On August 2, 2023, Bangladesh Mahila Parishad (BMP) and the South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM) jointly organized a meeting to disseminate the findings of research on “Gender Budget Monitoring” at CIRDAP,Dhaka.
Dr. Shamsul Alam, the Honorable State Minister, Ministry of Planning was present as the chief guest. The event was chaired by Dr. Fauzia Moslem, the President of Bangladesh Mahila Parishad (BMP). The welcome address was given by Maleka Banu, the General Secretary of BMP, and Dr. Selim Rayhan, the Executive Director of SANEM. The key findings of the research were presented by Dr. Sayma Haque Bidisha, the Research Director of SANEM and professor at Dhaka University, Department of Economics. Mr. Taufiqul Islam Khan, Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD), and Ishrat Jahan Urmi, Senior Reporter at DBS News were present as special guests.
Representatives from various organizations including BMP and journalists from print and electronic media were present at the event.
In the welcome speech, General Secretary Maleka Banu emphasized the importance of a gender-sensitive budget for ensuring women’s human rights and gender equality. She also called for budget monitoring by the women’s movement to evaluate the implementation of the announced budget.
Dr. Sayma Haque Bidisha presented research on three important aspects which showed that it is important to monitor government policy for women’s empowerment, take steps to prevent child marriage, ensure women’s safety at home and in the workplace, highlight gender discrimination in property, reduce the dropout rate in education, change gender norms and discriminations.
The Honorable Minister Dr. Shamsul Alam stated that the results of this comprehensive research need to be advertised in the media. He also informs Gender budgeting has made significant progress, with 44 ministries now having gender budgets, resulting in a 25-34% increase.
The Senior Research Fellow of the Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD), Toufikul Islam Khan, and the Senior Reporter of DBS News, Ishrat Jahan Urmi, has emphasized the need to focus on women-centric programs and the implementation of SDG goals in the upcoming five-year plan. They have also highlighted the importance of allocating separate budgets for women in remote areas and increasing legal aid support for women’s rights.
Dr. Fauzia Moslem, the chairperson said- that Govt. is implementing various initiatives, but it needs to strengthen efforts to prevent violence against women. She also emphasized in addressing the issue of gender equality in economic activities the achievements will not be sustained. Later she said everyone needs to work together in unity and give importance to strong women’s movements for sustainable development.
The program was conducted by the Advocacy Director of BMP Jana Goswami.
