WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

IN BANGLADESH
 UNIVERSITY OF INFORMATION TECNOLOGY &
SCIENCES.

Assignment

Course Title : Principles of Microeconomics.

Course Code : ECO 121.
Submitted BY : 1. Md. Zamiul Islam. (ID:143030100001)
2. Md. Rube Shaik.(ID:143030100006)
3. Samcuddin Molla.(ID:143030100016)
4. E MamunHossain.(ID:143030100017)
5. Md. Ruhul Amin.(ID:143030100032)
6. Ikramul Haque Nipu.(ID:143030100033)
Department : Business Studies.
 Submitting To
Janifar Alam
Lecturer, School of Business.
 MENU
 Introduction.
 Necessity of Women Empowerment
 Economic and social measures.
 Education.
 Maternity and Health.
 Combating violence against women.
 Women in politics, administration and security.
 Looking ahead.
 ICT and Women empowerment in Bangladesh.
 Rights of women.
 Gender Empowerment and the Garment Industry.
 INTRODUCTION.
Bangladesh is a developing country half of the total population
is women whose socio-economic condition is very low. Struggle
for modernity, tradition, men-women equality, social dignity,
security and for multilateral pressure the position of women in
the family is very complex. Here men and women do not
participate in social development is not equal. Many indoor
and out door activities of women are not treated as work. The
devaluation of women labour in labour market also hinders
women right. But in market economy women of Bangladesh
are always facing new challenges. Though women work in
educational institution, medical, factories, police, even in the
uneven areas, women are neglected, tortured and persecuted.
In the society of gender disparity it is difficult for women to
stay parallel and enjoy the right of equal participant.
NECESSITY OF WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

Families will be well developed and small if women are also

given proper work and environment for work. For
empowering women it is important that they be given an
opportunity to receive better and higher education. As a result
fertility rates will decrease as will mortality rates of infants.
For literate women there are many options in life other than
marriage and later motherhood, they can become a part of
some workforce. A delayed marriage means that a woman has
fewer fertile years left and it automatically decreases the
number of children she can bear. They also seem to be more
knowledgeable about options related to family planning. Not
just literacy but religion also plays a very big part in a
woman’s family planning decisions.
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL MEASURES

To expedite women’s economic empowerment, comprehensive

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

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 free for all children aged between age 6 and 10.
All children attending primary and secondary schools receive textbooks free of cost.
The education of girls up to grade 12 (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%.
 MATERNITY AND HEALTH
According to a 2013 survey by different UN organisations,
the estimated MMR in Bangladesh stood at 170 per
100,000 live births. The current government plans to
reduce MMR to 63 per 100,000 live births by 2030. Steps
have been taken for delivery of primary healthcare services
through community clinics to rural, marginal and
vulnerable women. Model women friendly district hospitals
have been established. Maternal Health Voucher Schemes
provides a voucher package of three ante-natal checkups,
safe delivery under skilled birth attendants, one post-natal
checkup and transport cost.
 COMBATING VIOLENCE AGAINST
WOMEN

In December 2010, Parliament passed the Domestic Violence (Prevention

and Protection) Act 2010, which was the first express recognition of the
problem of domestic violence in Bangladesh by the State. This Act
signified Bangladesh’s fulfillment of state obligations under the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women (CEDAW) as well as Article 28 of the Constitution, guaranteeing
special measures for the advancement of women and children. In order to
effectively implement this law, the government has formulated the
Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Rules 2013.
 WOMEN IN POLITICS, ADMINISTRATION AND
SECURITY.
In order to enhance women’s empowerment, the number of
seats reserved for women in the National Parliament have
been increased by 5, and made 50. There has been a sharp
increase in the number of women parliamentarians elected
(20% of total seats) in the last national election. To create
opportunities for women’s increased participation in
politics, reserved seats for women in union council, Upazila
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. Women’s participation in local level elections was
perhaps one of the greatest milestones for Bangladesh.
 LOOKING AHEAD

In its recent report to the UN General Assembly the

Government of Bangladesh has identified the critical
importance of addressing both poverty and inequality and
putting gender equality and women’s empowerment at the
centre of the new post-2015 development agenda. The goals
set out in the report include a standalone goal on gender
equality and women’s empowerment with four main priorities:
eliminating violence against women and girls, women’s
economic empowerment, participation in decision-making
including in the home, and eliminating child marriage. If
performance in the recent past is any indicator, then it is safe
to be optimistic that Bangladesh would also be able to achieve
the post-2015 goals for women’s empowerment.
 ICT AND WOMEN EMPOWERMENT IN
BANGLADESH
This year the World Telecommunication and Information
Society Day was observed on 17th May in Bangladesh
along with other countries across the globe. This year's
theme was "Broadband for Sustainable Development".
We do not need to mention how ICT has changed the global
picture of information access and connectivity. It has been
the key enablers of globalization, facilitating worldwide
flows of information, knowledge and ideas, people and
product. This connectivity around the globe has
transformed business, markets and knowledge sharing,
empowered women and communities.
 RIGHTS OF WOMEN

In the constitution of the people’s republic of Bangladesh some fundamental rights

for women are:
Article 10: Steps shall be taken to ensure participation of women in all spheres of
national life.
Article 28(2): women shall have equal rights with men in all spheres of the state & of
public life.
In a recent study it is found that 12% enjoy human rights fully, 8% enjoy minimum
human rights, 7.8% can enjoy equal rights in human activities and 7.6% can enjoy
open freedom.
 What steps to be taken to ensure their human right:
To take law full steps
To expand Education
To raise consciousness
To achieve economic solvency
To get equal phase in their father’s property.
 GENDER EMPOWERMENT AND THE
GARMENT INDUSTRY
Since the 1980s, RMG was the first industry to provide large-scale employment
opportunities to women in Bangladesh, in a country where women traditionally
did not work outside their home. Recent research by Professor Rachel Heath
(University of Washington) and Professor Mushfiq Mobarak (The International
Growth Centre and Yale University) draws attention to the significant benefits
of having access to factory jobs on gender empowerment, even beyond the
income opportunity, from data spanning thirty years in Bangladesh.
Comparing girls living in areas within commuting distance to a factory to both
their brothers and to other girls from villages not within commuting distance,
Mobarak and Heath found a systematic effect of proximity to garment factories
on the postponement of marriage and childbirth age. These effects were even
more striking for girls aged between 12 and 18, where early marriage is more
likely to have detrimental effects on a girl’s level of educational achievement
and resulting job opportunities.
 Thank
You
Every One
And
Our Honorable Teacher