Introduction:Bangladesh is a highly patriarchal society and
gender discrimination is present at all community levels. Women are
dependent on men throughout their lives, from father through
husbands to sons. While there are constitutional affirmations of
gender equality, state legislation and institutions frequently
overlook the rights of women. For example, women and young girls
are more disadvantaged than men in their access to education,
health care and financial assets. Traditionally, women were often
discouraged from participating in public life. Womens access to
social, economic, political and legal institutions is mediated by
men. Women are mainly recognized only for their reproductive role.
However, due to increased poverty and an increased demand for
labor, female employment has risen since the mid 1980s. Mens
authority over women is reinforced by pervasive gender-based
violence. Gender-based violence outside the home includes sexual
harassment in the workplace, assaults, rapes and acid attacks.
Revenge by a rejected suitor and land disputes are common causes
for acid attacks against women. Insufficient shelters for victims
of abuse have led the government to hold women who file complaints
in safe custody, usually in prison. This custody frequently results
in further abuses, hence discouraging the filing of complaints by
other women. Status of Women is often described in terms of their
legal rights, education, economic independency, and empowerment,
age at marriage, health, and fertility, as well as the roles she
plays in her family and society. The status of women implies a
comparison with the status of men, and is therefore a significant
reflection of the level of social justice in the society.Over the
last decade, much concern has been shows about the need to empower
women so that they can make their own decisions about childbearing
and about other areas of their lives. Lack of power over their own
decision-making has long been recognized as a barrier to improve
womens sexual and reproductive health. Many NGOs have been
demonstrating the link between womens development and successful
family planning program and were responsible for introducing
innovative womens programs in the 1980s. The 1980s saw a number of
schemes that trued to combine income generation or literacy or some
other aspects of improving womens status with family planning in
order to give women more control over their lives. The role of
women in development and as agents of changes as mothers,
producers, and as environment managers- also came to be much more
widely recognized during this period.
Gender Issues in Bangladesh:Having carefully examined the issue
of gender, women development and women empowerment with the
reference to other 3rd world countries gender situation, it is
apparent that gender issue is not that much understandable to us.
For working with gender firstly we have to understand the entire
concept.Before going to the main discussion it is important to give
an idea about Sex, Gender and Gender analysis. Sometimes it is hard
to understand exactly what is meant by the term gender, and how it
differs from the closely related term sex. "Sex refers to the
biological and physiological characteristics that define men and
women. Gender refers to the social attributes and opportunities
associated with being male and female and the relationships between
women and men and girls and boys, as well as the relations between
women and those between men. These attributes, opportunities and
relationships are socially constructed and are learned through
socialization processes. They are context/ time-specific and
changeable. Gender determines what is expected, allowed and valued
in a woman or a man in a given context. In most societies there are
differences and inequalities between women and men in
responsibilities assigned, activities undertaken, access to and
control over resources, as well as decision-making opportunities.
Gender is part of the broader socio-cultural context. Other
important criterion for socio-cultural analysis includes class,
race, poverty level, ethnic group and age To put it another way:
Male and female are sex categories, while masculine and feminine
are gender categories. The socially-constructed concepts of
masculinity and femininity; the appropriate qualities or
characteristics that are expected to accompany each biological sex.
Aspects of sex will not vary substantially between different human
societies, while aspects of gender may vary greatly.Gender analysis
examines the differences in women's and men's lives, including
those which lead to social and economic inequity for women, and
applies this understanding to policy development and service
delivery. It is concerned with the underlying causes of these
inequities. Gender analysis aims to achieve equity, rather than
equality. Gender equality is based on the premise that women and
men should be treated in the same way. This fails to recognize that
equal treatment will not produce equitable results, because women
and men have different life experiences (Ministry of Women's
Affairs).Across continents and cultures, established gender norms
and values mean that women typically control less power and fewer
resources than men. Not surprisingly, this often gives men an
advantage - in the economic, political, and educational arenas, but
also with regard to health and health care.Model Village:A model
village is a type of mostly self-contained community, built from
the late 18th century onwards by landowners and industrialists to
house their workers. Although the villages are located close to the
workplace, they are generally physically separated from them and
often consist of relatively high quality housing, with integrated
community amenities and attractive physical environments. "Model"
is used in the sense of an ideal to which other developments could
aspire. Status of Women in Bangladesh:In the male dominant society
womens are in a disadvantageous position. Women, in custom and
practice, remained subordinate to male in almost all aspect of
their lives; greater autonomy was the privilege of the rich or the
necessity of the very poor. Most womens lives remained centered on
their traditional roles and they had limited access to markets,
productive services, education, health care, and local government.
At the household level, the girl child often has unequal access to
nutrition, health care and education compare to boy child. Many
discriminatory practices arise out of some deep-rooted
socio-cultural factors. Women still earn less than men earn and are
mostly occupied in low paid jobs. They often do not have easy
access to credit and other income generation opportunities, and are
still under represented at management and policy levels.The lack of
opportunities contributed to high fertility patterns, which
diminished family well-being contributed to the malnourishment and
generally poor health of children and frustrated educational and
other national development goals. In fact, acute poverty at the
margin appeared to be hitting hardest at women. As long as womens
access to health care, education and training remained, limited and
prospect for improved productivity among the female population
remained poor in our country.In the 1980s womens status in
Bangladesh remained inferior to that of men. About 80 percent of
women lived in rural areas in the late 1980s. The majority of rural
women, most probably seventy percent, were in small cultivator;
tenant and landless households, many of them worked as laborers
part time or seasonally, usually during the post-harvest and
received payment in kind or in meager cash wages. Another twenty
percent, mostly in poor landless households, dependent on the
casual labor, gleaning, begging and other irregular sources of
income, typically their income was essential to household survival.
The remaining ten percent of women were in household mainly in the
professional, trading, or large-scale landowning categories, and
they usually did not work outside the home.The economic
contribution of women was substantial, but largely unacknowledged.
Their contribution in agricultural sector and manufacturing jobs,
especially in the ready-made garment industry is remarkable.
Despite the fact that women constitute half of our citizenry, they
continue to face persistent disadvantages and exclusion, evident in
gender differentials for various indicators of health. One of the
most telling indicators of the disparity between male and female
can be found in child mortality. Though following global norms in
Bangladesh infant mortality is higher for males than females, soon
after birth the mortality rates start to reverse. For example, post
neonatal mortality among males is twenty-seven per thousand births
versus thirty-one among females and child mortality among male is
twenty-eight per thousand births versus thirty-eight among females.
These disparities clearly indicate the neglect of girl children in
terms of nutrition and access to health care.The factors that
determine the status as well as the fertility of women in
Bangladesh are education, and empowerment, occupation of husband,
residence and possession of items and religious beliefs and
norms.Employment of Women and Contributions of Men:Womens
participation in labor force is a widely accepted factor for their
sound socioeconomic status. Because a woman who employed is more
likely to have direct access and control over financial resources
be able to function in the non-domestic sphere be able to translate
the autonomy required for and embodied in being to autonomy and
control inside the home.The participation of women in labor force
is still at the rudimentary level for most of the developing
countries. Women still tend to be concentrated in the unpaid family
labor category and employed mostly in agricultural and related
occupation and other family based enterprises. Though womens
participation is professional and technical, occupation is
increasing in recent years the majority of women in the category
are employed in low-paid low status jobs.Bangladeshs real problem
is not only unemployment but also under employment. Taking as
underemployed those working less than 35 hours per week the rate of
underemployment is 35 percent. Some of these people mat not wish to
full-time because they have responsibilities at home.To understand
the link between employment and womens status, ideally employment
of women should be examined in combination with concepts of
cultural acceptance different types of work for women, womens total
workload and control over training in all branches of technology.
Womens employment does prevail in the no paid or worst paid
branches of the national economy. Occupational promotion of women
is much more difficult than that of man even in feminize occupation
as, for example teaching. Even the college and university education
for the girls is not a guarantee to get jobs. Unemployment and
underemployment problem is in such an acute condition. Women are
concentrated, as usual in the lower levels of the occupational
pyramid and so continue to be a source of cheap labor.A remarkable
increase in the number of female labor force in 1980 and afterwards
is compared to 1985-86. No tremendous development over this period
has occurred. It is simply because of the definitional change, we
have witnessed a handsome amount in female labor force after 1989.
The new definition of the economic activities include activities
like caring domestic animals and poultry, threshing, boiling, dying
and husking crops, processing and preserving food etc. Female
usually performs these activities and hence, the number of female
labor has increased. We have at least and at least, recognized
these works as economic activities. In this society, the men credit
for whatever little is produced.Mobility: Today, Bangladeshi women
have the benefit of enjoying a freedom where they can go out of
their own houses to places like fairs, markets without anybody
accompanying them for security. Financial wellbeing: This point
observes whether the women themselves possess any assets whose
proprietorship lies only with them. In rural Bangladesh, three out
of every five women have cows, goats or chickens to their names.
These are assets known to generate income through the means of
milk, eggs or meat. Equal participation in family decisions:
Previously, women were not given enough respect to consider their
opinions in the matters of family. Today, the scenario is such that
women have gained the rights of deciding when to get their
daughters married, or to which schools to send their children
to.Knowledge about the law and political situation: At present, the
majority of women recognize their own rights. In rural areas, six
out of every ten women know who is ruling their country and,
fortunately, these women show a great understanding regarding
certain laws which can help women fight against any
injustice!Liberty from being controlled over: Previously, women
were subjected to the loss of their personal assets such as money,
land; jewelries or farm animals like cows and chickens because they
had to hand it over to their fathers, brothers or husbands. Today,
women are more aware of refraining from such activities. They have
finally learned to embrace their rights and self-dependency.Gender
situation in Bangladesh Gender situation in Bangladesh have been
undergoing a process of considerable transformation over the last
two decades as part of broader process of economic transition and
social change. Although progress has been considerable in many
spheres, womens changing roles have also given rise to a range of
new challenges that require shifts in policy making and program
implementation as well as the various social and cultural values
which have informed and shaped implicit societal understandings of
womens roles and responsibilities (Gender, Poverty and the MDG-
ADB).Physical IntegrityFemale genital mutilation is not practiced
in Bangladesh. Early marriage and dowry customs are major factors
in the continuation of domestic violence against women. Laws that
have been passed against these practices have proven difficult to
enforce, especially in rural areas where traditions and family laws
tend to govern social life. The government, the media, and womens
rights organizations have fostered a growing awareness of the
problem of violence against women.Gender-based violence outside the
home includes sexual harassment in the workplace, assaults, rapes
and acid attacks. Revenge by a rejected suitor and land disputes
are common causes for acid attacks against women. Insufficient
shelters for victims of abuse have led the government to hold women
who file complaints in safe custody, usually in prison. This
custody frequently results in further abuses, hence discouraging
the filing of complaints by other women. The occurrence of missing
women (including female infants and children) is widespread in most
South Asian countries and Bangladesh is no exception. In fact,
Bangladesh is one of the very few countries in the world where
males outnumber females. Census data show that over 2.7 million
Bangladeshi women were missing in 2001 (Hudson et al, 2005). This
is primarily the result of son preference and female sex-selective
abortions, or through relative neglect compared to boys in early
childhood (including abandonment).Ownership RightsDespite womens
growing role in agriculture, there is evidence that social and
customary practices virtually exclude women from any hope of direct
access to land.It is often the demographic composition of a womans
household that determines her qualification for and access to bank
loans and other forms of credit. A womans lack of mobility,
particularly in rural areas, forces her to depend on male relatives
for any entrepreneurial activities. While Bangladeshs NGOs provide
micro-credit to a large number of women, there is a growing concern
to whether or not these women actually retain control over their
loans.According to the national law, men and women have equal
rights to property, but in practice women have only very limited
access to property. Their situation is further impaired by
discriminating inheritance laws and Bangladeshi women are not
likely to even claim their share of the family property unless it
is given to them.Civil LibertiesWomen can move relatively freely in
the vicinity of their home and local neighborhood. To various
degrees - much depending on the traditions of individual families
the Islamic system of Purdah may impose some restrictions on womens
participation in activities outside the home, such as education,
employment and social activities. To engage in any such activities,
a woman generally needs her husbands permission.EmploymentRural and
urban in both area womens participation has increase. This labor
force is comprised mainly of young women, particularly those from
landless backgrounds and including many from female-supported
households. Even so, open unemployment among graduates is much
higher among women than among men (17 percent compared to two
percent). Womens average weekly earnings in 1989 were 202 Taka
compared to 477 Taka for men (i.e. 42 percent of mens earnings).
The wage differential by gender is widest in nonagricultural
employment, in both rural and urban areas. In agriculture, the most
notable feature is the very marked and distinctive seasonal
variation in womens wages. In rural industry, women are
concentrated in the lowest productivity sectors. In export
industry, there seems, atypically for industry as a whole, to be
relatively little wage discrimination by gender (womens wages are
86 percent of the level of mens). Job mobility is not, for women, a
way of increasing wages, as it is for men. Legislation has been
introduced guaranteeing women a specified percentage of public
sector employment but the quotas have not been filled and there is
no system for monitoring or implementing them.Female Headship of
HouseholdsHigher proportions of female than male-headed households
fall into the categories of ultra and extreme poverty and the
disparity widens the more severe the level of poverty. The
disparity is greatest among urban households, where the proportion
in poverty is up to one half of female headed households. While
womens autonomy may be stronger within the household in
female-headed households, patriarchal systems still exert control
over them at the level of the village. Women in such households do
not exist in their own rights as full participating members of
society but owe their survival to the largesse of others. They are
disadvantaged economically by their brokered access to markets
through males, and their inability to participate in local
political, social and legal institutions. They are also more
subject to physical insecurity and violence.Female-headed
households as such may not, however, be a suitable target group for
poverty alleviation programs. More broadly gender sensitive
policies would be effective in reducing the particular hardships of
these households.Credit ProgramsBangladesh is well known for the
scale of NGO activity, particularly in the area of credit
provision. Government has also operated subsidized credit programs
for the poor, which have reached about 20 percent of the rural
poor. How far these programs, in which women undoubtedly
participate, go to alleviate womens poverty and improve their
position as economic actors is not so clear. The race to expand
credit operations seems to be occurring at the expense of
qualitative program improvements with respect to class and gender
biases. None of the large credit institutions field-level workers
receive gender training. The phenomenon of women-fronted loans
means that access to credit cannot be assumed to be linked to
investment in womens profitable activities, nor to improvements in
womens consumption. Where the end-use and productivity of loans is
recorded, it tends to be lower for womens loans, reflecting the low
returns to most womens economic activities. Improving womens market
access could be a powerful way of enhancing loan use and also
meeting womens empowerment objectives.There has been considerable
improvement in female educational provision in recent years,
particularly at primary level, but overall enrolment is far short
of universal and a gender gap persists. Very few girls participate
in secondary or vocational, technical and higher education and
female participation in these areas ends to be highly sex
segregated and stereotyped. This limits womens upward mobility in
the labor market. Girls. Participation varies by residence, region
and socio-economic group. Rural participation is generally lower
and girls attendance is positively correlated with size of family
landholding. Various measures have been introduced recently to
encourage female school enrolment and to reduce drop-out rates, in
furtherance of Government policy to give higher priority to
improving clear understanding of the relative importance of
weaknesses on the supply and demand side respectively
(www.gdrc.org).Political, Legal and Human Rights and NGOsThere is a
generous quota system for womens representation in official public
bodies. But quotas are not generally met and where they are, the
women are regarded as token appointees and adapt a passive role in
the bodies concerned. As regards womens representation outside
official bodies, more than one million women participate in group
activities in grassroots organizations and over 100,000 field
workers are involved in mobilizing and supporting such activity.
Womens NGOs and activist groups have spearheaded attempts to bring
out legal reform and to resist retrogressive changed in the legal
system. The Constitution explicitly provided for equality between
the sexes but some of its own articles contradict this provision.
Womens legal rights have also to be viewed within the social
construction of women as dependents. They live under the
guardianship of fathers or elder brothers before marriage and under
the protection of husbands after marriage.Government and NGO WID
programs and projectsGender policy advocacy is poor in Bangladesh.
Only the social sectors contain budgetary expenditures aimed at
women. Even here, women-specific projects are mainly donor funded
and not part of the core portfolio of the relevant ministries.
Government sponsored women centered projects tend to be the
traditional variety, giving limited skills training and promoting
income generating activities which give a poor financial return. In
the health field there is an over-emphasis on population and
related programs. Although many NGOs include large numbers of women
among their beneficiaries and have undoubtedly pioneered
innovations in some areas, they preserve a male bias in their
staffing which may hamper the design and full implementation of
gender sensitive programs and projects, especially as regards the
goal of empowering women within and outside such projects.During
2004-09, as a gender expert in different positions with different
organizations, I had to facilitate several trainings on gender and
had to share research findings. For those, I had to travel
different parts of Bangladesh (and beyond) to work with local NGOs,
local government authorities, and community leaders including
social and political activists. My experiences with these actors
were not always easy. In contrast, this time it was different. I
observed a few changes which are promising for the movement of
gender justice in Bangladesh.Acceptance of gender concerns at
different levels of the society has undoubtedly been established.
Additionally, attitudes of community leaders and public servants to
gender sensitivity have improved a lot. However, understanding of
the issue still remains as challenge, where we need careful
intervention.Before men were not facilitating space for womens
empowerment. Moreover, there were many barriers to talking about
gender equality with communities which has been dramatically
improved. Now, this is much more positive and ready for
action.Facilitating any training or workshop on gender for men was
very challenging. Women activists were skeptical of accepting men
in the field. Surprisingly, this time, I experience major change in
womens generosity accepting men in the gender equality
movement/work.Previously skills on gender issues were mostly found
in INGO staff or staff of some big NGOs. Recent experiences
indicate staff of local NGOs is now better informed about gender
issues than INGOs.A number of elements have played a critical role
in bringing about these changes. Massive awareness initiatives by
several organizations and taking the issue seriously from top level
of the state were important factors. A group of young professionals
with relevant academic backgrounds came into the development sector
with more analytical insights, and last but not least several INGOs
have taken the approach known as working with men for achieving
gender equality which has contributed to these changes. I think
this is because of, over time, many donors, INGOs and Government
agencies have taken lots of initiatives for building capacity of
front line staff of the implementing (local) organizations.
Whereas, capacity building for INGOs staff (beyond project
activities) has been in gradual decline.Priority areas for
promoting gender equality: To promote equal opportunities and
womens rights the Action Plan defines six priority areas used as
basis for the Secretariat, Institutions and field operations when
developing projects and activities: Nondiscriminatory legal and
policy frameworks; Preventing violence against women; Ensuring
equal opportunity for the participation of women in political and
public life; Encouraging womens participation in conflict
prevention, crisis management and post conflict reconstruction;
Promoting equal opportunity for women in the economic sphere;
Building national mechanisms for the advancement of women.Brief
History of Gender and Environment:The Third United Nations Womens
Conference in Nairobi in 1985 was one of the first international
forums that made explicit the linkages between sustainable
development and womens involvement and empowerment as well as
gender equality and equity. In the Nairobi Forward Looking
Strategies, the environment was included as an area of concern for
women.In the run-up to the United Nations Conference on Environment
and Development (UNCED), held in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro, a number
of advocacy activities were undertaken to reflect that women not
only bear the highest costs of environmental problems, but as
managers of primary resources, also have the greatest potential for
contributing to the solution of the crisis.The United Nations
Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995 identified
environment as one of twelve critical areas for women. Section K of
the Beijing Platform for Action, on women and the environment,
asserted that women have an essential role to play in the
development of sustainable and ecologically sound consumption and
production patterns and approaches to natural resource management
Five years later at the Millennium Summit in New York, world
leaders promised in the Millennium Declaration to promote gender
equality and the empowerment of women as effective ways to combat
poverty, hunger and disease and to stimulate development that is
truly sustainable. This vision was reflected in the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs including MDG 1 - eradicate extreme
poverty, MDG 3 - promote gender equality and empower women, and MDG
7 - ensure environmental sustainability.)Relation between Gender
& Environment:Gender and environmental concerns come across in
certain aspects of policy-making, particularly in participatory
decision-making and stakeholder involvement, which are important,
both from the gender perspective but also from a broader
environmental perspective. Gender equity is also essential in
addressing major sustainable development challenges, namely use and
management of natural resources and the prevention of environmental
degradation and pollution. Although at first glance, the
relationship between human society and the physical environment
seems to be gender-neutral, affecting both women and men in a
similar way, upon closer examination one realizes that the
relationship is not neutral. The differentiated socio-cultural
construction of men and womens roles means that the linkages
between people and the physical environment impact differently on
both sexes. As men and women have different roles in the family,
community and work-force, they are likely to have different
personal attitudes, priorities and power over resources when it
comes to environmental protection. Men and women also interact
differently with the environment, which provides them with
different opportunities to protect it. All this requires that
strategies for promoting environmental protection at the country,
local and community level approach men and women differently.For
example, in most households women are responsible for water and
waste management. However, due to their often restricted access to
public positions and political participation, decisions about water
and waste management systems in the community are often taken by
men who not necessarily take into account the views and needs of
the female household managers. Consequently, the goal of gender
mainstreaming for environmental protection is to promote equal
opportunities for men and women as participants and beneficiaries
of environmental protection by considering their different
positions and knowledge in regard to the environment. This includes
producing and disseminating information about environmental
protection reaching out to both women and men, and recognizing
their different roles and priorities in relation to the
environment. In a broader context, the objectives of gender
mainstreaming for sustainable development are to minimize the
negative impacts of certain economic and social activities on the
environment by raising awareness among men and women to promote
gender-sensitive approaches and solutions for minimizing
consumption of natural resources and to accelerate the use of
environmentally sound and cost-effective technologies by men and
women.From an environment and security perspective, environmental
degradation is intensifying conflict and competition over natural
resources, aggravating social tensions, and in certain volatile
situations, provoking or escalating violence and conflict. Women
and men have different responsibilities and experiences which
affect their knowledge and use of natural resources differently.
Therefore, participation and knowledge of both women and men in
conflict-preventive initiatives is necessary and should be
encouraged. The security of human beings is also threatened by the
extent to which environmental and hazardous changes are affecting
livelihoods, health and the fulfillment of basic needs of women and
men. For example, women and men need to be alerted to the threats
that environmental degradation pose to food security. When, for
example, climate change threatens the security of livelihood in
which women are often more involved than men, women in particular
need to be informed about alternative methods of cooking, farming,
heating and waste disposal. Women need to be informed about
alternative methods of house holding.Some gender sensitive
criteria:Gender and Water:Women and men have different and changing
gender roles in water resources management. They derive different
benefits from the availability, use and management of water. Women
are often the primary users of water in domestic consumption,
subsistence agriculture, health and sanitation. Women in many cases
also take the primary role in educating children and in child and
family health, including sanitation. Lack of access to water and
sanitation facilities has an impact on the exercise of basic
rights.The goals of gender mainstreaming for water resources
management are: To ensure that women and men have equal
representation in decision-making with regards to the use of water
resources and sanitation at all levels; To ensure that women and
men have equal representation in decision-making with regards to
policy and policy instruments aiming at improving water management
at all levels; and To ensure that all policies and policy measures
take into consideration the gender impact of water scarcity and
pollution.Gender and Energy:Women and men have different energy
needs due to their differing household roles, responses to crises
and coping mechanisms. A gender-sensitive energy policy aims at
offering energy technologies and services that match those needs.
Such a policy involves more than the creation of a gender-sensitive
set of energy-related goals. Gender mainstreaming should take place
at the actual policy formulation and implementation stages.
Increased participation of women in the energy sector and
improvement of their status can help to incorporate gender as an
integral part of energy policies and practices. Availability and
use of disaggregated data by sex would also facilitate the energy
policy process in defining the issues, examining policy
alternatives, making policy choices, implementing policies and
evaluating results.The feminization of poverty in transition
countries has been further aggravated by male labor migration and
forced resettlement. With the prices of electricity and fuel
constantly rising, women will suffer more than men from a deepening
of fuel (or energy) poverty.Issues and key questions that could be
addressed in energy are the following: What is the number of women
and men as top level decision-makers in the area of energy? How
aware are women and men of the links between environmental
degradation and energy production and consumption? Of ways and
means to improve energy efficiency? Of new technologies and home
appliances that could improve energy efficiency both at the work
place and home? How accessible and affordable is clean energy to
women and men? What are the energy consumption levels of women and
men? Do men and women participate equally in decision-making in
energy management? Are NGOs working on gender, health and
environmental issues participating?
Gender and Land Management:Land degradation leads to a
significant reduction in the productive capacity of land. Human
activities contributing to land degradation include unsustainable
agricultural land use, poor soil and water management practices,
deforestation, removal of natural vegetation, frequent use of heavy
machinery, overgrazing, improper crop rotation and poor irrigation
practices. Natural disasters, including drought, floods and
landslides also contribute to land degradation. Some of the main
constraints to engaging women in sustainable land management are
insecurity of tenure, lack of value assigned to labor and
subsistence farming, lack of access to credit, and lack of
opportunities to gain and share technical knowledge on sustainable
land management practices. Issues and key questions that could be
addressed in land management are the following: What is the access
to land and land titles for both men and women? What kind of land
has traditionally been controlled by women? Do practices of men and
women differ in relation to land degradation? Do their knowledge
and awareness differ? Do men and women have access to credit? Do
men and women participate equally in decision-making around
management of land and land resources? Are NGOs working on gender,
health and environmental issues participating? Do men and women
have access to traditional and contemporary knowledge and
information on sustainable land management practices and
technologies?Gender and Chemicals Management:Efforts to ensure
sound management of chemicals within the context of sustainable
development have important gender dimensions. In daily life, women,
men and children are exposed to different kinds of chemicals in
varying concentrations. The levels of exposure to toxic chemicals
as well as the resulting impact on human health are determined by
social as well as biological factors. Social factors, primarily
gender-determined occupational roles and household responsibilities
have a direct impact on human exposure to toxic chemicals,
including the kinds of chemicals encountered as well as the level
and frequency of such exposures. The biological factors, notably
size and physiological differences between women and men and
between adults and children, also influence susceptibility to
health damage from exposure to toxic chemicals. Gender and Climate
Change:Gender is a significant aspect to be taken into account both
when considering actions to adopt and to mitigate climate change.
Climate change impact is not only physical and economic but also
social and cultural. Because of gender differences in social and
economic roles and responsibilities, the effects of climate change
affect women and men in varied ways, often affecting women more
severely. Women tend to be affected differently, and more harshly,
by climate change because of their social roles and more
impoverished status. In many countries, women are among the most
vulnerable owing to reduced ability to access finance, technology
and information needed to adapt to climate change. Increased costs
of energy, transportation, health-care and food caused by the
disrupting effects of climate change disproportionately affect
women negatively by increasing their poverty and insecurity.
Climate change can adversely affect crop yields and thus the
livelihoods and food security of rural women, who are largely
responsible for food production as well as family nutrition.
Supplying water and fuel for families, which is typically the
responsibility of women, becomes more difficult as environmental
changes negatively affect clean water supply, existing
infrastructure and urban and rural settlements. Coping with the
damage of extreme weather events linked to climate change may also
fall more on women who hold together families and households.
Gender differentials in the access to land and land titles also
have significant implications. On the other hand, women are able to
contribute significantly to mitigation of an adaptation to climate
change through their central role in food production and
involvement in agriculture and biomass energy. Furthermore their
experience and knowledge make them one of the key stakeholders in
mitigating climate change.Issues and key questions that could be
addressed are the following: Are there any different patterns in
the use of resources among men and women? In which way does climate
change affect men and women? What are the different levels of
vulnerability of men and women to climate change? What are the
roles of men and women in mitigation and adaptation? With what
results? Do men and women participate equally in decision-making
related to climate change? Are NGOs working on gender, health and
environmental issues participating? What is the capacity of women
to cope with climate change?Gender and Waste Management:Management
of household waste is more the responsibility of women than of men.
Therefore training and awareness-raising activities related to
domestic waste management need to have a special focus on women.
The removal of waste is often the unpaid work of women, but as soon
as it is slightly mechanized, for example by the use of carts or
delivery tricycles and at the same time paid for, men take over
this work. Interventions in waste management including sorting,
recycling and reuse of waste products, and can often create paid
employment. It is important that women as well as men are given the
choice to be involved. Waste is often chemically and biologically
contaminated. When women and men are trained to manage the waste,
it is important that awareness of health hazards is included in the
awareness-raising activities and training curriculum. Men and women
may differ in their attitudes towards public health and community
cleanliness and have markedly different preferences for how to
address public health and environmental problems. These
differences, at the most local level, affect the type of services
women and men would like to see developed in their communities, how
much they are willing to pay for these services and who is
responsible for finding the money to pay from within his/her part
of the family budget. Such differences may also carry through to
preferences for policies, technologies or approaches, which affect
decisions made by women and men leaders, entrepreneurs, managers
and public authorities at various levels.Issues and key questions
that could be addressed are the following: What are the roles of
men and women in the management of waste? Who is in charge of waste
management at home? Are both men and women involved in commercial
waste management? Are they benefiting equally economically? What is
the level of awareness of men and women of the risks and possible
benefits of waste management? What is the impact of chemical or
biological waste on men and women? Do men and women participate
equally in decision-making on waste management and public health
related issues?Gender and Local Environmental Governance:The scope
of governance goes beyond technical or even political
decision-making processes on the delivery of basic services such as
health, water supply or education. It extends to civil society
empowerment, processes of collective action, collective bargaining
and social expression. Good governance requires a bottom-up process
of participation in decision making. It becomes meaningful as a
system operating on democratic principles, with values and
practices that stress peoples empowerment and participation, gender
equality, legitimacy, transparency, accountability and
effectiveness. Civil society is an important factor in this
process. Gender sensitive Indicator:What is an indicator?An
indicator is a pointer. It can be a measurement, a number, a fact,
an opinion or apperception that points at a specific condition or
situation, and measures changes in that condition or situation over
time. In other words, indicators provide a close look at the
results of initiatives and actions. For this reason, they are
front-line instruments in monitoring and evaluating development
work.Bauer (1966) described social indicators as "statistical
series, and all other forms of evidence....that enable us to assess
where we stand and where we are going with respect to values and
goals, and to evaluate specific programs and determine their
impact." This definition is useful because it recognizes the
normative nature of indicators, in that a change in a particular
direction can be interpreted as "good" or bad". For example, a
rising birth rate may be interpreted as good in one country but bad
in another. It also recognizes that indicators can come from
"all... forms of Evidence", both quantitative and qualitative; and
those indicators must measure changes Over time. Because of their
normative nature, care must be taken in defining the normal
bench-mark implicit in any indicator and against which change is
measured. For Example, in examining the status of women, is the
norm the situation of men in a Particular country, or is it women
in other countries? Gender-sensitive indicators have the special
function of pointing out gender-related Changes in society over
time. Their usefulness lies in their ability to point to changes in
the status and roles of women and men over time, and therefore to
measure whether gender equity is being achieved. Because use of
indicators and other relevant evaluation techniques will lead to a
better understanding of how results can be achieved, using
gender-sensitive indicators will also feed into more effective
future Planning and program delivery.Political bias and indicator
use:As tools for measuring social change, indicators are subject to
political forces. It is Important to recognize before using
indicators that all indicators have their own Political heritage
and bias. This is important because certain types of indicators,
particularly so-called quantitative indicators, receive legitimacy
as they are considered Objective'.However, gender specialists have
pointed out that the use of economic indicators, for example in
relation to employment, has until quite recently been used in a way
which has excluded women's work from analysis (Waring 1988). This
serious omission has-been seen as a consequence of the fact that
most censuses and large scale surveys, particularly in developing
countries, are organized and carried out by men and formal
policy-makers.Indicator use and WID/GE at the donor level:Most
agencies recognize that their monitoring and evaluation capability,
including their ability to develop and use indicators, is weak
(CIDA 1994b; World Bank 1994a).A review of donor literature also
shows that the terminology employed in indicator use is
inconsistent. How agencies have dealt with indicators so far can be
summed upon the following four general points:i. Indicator systems
have usually been developed by donors in a non-participatory
fashion, using expertise and knowledge from developed countries. As
such, the indicator systems designed may not be relevant to social
scientists or women indevelopingcountries.ii. Most donor work has
dealt with indicator questions such as, "Were women included in
project planning?" rather than indicators themselves. Such
questions are usually less precise and more difficult to use than
indicators.iii. Most agency documents have put their energies into
developing indicators of the implementation of WID policies within
the agency, focusing, for example, on funds devoted to WID, WID
training and the hiring of WID specialists. Less work has been done
on the development of indicators to evaluate the effectiveness of
development programming.iv. Much more work has been done on
quantitative than qualitative indicators. Some recent work has
experimented with the use of qualitative indicators, but the
development of such indicators in agency literature is still in its
infancy (CIDA 1994i). However, even the production of quantitative
sex-disaggregated data in project evaluations is not widespread.
CIDA staff should be aware of these facts when attempting to
institutionalize the use of quantitative and qualitative
gender-sensitive indicators within their work. INDICATORS IN THE
EDUCATION SECTOR:Consider a region in which agriculture is the
principal source of livelihood, supplemented by home-based
activities such as weaving and sewing, carried out mainly by women.
Women's main production activities include growing vegetables,
hoeing, and weeding, harvesting, threshing, and small-animal
husbandry (e.g. poultry, milking). Because of poverty,
socio-economic inequality and lack of gender- equity in the region,
there is a bias in the local educational system towards the
education of boys from wealthier households.All primary and
secondary education is provided in village-based public schools,
and teachers are mainly educated local people, with 75% of the
teachers being men. The number of teachers is insufficient for the
potential number of students. Although the law requires compulsory
primary schooling from age 6 to 13 years, there is only sporadic
enforcement of this. (Bauer, R. (Ed) (1966) Social Indicators.
Cambridge: MIT Press).Risk/enabling indicators: Government support
gauged by analysis of official attitudes. Popular community support
gauged by attendance and analysis of comments at meetings. Elite
support, gauged by focus group meetings and comments at meetings
and interviews.Qualitative analysis:This would involve identifying
and isolating the factors that caused specific indicators to be in
place and why the project succeeded or failed. For example, it
would involve analyzing how, why and when members of the community
participated, any constraints placed on the project by wealthier
socio-economic groups and how these were overcome, and showing the
links between increased education and higher status.INDICATORS IN
THE HEALTH SECTOR:Making sure that primary health care is available
is a central task in health interventions and especially important
for women and girls. As an example of how such an initiative can be
evaluated, we shall consider a WID-specific health project whose
principal focus is "safe motherhood," i.e., prenatal care and
delivery, postpartum care, and family-planning services. The
stakeholder population lives in an isolated area where child and
female mortality and morbidity rates are about 50% higher than in
the rest of the country. Risk/enabling indicators: Women from the
community have an interest in the project and are willing to
participate. Women are interested in being treated by more advanced
medical technologies. Local men support the project. Local elites
support poor people's access to the resources provided.INDICATORS
OF EMPOWERMENT:"Empowerment is about people - both women and men -
taking control over their lives: setting their own agenda, gaining
skills, increasing self-confidence, solving problems, and
developing self-reliance. It is both a process and an outcome"
(CIDA 1994k)"A term generally used to describe a process by which
powerless people become conscious of their own situation and
organize collectively to gain greater access to public services or
to the benefits of economic growth" (ODA 1994: 32).Components of
empowerment: Womens and men's sense of internal strength and
confidence to face life; the right to make choices; The power to
control their own lives within and outside the home; "The ability
to influence the direction of social change towards the creation of
a More just social and economic order nationally and
internationally" (Heyzer1994: 24)Examples of quantitative
indicators of empowerment: Enforcement of legislation related to
the protection of human rights. Number of cases related to women's
rights heard in local courts, and their results. Number of cases
related to the legal rights of divorced and widowed women heard in
local courts, and the results. The effect of the enforcement of
legislation in terms of treatment of offenders against women.
Increase/decrease in violence against women/men. Rate at which the
number of local justices/ prosecutors/ lawyers who are women/men is
increasing/decreasing. Rate at which the numbers of women/men in
the local police force, by rank, is increasing or decreasing.
Political empowerment (indicators should reflect changes over
time): % of seats held by women in local councils/decision-making
bodies. % of women in decision-making positions in local
government. % of women in the local civil service. % of women/men
registered as voters/% of eligible women/men who vote. % of women
in senior/junior decision making positions within unions. % of
union members who are women. Number of women who participate in
public protests and political campaigning, as compared to the
number of men.Economic empowerment: Changes in
employment/unemployment rates of women and men. Changes in time-use
in selected activities, particularly greater sharing by household
members of unpaid housework and child-care. Salary/wage
differentials between women and men. Changes in % of property owned
and controlled by women and men (land, houses, livestock), across
socio-economic and ethnic groups. Average household expenditure of
female/male headed households on education/health. Ability to make
small or large purchases independently. % of available credit,
financial and technical support services going to women/men from
government/non-government sources.Social empowerment: Numbers of
women in local institutions (e.g. women's associations,
consciousness Raising or income generating groups, local churches,
ethnic and kinship associations) relative to project area
population, and numbers of women in Positions of power in local
organizations. Extent of training or networking among local women,
as compared to men. Control of women/men over fertility decisions
(e.g. number of children, number of Abortions). Mobility of
women/men within and outside their residential locality, as
compared to men.Economic and Social Measure:To expedite womens
economic empowerment, comprehensive initiatives have been
undertaken by providing extensive training, creating job
opportunities, ensuring participation in labor market and providing
support to small and medium women entrepreneurs. Extensive social
safety net programs 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.Womens 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 program 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. Fifteen
percent (15%) refinance fund is reserved for women entrepreneurs.
Women are also entitled to SME loan up to 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.Bangladesh government dreams for a democratic and
inclusive society of Bangladesh. With the aim of making reality
Vision-2021, the government has been taken some amazing initiatives
that definitely deserve appreciation, JOYEETA is one of them.An
initiative of the Ministry of Women and Children affairs
established to empowering rural women of Bangladesh. Its a business
platform to support and facilitate the grass root women
entrepreneurs to showcase and market their own arts, crafts,
products and services. To promote the products of women
entrepreneurs for the first time an independent sales center was
established at the Rapa Plaza of Dhaka under the program of
Development Efforts of Women Entrepreneurship of Department of
Women Affairs. At present 180 entrepreneurs are being provided with
140 stalls. Disabled and oppressed women entrepreneurs are also
provided with stalls.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 organizations, 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.Bangladesh was the first country in South Asia to achieve
gender-parity in primary education. Achieving this milestone is a
result of effective public policy, resource allocation and strong
commitment from public and non-government sectors.Primary education
is compulsory and frees 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%.
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 Bangladeshs 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 Crisis 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. Continuing that total 80 One Stop Crisis Cells are
established, among them 40 in district hospitals and 20 in upazilla
health complex.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 counseling help to victims of
violence.In order to enhance womens 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 womens
increased participation in politics, reserved seats for women in
union council, Upazila Parishad 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. Womens participation in local level elections was
perhaps one of the greatest milestones for Bangladesh.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 womens
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.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 womens empowerment at the center of the new post-2015
development agenda. The goals set out in the report include a
standalone goal on gender equality and womens empowerment with four
main priorities: eliminating violence against women and girls,
womens 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 womens empowerment.21 | Page