Page 45 - IBT Sept 2021 (1)

From leading to adaptation and regeneration of social
Perils to
Power
Farah Kabir, Country Director of ActionAid Bangladesh
shares her insight into the development of women
empowerment and climate action in Bangladesh, and
the AAB’s ongoing effort to stand beside the women
and youth of the country
W the government stimulus package and social
With 14 years serving as the Country Director for
ActionAid, can you give us a broad overview on how
woman empowerment has taken shape in the country
over the 50 years?
Bangladesh's development story over the past fifty years is full
of development surprises and extraordinary resilience of the
people in the face of frequent natural disasters and manmade
calamities. The country's economic transformation has largely
been driven by social changes, initiated by women
empowerment, and providing a rare example of a development
model under which social progress has far outstripped
economic growth. In the process, the role of the state has been
critical in pursuing sound macroeconomic policies, disaster
management, and investments in public health during the
pandemic. Investment in the education sector beyond
enrollment remains a concern. There is a level of partnerships
with NGOs and civil society, mainly regarding social policy
agenda.
With Bangladesh's vision of becoming an upper middle-income
country by 2031 and a high-income country by 2041, the key
to success will be to integrate three development dimensions
covering desirable structural changes with an emphasis on
risk assessment taking into consideration the planetary crisis,
FARAH growth to reduce income and productivity gaps (convergence),
KABIR and enhanced equality. For Bangladesh, interactions between
Country Director structural transformation and social development are critical
ActionAid Bangladesh since technology has radical impacts on social interactions,
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the pandemic on the young and women. Thereby emphasizing
relations critical for social cohesion. These
developments indicate the need for embracing a
multi-sectorial and interdisciplinary view on
structural transformation in Bangladesh for just
and green transition.
Only about 36 percent of Bangladesh's
women participate in the Labour market.
The Covid-19 pandemic is exacerbating
these challenges and a UN survey
highlights that, in Bangladesh, about 25
percent of female respondents reported
losing informal jobs, while another 24
percent saw decreased working hours.
How are these challenges being mitigated?
According to the Labour Force Survey 2016-17,
91.8 percent women are working in the informal
sector whereas only 14.9 percent working in the
formal sector. Workers in the informal sector are
the most affected in the context of the COVID-19
Pandemic. In 2020, ActionAid Bangladesh
conducted research which has shown that 42
percent of small enterprises lost 75 percent of
their income. A joint survey conducted by the
Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) and Mapped in
Bangladesh (MiB) showed that around 3.5 lakh
garment workers in Bangladesh lost their jobs
due to the pandemic. Women, particularly young
women workers, therefore should be reached by
protection (social security) mechanism to enable
them to bounce back to a better life.
Alongside, a comprehensive database is required
to develop CMSMEs and their workers to bring
them within the coverage of the stimulus
offered by GoB. This will create a support
mechanism plus initiatives for the future.
package and social protection mechanism
Incubation centers need to be developed for the
women entrepreneurs and youth entrepreneurs
particularly at the district level where they can
support through financing and marketing. The
government should develop a policy for CMSMEs
to provide them support for enhancing decent
employment for women and young people.
Re-skilling and upskilling initiatives should be
taken for the women and young workers
engaged in the informal sector.
Can you briefly tell us about the initiatives
undertaken by ActionAid to ensure the
adverse effects of the pandemic on women
are being addressed?
ActionAid Bangladesh is advocating with the
private sector and various government
stakeholders, including the various Ministries
and Bangladesh Bank, to address the effects of
in the behaviour and practices of those in
on access to stimulus packages, developing databases, social
protection, and social security, developing a national policy for
the informal sector, effective implementation of National SME
Policy 2019 etc.
On the grassroots level, ActionAid Bangladesh is providing
seed funds to young women to develop small scale
entrepreneurship. We are also providing training to young
people, including young women, on entrepreneurship skills
development and accounting. In AAB working areas we are
facilitating Women Led Communication Matrix (WLCM) to
collect grassroots level data and responding to GBV cases
through developing community led mechanisms during
COVID-19. SVAW networks in coordination with other networks
have implemented remote case management mechanisms to
combat violence during COVID-19.
Moreover, AAB has taken many more initiatives during the
pandemic, such as raising awareness on COVID-19 for 150,000
people in all its working areas. AAB has also provided food
and MPCG (Multi-Purpose Cash Grants) support to 8,254
families. They also supplied PPE and Hygiene material to
service providers and volunteers, and donated Hygiene Kit to
2,938 families.
AAB as part of its National level advocacy engaged frontline
partner NGOs on different issues for instance to address the
increasing cases of GBV, UCW and livelihood related matters.
AAB conducted several studies in 2020 with the intent of
people in Bangladesh: A Spotlight on Young Women and Rapid
taking up evidence-based advocacy in regards to the impact of
COVID-19, unemployment and economic insecurity on young
Analysis of Care Work during COVID-19 Pandemic in
Bangladesh was another study of AAB.
Despite being the top in South Asia, Bangladesh has
slipped 15 notches to the rank 65th among 156
resulting exclusively to a step backwards in closing
economic participation and opportunity gender gaps.
How can the government ensure better economic
countries on the WEF Global Gender Gap Report 2021
participation and opportunity?
The government has enacted numerous policies over the past
decades in Bangladesh keeping women’s rights in focus. The
Ministry of Women and Children Affairs advocated for an
increase of the allowances for widows, and to ease the burden
on lactating mothers in urban areas and to provide an
allowance. Skills development and job training in fields such
as agriculture and electronics have also been implemented.
The National Women Development Policy of 2011 aimed to
establish equal rights for men and women and included
specific goals such as assistance for female entrepreneurs. To
oversee the implementation of the development policy, the
government formed a 50-member National Women and Child
Development Council chaired by the Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina. The Prime Minister supported women’s empowerment
in global forums such as the UN. The problem we have
identified is lack of effective implementation of policies and
accountability across the board instead of discrimination found
institutions. We recommend arranging necessary training
authority as well as society at large.
A report by WEF suggests that workplace
equality will be reached in 267 years – what
kind of policy support, infrastructural
support, and knowledge sharing is required
for a faster acquisition of women among
professional and technical workers?
Women and the young face various kinds of
harassment and impediments in the workplace,
therefore, the government should ratify the ILO C
190 to address workplace violence and
harassment. The Department of Inspection for
Factories and Establishments (DIFE) should
strengthen their inspection mechanism to
monitor the workplace environment.
The SME sector is largely propelled by
women and youth entrepreneurs however
the pandemic has seen the sector slip.
What are the setbacks holding the SME
sector back? What measures are required
for banks and the government to realize
the potential of this sector?
According to a study by Centre for Policy Dialogue
(CPD), though the government allocated funds for
women entrepreneurs under the stimulus
women led enterprises have not applied for any
packages designed for CMSMEs, 58 percent of
them have not heard about it, and 93 percent
loan under the government support scheme. A
separate stimulus package should be
implemented for the woman entrepreneurs. The
study further recommended extending the loan
repayment deadline to three years for SMEs to
fight the fall out of the COVID-19. According to
loans under the stimulus package provided by the
the same study 94 percent of the beneficiaries of
government were male and 6.0 percent were
female.
The government should reach out to the
unbanked women and young entrepreneurs who
are currently facing difficulties as they do not
meet the criteria as per the existing guidelines for
stimulus package distribution. An ecosystem
should be developed for young and women
entrepreneurs to support them in
entrepreneurship development covering all
aspects and dimensions for effective
contribution. Engage the various trade bodies at
all levels to disburse stimulus packages to the
young and women entrepreneurs. Banks and
financial institutions need to be advised to form
Women Entrepreneurs Development Unit and
Dedicated Desk in the regional offices including
the head office of banks and financial
facilities for women entrepreneurs. Bangladesh Bank has
allocated 15 percent of total refinancing scheme for women
entrepreneurs.
Can you briefly touch upon the innovations Bangladesh
has come up with to combat the climate crisis over the
years?
Bangladesh has come up with agro economic interventions to
combat the effect of the climate crisis. Supporting circular
economic intervention has also been a great initiative. Youth
led mitigation and adaptation process, i.e., tree plantation,
community mobilization for protection of embankment,
supporting the climate resilient sustainable agriculture, etc.
are also some of the notable initiatives against climate
disaster. However the challenge lies with the private sector
energy projects that are being rolled out.
especially in the areas of infrastructure development and
Women leadership in emergencies is visible, women are
leading on multiple fronts. We find that women are taking on
challenges and taking on new occupations. They are trying to
be innovative. Women leadership in all aspects of our lives
have grown in the last 50 years and organizations like ours
find it so true on the grassroots level because we work with
communities in the far flung
areas in the country. Having
said that we continue to
practitioners and society
struggle with the mindset of
the political actors, the
itself.
On one hand we have so
much progress to showcase
yet on the other hand we
have the patriarchal mindset
of rightist forces that nurture
the concept of power and
coupled with the global rise
outright obstruction of
women rights refusing to
recognise women and girls as humans thereby refusing to
acknowledge their contributions, competencies, and abilities.
We see the need for system change whereby institutions will
be required to change. Institutions are so embedded in gender
discrimination practices that they find it difficult to rise above
that. 50 years of independence is being celebrated yet women
question whether they are independent and equal citizens of
this country?
I celebrate the strides we have made to get where we are
today. I celebrate this for women who came before us and for
the young women today who are showing their strength and
leadership. I believe there’s no stopping us.
It’s the young people, their leadership and their vision of the
country and the world that excites me leaving me with hope. I
want to see more women leading with a feminist lens in
climate justice, equity, rights, and dignity.