Government of People’s Republic of Bangladesh is committed to uphold the rights of women
and eliminate discrimination against women. In this respect both the Constitution of Bangladesh
and several special laws guarantee equal rights and protection of women against violence.
 Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Act 2010)
 Human Trafficking Deterrence and Suppression Act 2012
 The Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Rules 2013
 Child Marriage Control Act, 2013
 Child Marriage Restraint Act. 2017
Bangladesh has excellent support services in both government and non-government sectors. This
includes shelter homes (government and non-government), victim support centers, apart from
general police activity, One Stop Crisis Centre, and a national helpline.
International initiatives for women empowerment:
The United Nations declared 1975 as “Year of the Women” for empowerment and development
of women in affairs of state, society, politics and economics. 1976-1985 was declared as Decade
of Women' in the first World Women Convention in 1975.
CEDAW:
The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) is
an international treaty adopted in 1979 by the United Nations General Assembly. The convention
is structured in six parts with 30 articles total.
Award in the sector of Women Empowerment:
 In 2014, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was awarded with a special Tree of Peace by
UNESCO for being a strong advocate on world stage in girls and women education. She
was also recognized for jointly launching the Global Partnership for Girls and Women
Education and leading the country to become a champion country of “Global Education
First Initiative”.
 Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been conferred with the “Agent of Change” award and
“Planet 50-50 Champion” honour for her outstanding contributions to women
empowerment.
 Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was awarded “Lifetime Contribution for Women
Empowerment Award” for her outstanding contribution to the field of women
empowerment as well as her dynamic leadership in the South Asian region in 2019.
 Bangladesh has won an international award for women's empowerment and reducing
gender gaps, securing a place among the top 10 countries that reduced gender gaps in
politics significantly in 2015.
 Mother Teresa Award in recognition of her contributions to women’s education.
 Tree of Peace by UNESCO.
Ways to Empower Women:
1. Boost her self-esteem
2. Shut down the negativity
3. Support Women-Run Businesses
4. By giving proper education
5. Giving job opportunities
Conclusion:
“Girls are one of the most powerful forces for
change in the world: When their rights are
recognized, their needs are met, and their voices are
heard, they drive positive change in their families,
their communities, and the world.” – Kathy Calvin,
United Nations Foundation President & CEO

The success of women in this country is exemplary

and followed all over the world today. Under the

able leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh will achieve SDG targets by 2030

and enter a developed and prosperous world based on gender equality by 2041. Full and equal

participation of women in socio-economic activities and empowerment of women will occupy the

seat of dignity in Bangladesh. Leaving behind all weaknesses, they will triumph in the

improvement and progress of life. In tune with the same tune of Honourable Prime Minister

Sheikh Hasina we can say “Let us, once again, take a vow to achieve gender parity in all aspects

and make the world a better place for our women and girls.”-
Sources:
1.cri.org.bd
2. Bangladesh Post
3. The Daily Star
4. The Daily Sun
5.mowca.gov.bd

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 রিপের এরেপমন্টসগুপেো যেপি রোখপে যর্করিকযোরে রেরিন্ন যেখোয় কোপে েোগোপিো যেপত োপর। মপি
রোখপত হপে রিিো-Essay-যফোকোস হুেহু েোইি েোই েোইি যেখো েোয়িো, যকৌিপে রেপখ আসপত হয়।
যেমিঃ

1. Some Quotation about Women Empowerment (র্র ক যেইেড যকোপর্িি রির্ থোকপে।)
 “There is no tool for development more effective than the empowerment of women.” —
Kofi Annan
 Bangladesh has made remarkable progress in the last 20 years in improving the lives of
women and girls.—USAID
 “Women don’t need to find a voice, they have a voice, and they need to feel empowered
to use it, and people need to be encouraged to listen.” — Meghan Markle
 “A strong woman is a woman determined to do something that others are determined not
to be done.” — Marge Piercy
 “We need women at all levels, including the top, to change the dynamic, reshape the
conversation, to make sure women’s voices are heard and heeded, not overlooked and
ignored.” — Sheryl Sandberg
 “Feminism isn’t about making women stronger. Women are already strong; it’s about
changing the way the world perceives that strength.” — G.D. Anderson
 “We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back.” – Malala Yousafzai

2. World Famous Women in the world

Organization Position Name Country
name
European President Ursula von der Leyen (1st women German
Commission president)
European Central President Christine Lagarde (1st women French
Bank president)
Commonwealth Secretary Patricia Scotland KC (1st women UK
General Secretary General)
IMF Managing Kristalina Georgieva Bulgaria
Director
NDB President Dilma Rousseff Brazil

Name Position Country

Kamala D. Harris Vice President USA
আমোপির যিয়ো তথয গুপেোর একর্ো তথয/যকোর্ আ িোর ১/২/৩ িম্বর েোরেপয় রিপত োপর। আর ১/২ িম্বপরর েিযই আ িোর
েের্ো অিয কোপরো হপয় েোয়। যসো গুরুত্ব রিি। িোপেো িম্বর য পত র্র ক অিু েোয়ী প্রোসরিক যকোপর্িি ও রক এরেপমন্টস রকছু
যর্পি আিপতই হপে। রকছু যেপর্স্ট ররপ োর্ট প্রকোরিত হয়রি। রীক্ষোর আপগ আপগ আ পডপর্ড ডোর্ো রির্ যিয়ো
হপে ইিিো আল্লোহ।