On the occasion of International Women’s Day 2022, Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) organised a dialogue on Wednesday, 9 March 2022. The dialogue was participated by a set of designated panellists and a broad stakeholder groups. The event was in-person and livestreamed through CPD’s social media.
The dialogue was moderated by Dr Fahmida Khatun, the Executive Director of CPD. In her introductory remarks, Dr Fahmida said, “Women’s day is an occasion for celebration of the economic, social and political achievements made by women. The dialogue was organised with the ethos of celebration as well as with the objective to highlight some of the challenges facing women globally and nationally and to discuss the way forward for a gender-equal and inclusive society.” She mentioned that, when we talk about economic growth, we mean a broader and all-encompassing growth which must include the environmental dimension. She added, empowering women will be crucial for taking better care of the environment in the context of climate change. Moreover, in order to have a sustainable world, women need to be given a level-playing field and we have to remove the biases. She told that gender bias leads to discrimination; which creates inequality. “Despite the increase of female participation in the economy, gender equality is a far-fetched goal”, said Dr. Fahmida. This journey towards achieving gender equality needs to involve men too. She emphasised that gender issues should be at the centre of all policies.
Ms Rizvana Hredita, COO and Co-Founder of Hydroquo+ Bangladesh Ltd. said, “Gender equality is a powerful tool, and we need to equip women with skills for future not just to manage but to lead change”. She opined that women’s voice is critical for climate justice; for sustainable water management and governance; and for relevant policies that will benefit both men and women.
Ms Taslima Akter Lima, President, Bangladesh Garments Sramik Sanghati discussed a number of issues related to women in the labour market, particularly women in the garment sector. She shed light on a spectrum of concerns—lack of childcare and day-care facilities at workplace, unequal burden of care, reckless price hike of daily commodities—which are hindering female participation in the labour force. She added, participation rate of female workers in the garment sector has now decreased; it is 60 per cent now while the earlier rate was 80 per cent. She called upon to work together to break the barriers.
Barrister Rashna Imam, Managing Partner, Akhtar Imam & Associates highlighted how a number of laws in one form or another are discriminatory against women; for example, marital rape is still not criminalised by Bangladeshi law. She also remarked that it is time to reconsider equal inheritance rights, and the government must try hard enough to ensure that equality. She too pointed out issues including lack of childcare and breastfeeding facilities, sexual harassments and pay disparity at workplaces. She observed gender discrimination in case of salary and payment, and asked women to be shamelessly courageous in negotiating for the payment they deserve.
Dr Firdausi Qadri, Emeritus Scientist, Enteric and Respiratory Infections, Infectious Diseases Division, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease and Research, (icddr,b) remarked, “It is difficult for women to raise the voice, and women have to take an extra step to shine.” She hoped for increased female participation in science, technology and research, and for that, more efforts are required especially from the government. She emphasised a better support system so that women can take part in economic activities.
Mr Syed Nasim Manzur, Director, Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) and Managing Director, Apex Footwear Limited pointed out the lack of self-acceptance among women themselves. “Women are conditioned to think that they cannot be in leadership positions,” he said while sharing his experiences. He also cited examples of motivated female colleagues. He referred to a number of challenges like lack of toilet facilities, and pre-set notions regarding gender-specific job roles which constrain women’s participation in the labour force.
Ms Paula Roos-Schindeler, the Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Bangladesh said that International Women’s Day is about equality. This year, there is an emerging need to look forward to what roles women can play to achieve sustainability by dealing with climate change. If we look at the whole spectrum of climate change, we will see many female leaders. But higher participation of women is needed because it is the women who really care about the environment. And we need to involve men and boys too in the campaign, she added.
H E Ms Alexandra BergVon Linde, Ambassador, Embassy of Sweden, Bangladesh opined that observing women’s day is important—to celebrate the work of women and for women, and also to acknowledge that we still have a long way to go. She said, sustainable development is not possible if half of the population is left behind, and representation is important, since women are underrepresented at all levels of decision-making. She stated that effective climate related actions need female participation and representation. Gender-sensitive policies are crucial. H E Linde said that, to effectively tackle the problem of gender inequality, active involvement of men and boys is required. The pandemic has further posed a number of challenges to women such as lack of access to healthcare, lack of decision-making, unequal burden of care, and sharp increase of gender-based violence and child marriages. Now, more than ever, it is needed to bring a structural change and work more to end the bias. She also emphasised an equal distribution of resources and equal access to resources.
Dr Hossain Zillur Rahman, Chairperson, BRAC, Former Advisor to the Caretaker Government, and Founder-Chairman, Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC), was present at the Dialogue as the Special Guest. He said, one of the achievements of Bangladesh in the last 50 years is the emergence of women as social and economic actors. Dr Zillur remarked that women deserve all sorts of rights and respect irrespective of their social and economic roles in the society. He shared his views based on his research experience that patriarchal values can lash back. He told, “Do we have the structural support and social security for those who have opted for being courageous? Because opening the window for women will not be enough.” He underscored the need for a structural reform, since there is no grievance redressal opportunity if women face backlash or injustice. Besides shedding light on critical issues including women’s access to healthcare, reproductive health, hygiene rights, and safety on roads, he also emphasised the importance of emotional counselling and conversations that would help all to collectively find the ways forward.
Eminent political scientist, feminist and Distinguished Fellow of CPD Professor Rounaq Jahan chaired the session. She pointed out, celebration of the day is important because, this way, certain values and messages involving gender equality and women rights are relayed. She observed that International Women’s Day is celebrated in Bangladesh with so much festivity and this is a good sign. She remarked, this idea and celebration of equality has been with us for around almost 100 years, celebrated by poets like Tagore; it is not just a western concept. Reflecting on the entire discussion session, she emphasised that the state has a bigger role to play in changing the scenario, and resource constraints need to be addressed. She emphasised, women must have the power over their own bodies and own selves. “All women generally are brought up in such a docile and socialised way that they are expected to say ‘yes’ to everything, but women need to learn to say ‘no’. Hence, women need to have a support structure,” she stated. She ended with an emphasis on the collective action to break the biases.
The event was followed by an open-floor discussion. Both male and female professionals and entrepreneurs, representatives of women’s organisations and media, heads of missions and embassies in Bangladesh, representatives of development partners, members of the civil society, and eminent journalists attended the dialogue.