Women Empowerment

“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 term "Women Empowerment" is used to support,
inspire, and honor women. Evidence shows that the empowerment of women helps to
create inclusive, open and prosperous societies.
Women Empowerment:
“Think like a queen. A queen is not afraid to fail. Failure is another stepping stone to
greatness.”
― Oprah Winfrey.
Women empowerment encompasses more than just ensuring that women get their basic
rights. It is the process of giving women the ability to live a happy and respected life in
society. Women are empowered when they have unrestricted access to chances in a range
of domains, such as education, profession, and lifestyle, among others. Women
empowerment encompasses more than just ensuring that women get their basic rights. It is
the process of giving women the ability to live a happy and respected life in society.
Women are empowered when they have unrestricted access to chances in a range of
domains, such as education, profession, and lifestyle, among others.
Women Empowerment in Bangladesh:
“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.”
-Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina
Bangladesh will transition from a middle-income country to a developed country by 2041
with the joint efforts of the country's men and women to implement Vision 2021 and
achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. 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.
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.”

"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.
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 preliminary
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:
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. Primary health care is being provided to rural and marginalized
women through community clinics.
✓ At the beginning of HPM Sheikh Hasina’s second tenure in 2009, 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
which has been providing service and advice to disadvantaged women on education,
healthcare, nutrition, maternal and child care, and interest free microcredit.
✓ 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 2021.
➢ There are 5,759 officials in the administration cadre of the civil service. Of them, 1,100
are women.
The participation of women at the grassroots level is increasing day by day. Earlier, women
officials were based mostly in Dhaka. Now women officials have been discharging their
duties at the district and upazila levels. In some districts, the majority of upazilas have
women UNOs. Eight upazilas out of 13 in Kishoreganj have women UNOs and there are
eight women UNOs out of 12 in Tangail.
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 made history when it won the SAFF Women’s Championship for the first
time, beating Nepal 1-0 at the Dasharath Stadium in Kathmandu.
✓ On December 22, 2021, the women of Bangladesh became the unbeaten champions
after defeating India 1-0 in the final of SAFF U-19 women's football.
✓ Earlier they became the undefeated champions in SAFF U-18 Women's Championship
2018.
✓ 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
Bangladesh, as a rapidly developing nation,
stands to gain the most from the inclusion
of women in the business world. Women's
economic participation and their ownership
and control of productive assets speed up
development, help overcome poverty,
reduce inequalities, and improve children's
nutrition, health, and school attendance.
To ensure this, 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.
❖ sFor 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 Asian Center
for Development (ACD) survey, 70 percent of the total number of women workers is
employed in the industrial sector of the country's 42 countries. Among the 20 thousand
garment workers, the number of women is 24 lakh 98 thousand.
✓ 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.
Bangladesh ranks seventh in the
world in terms of expatriate
income.
✓ The demand for women workers
in the Gulf nations has increased
in recent months with Saudi
Arabia being the biggest importer
 of Bangladeshi female labor. They are playing an important role in turning the wheels
of the country's economy.
✓ According to the Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD), a non-governmental research
organization, the contribution of women to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is about
20 percent. With this, if the value of work inside and outside the family is taken, their
contribution will increase to 48 percent. This means that the contribution of men and
women is equal in the overall economic development of the country.
✓ According to the information of the Agricultural Information Service, the largest
number of working women in the country are engaged in agriculture, 90 lakh 11
thousand women. Engaged 71.5 percent of the female labor force is 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 development and empowerment of women in Bangladesh has been noticed and
recognized by the international community. Nonetheless, 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 and the religious leaders are of the opinion that participation of women
in the mainstream development by bringing them out of purdah (veil) and from inside
the house is to destroy Islamic rites and rituals. These types of conception are great
shackles for women empowerment in Bangladesh.
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.
“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.”-Honourable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina
Sources:
1.cri.org.bd
2. Bangladesh Post
3. The Daily Star
4. The Daily Sun
5.mowca.gov.bd