A solid foundation has been laid for women empowerment in the country in the past one and half decades and it is high time to move it forward and it’s a big challenge in the coming days, said Bangladesh Bank (BB) former governor and economist Dr Atiur Rahman.
“Women’s progress has been noted as the major footing of women empowerment in all development indicators in the country,” Dr Atiur told BSS in an interview.
In 1972, he said, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman established the Bangladesh Women’s Rehabilitation Board to rehabilitate women who were oppressed and affected during the Liberation War in 1971.
This was a cornerstone or the first step taken by the state for the welfare of women in Bangladesh, he mentioned.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina formulated the National Women Development Policy for the first time in 1997, he recalled.
Later, the National Women’s Development Policy, 2011 was formulated by further polishing the women’s development policy under her guidance, said Dr Atiur.
According to the Global Gender Gap Report-2022 prepared by the World Economic Forum (WEF), Bangladesh has topped all South Asian countries in terms of reducing gender inequality and is ranked 71st out of 146 countries in the world, he mentioned.
A milestone for women’s development has been created by including ‘gender budget’ in the national budget for fiscal year (FY) 2009-10, he noted.
Former Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith presented the first gender budget report in the 2009-10 financial year including 4 ministries that have important activities related to women’s development, he added.
By gradually increasing the number of ministries, 40 from 2013-14 financial year, 43 from 2017-18 financial year and 44 ministries or departments from 2022-23 financial year were included in the gender budget report, he further said.
The 8th Five Year Plan laid greater emphasis on eradicating extreme poverty of women and ensuring social protection and social justice, he said.
It sets out five strategic objectives for gender equality in women’s empowerment; – enhancing women’s empowerment, increasing economic support for women, strengthening women’s voices and organizations, creating an enabling environment for women’s advancement and expanding support and programs for mothers and children, Dr Atiur said.
Empowering women is one of the priority initiatives of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s ten special initiatives so that women can move forward more smoothly along the path of women’s empowerment that has been created through these initiatives, he continued.
Besides, Amar Bari Amar Khamar, Ashrayan Project, Digital Bangladesh, Investment Development, Education Assistance Programme, Social Security Programme and all others have a long term plan for women empowerment, he mentioned.
One of the major goals of the Amar Bari Amar Khamar project was to increase savings of women, he said, adding that women have a natural tendency to save money as they keep some money even in small amounts so that they can spend it for their children’s school expenses, doctor’s expenses and others.
But when it got an institutional shape, Amar Bari Amar Khamar formerly Ektee Bari Ektee Khamar has been moved to a banking system, which brought a broader opportunity for the country’s womenfolk to work on a bigger scale.
Palli Sanchay Bank general manager Dipankar Roy said at the beginning of Amar Bari Amar Khamar project, it was mandatory to have at least 40 women members out of 60 members in each “Gram Unnayan Samity”. -BSS
