Investing in women never fails

Photo Collected

A+ A A-

Violence against women must be stopped to ensure economic, political and social empowerment of women. Production oriented education system should be taken for women. Budget allocation and investment should be increased to make women skilled. Investing in women and girls never fails. The speakers said this at the round table meeting organized by Bangladesh Women’s Parishad on Tuesday.

The round table meeting was organized under the title of ‘Possibilities and Challenges of Women’s Economic Empowerment: Oriented Budget for Women’s Economic Empowerment’ at the capital’s Sirdap Auditorium.

Economist Salim Jahan said in the speech of the special guest in the meeting, if you invest in anything in the world, there will be success and failure. Only investing in women and girls never fails. An investment in women and girls brings multi-dimensional benefits. Policy makers need to allocate budget keeping this in mind. After creating women’s access to employment and income opportunities, economic empowerment will not happen if women do not have control over that income.

Salim Jahan urged women parliamentarians to take a strong stand in the matter of passing the bill and allocating the budget on women’s issues regardless of their political allegiance and differences. He said, this time the budget will be under extreme pressure. Women’s economic interests and empowerment should not be sacrificed under that pressure.

In the speech of the special guest, Additional Secretary of the Planning Department of the Ministry of Planning Sadia Sharmin said that the government has hundred percent integrity in the empowerment and development of women. Perhaps there is some deficiency in determining which issues should be prioritized. For this reason, private organizations have to work together with the government. He urged the researchers to research on what kind of benefits will be given to women in the direction of empowerment.

The meeting was presided over by the president of Bangladesh Mahila Parishad, Fawzia Moslem. He said, for any empowerment of women – economic, political, social – elimination of violence against women is necessary. He urged to continue the activities of One Stop Crisis Center (OCC) under the project even though the period of Multi Sectoral Program to prevent violence against women has expired. He expressed fear that if OCC activities are stopped, the criminalization of violence against women may increase. Fawzia Moslem also said that the direction of women’s property ownership, inheritance laws should come through the budget.

In the opening speech, Maleka Banu, general secretary of Bangladesh Women’s Council, said that women’s participation in the labor market, women’s income is still not considered as the main income. As a result, women do not get the status they deserve. So far, institutional measures have not been developed to reduce wage inequality against women. In this situation, production oriented education system should be taken for women. Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics i.e. STEM education should be given priority.

Physicist Mohammad Ataul Karim Launches New Book on Intellectual Growth

Read More

Professor Sharmind Nilormi of Jahangirnagar University’s Department of Economics as an honorable speaker in the program said, production-oriented education is needed for women. Technical education should be increased. Women’s labor should not be unpaid. He called for public disclosure of detailed information about what 44 ministries are doing with the gender budget.

Atanu Rabbani, research director of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) and professor of economics department of Dhaka University, alleged that the government has shown reluctance in the last 50 years in the areas where major investments should have been made. He said, whether the government is interested in making the people educated and healthy is also a matter of thought. It remains to be seen who will benefit more from investing in human capital. Investing in the early stages gives higher returns.

World Bank’s social development expert Sabina Parveen said, 44 ministries have gender budgets. However, there is no oversight of how the gender budget is being spent. If a road is constructed that is also used by women, it is considered an expenditure under the gender budget. But it should be seen what gender-related facilities have been placed on that road and whether they are being properly managed or not.

BIDS Senior Research Fellow Azreen Karim, Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Research Associate Pritilata Khandkar Haque and South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM) Deputy Director Ishrat Sharmin also spoke on the occasion. Apart from this, Bangladesh Trade Union Center President Shahida Parveen Shikha, Shakti Foundation’s Tahmina Yasmin, ActionAid Bangladesh’s Mariam Necha, Edab’s Samapika Halder, Dainik Ittefaq’s Senior Reporter Rabeya Bebi, Bangladesh Women’s Council Central Committee Member Bahnishikha Das Purkayastha participated in the free discussion.

Rabeya Khatun Shanti, Secretary of Movement Sub-Council of Bangladesh Mahila Parishad conducted the program.