Introduction:Bangladesh is a highly patriarchal society and gender discrimination is present at all community levels. Women are dependent on men throughout their lives, from father through husbands to sons. While there are constitutional affirmations of gender equality, state legislation and institutions frequently overlook the rights of women. For example, women and young girls are more disadvantaged than men in their access to education, health care and financial assets. Traditionally, women were often discouraged from participating in public life. Womens access to social, economic, political and legal institutions is mediated by men. Women are mainly recognized only for their reproductive role. However, due to increased poverty and an increased demand for labor, female employment has risen since the mid 1980s. Mens authority over women is reinforced by pervasive gender-based violence. Gender-based violence outside the home includes sexual harassment in the workplace, assaults, rapes and acid attacks. Revenge by a rejected suitor and land disputes are common causes for acid attacks against women. Insufficient shelters for victims of abuse have led the government to hold women who file complaints in safe custody, usually in prison. This custody frequently results in further abuses, hence discouraging the filing of complaints by other women. Status of Women is often described in terms of their legal rights, education, economic independency, and empowerment, age at marriage, health, and fertility, as well as the roles she plays in her family and society. The status of women implies a comparison with the status of men, and is therefore a significant reflection of the level of social justice in the society.Over the last decade, much concern has been shows about the need to empower women so that they can make their own decisions about childbearing and about other areas of their lives. Lack of power over their own decision-making has long been recognized as a barrier to improve womens sexual and reproductive health. Many NGOs have been demonstrating the link between womens development and successful family planning program and were responsible for introducing innovative womens programs in the 1980s. The 1980s saw a number of schemes that trued to combine income generation or literacy or some other aspects of improving womens status with family planning in order to give women more control over their lives. The role of women in development and as agents of changes as mothers, producers, and as environment managers- also came to be much more widely recognized during this period.

Gender Issues in Bangladesh:Having carefully examined the issue of gender, women development and women empowerment with the reference to other 3rd world countries gender situation, it is apparent that gender issue is not that much understandable to us. For working with gender firstly we have to understand the entire concept.Before going to the main discussion it is important to give an idea about Sex, Gender and Gender analysis. Sometimes it is hard to understand exactly what is meant by the term gender, and how it differs from the closely related term sex. "Sex refers to the biological and physiological characteristics that define men and women. Gender refers to the social attributes and opportunities associated with being male and female and the relationships between women and men and girls and boys, as well as the relations between women and those between men. These attributes, opportunities and relationships are socially constructed and are learned through socialization processes. They are context/ time-specific and changeable. Gender determines what is expected, allowed and valued in a woman or a man in a given context. In most societies there are differences and inequalities between women and men in responsibilities assigned, activities undertaken, access to and control over resources, as well as decision-making opportunities. Gender is part of the broader socio-cultural context. Other important criterion for socio-cultural analysis includes class, race, poverty level, ethnic group and age To put it another way: Male and female are sex categories, while masculine and feminine are gender categories. The socially-constructed concepts of masculinity and femininity; the appropriate qualities or characteristics that are expected to accompany each biological sex. Aspects of sex will not vary substantially between different human societies, while aspects of gender may vary greatly.Gender analysis examines the differences in women's and men's lives, including those which lead to social and economic inequity for women, and applies this understanding to policy development and service delivery. It is concerned with the underlying causes of these inequities. Gender analysis aims to achieve equity, rather than equality. Gender equality is based on the premise that women and men should be treated in the same way. This fails to recognize that equal treatment will not produce equitable results, because women and men have different life experiences (Ministry of Women's Affairs).Across continents and cultures, established gender norms and values mean that women typically control less power and fewer resources than men. Not surprisingly, this often gives men an advantage - in the economic, political, and educational arenas, but also with regard to health and health care.Model Village:A model village is a type of mostly self-contained community, built from the late 18th century onwards by landowners and industrialists to house their workers. Although the villages are located close to the workplace, they are generally physically separated from them and often consist of relatively high quality housing, with integrated community amenities and attractive physical environments. "Model" is used in the sense of an ideal to which other developments could aspire. Status of Women in Bangladesh:In the male dominant society womens are in a disadvantageous position. Women, in custom and practice, remained subordinate to male in almost all aspect of their lives; greater autonomy was the privilege of the rich or the necessity of the very poor. Most womens lives remained centered on their traditional roles and they had limited access to markets, productive services, education, health care, and local government. At the household level, the girl child often has unequal access to nutrition, health care and education compare to boy child. Many discriminatory practices arise out of some deep-rooted socio-cultural factors. Women still earn less than men earn and are mostly occupied in low paid jobs. They often do not have easy access to credit and other income generation opportunities, and are still under represented at management and policy levels.The lack of opportunities contributed to high fertility patterns, which diminished family well-being contributed to the malnourishment and generally poor health of children and frustrated educational and other national development goals. In fact, acute poverty at the margin appeared to be hitting hardest at women. As long as womens access to health care, education and training remained, limited and prospect for improved productivity among the female population remained poor in our country.In the 1980s womens status in Bangladesh remained inferior to that of men. About 80 percent of women lived in rural areas in the late 1980s. The majority of rural women, most probably seventy percent, were in small cultivator; tenant and landless households, many of them worked as laborers part time or seasonally, usually during the post-harvest and received payment in kind or in meager cash wages. Another twenty percent, mostly in poor landless households, dependent on the casual labor, gleaning, begging and other irregular sources of income, typically their income was essential to household survival. The remaining ten percent of women were in household mainly in the professional, trading, or large-scale landowning categories, and they usually did not work outside the home.The economic contribution of women was substantial, but largely unacknowledged. Their contribution in agricultural sector and manufacturing jobs, especially in the ready-made garment industry is remarkable. Despite the fact that women constitute half of our citizenry, they continue to face persistent disadvantages and exclusion, evident in gender differentials for various indicators of health. One of the most telling indicators of the disparity between male and female can be found in child mortality. Though following global norms in Bangladesh infant mortality is higher for males than females, soon after birth the mortality rates start to reverse. For example, post neonatal mortality among males is twenty-seven per thousand births versus thirty-one among females and child mortality among male is twenty-eight per thousand births versus thirty-eight among females. These disparities clearly indicate the neglect of girl children in terms of nutrition and access to health care.The factors that determine the status as well as the fertility of women in Bangladesh are education, and empowerment, occupation of husband, residence and possession of items and religious beliefs and norms.Employment of Women and Contributions of Men:Womens participation in labor force is a widely accepted factor for their sound socioeconomic status. Because a woman who employed is more likely to have direct access and control over financial resources be able to function in the non-domestic sphere be able to translate the autonomy required for and embodied in being to autonomy and control inside the home.The participation of women in labor force is still at the rudimentary level for most of the developing countries. Women still tend to be concentrated in the unpaid family labor category and employed mostly in agricultural and related occupation and other family based enterprises. Though womens participation is professional and technical, occupation is increasing in recent years the majority of women in the category are employed in low-paid low status jobs.Bangladeshs real problem is not only unemployment but also under employment. Taking as underemployed those working less than 35 hours per week the rate of underemployment is 35 percent. Some of these people mat not wish to full-time because they have responsibilities at home.To understand the link between employment and womens status, ideally employment of women should be examined in combination with concepts of cultural acceptance different types of work for women, womens total workload and control over training in all branches of technology. Womens employment does prevail in the no paid or worst paid branches of the national economy. Occupational promotion of women is much more difficult than that of man even in feminize occupation as, for example teaching. Even the college and university education for the girls is not a guarantee to get jobs. Unemployment and underemployment problem is in such an acute condition. Women are concentrated, as usual in the lower levels of the occupational pyramid and so continue to be a source of cheap labor.A remarkable increase in the number of female labor force in 1980 and afterwards is compared to 1985-86. No tremendous development over this period has occurred. It is simply because of the definitional change, we have witnessed a handsome amount in female labor force after 1989. The new definition of the economic activities include activities like caring domestic animals and poultry, threshing, boiling, dying and husking crops, processing and preserving food etc. Female usually performs these activities and hence, the number of female labor has increased. We have at least and at least, recognized these works as economic activities. In this society, the men credit for whatever little is produced.Mobility: Today, Bangladeshi women have the benefit of enjoying a freedom where they can go out of their own houses to places like fairs, markets without anybody accompanying them for security. Financial wellbeing: This point observes whether the women themselves possess any assets whose proprietorship lies only with them. In rural Bangladesh, three out of every five women have cows, goats or chickens to their names. These are assets known to generate income through the means of milk, eggs or meat. Equal participation in family decisions: Previously, women were not given enough respect to consider their opinions in the matters of family. Today, the scenario is such that women have gained the rights of deciding when to get their daughters married, or to which schools to send their children to.Knowledge about the law and political situation: At present, the majority of women recognize their own rights. In rural areas, six out of every ten women know who is ruling their country and, fortunately, these women show a great understanding regarding certain laws which can help women fight against any injustice!Liberty from being controlled over: Previously, women were subjected to the loss of their personal assets such as money, land; jewelries or farm animals like cows and chickens because they had to hand it over to their fathers, brothers or husbands. Today, women are more aware of refraining from such activities. They have finally learned to embrace their rights and self-dependency.Gender situation in Bangladesh Gender situation in Bangladesh have been undergoing a process of considerable transformation over the last two decades as part of broader process of economic transition and social change. Although progress has been considerable in many spheres, womens changing roles have also given rise to a range of new challenges that require shifts in policy making and program implementation as well as the various social and cultural values which have informed and shaped implicit societal understandings of womens roles and responsibilities (Gender, Poverty and the MDG- ADB).Physical IntegrityFemale genital mutilation is not practiced in Bangladesh. Early marriage and dowry customs are major factors in the continuation of domestic violence against women. Laws that have been passed against these practices have proven difficult to enforce, especially in rural areas where traditions and family laws tend to govern social life. The government, the media, and womens rights organizations have fostered a growing awareness of the problem of violence against women.Gender-based violence outside the home includes sexual harassment in the workplace, assaults, rapes and acid attacks. Revenge by a rejected suitor and land disputes are common causes for acid attacks against women. Insufficient shelters for victims of abuse have led the government to hold women who file complaints in safe custody, usually in prison. This custody frequently results in further abuses, hence discouraging the filing of complaints by other women. The occurrence of missing women (including female infants and children) is widespread in most South Asian countries and Bangladesh is no exception. In fact, Bangladesh is one of the very few countries in the world where males outnumber females. Census data show that over 2.7 million Bangladeshi women were missing in 2001 (Hudson et al, 2005). This is primarily the result of son preference and female sex-selective abortions, or through relative neglect compared to boys in early childhood (including abandonment).Ownership RightsDespite womens growing role in agriculture, there is evidence that social and customary practices virtually exclude women from any hope of direct access to land.It is often the demographic composition of a womans household that determines her qualification for and access to bank loans and other forms of credit. A womans lack of mobility, particularly in rural areas, forces her to depend on male relatives for any entrepreneurial activities. While Bangladeshs NGOs provide micro-credit to a large number of women, there is a growing concern to whether or not these women actually retain control over their loans.According to the national law, men and women have equal rights to property, but in practice women have only very limited access to property. Their situation is further impaired by discriminating inheritance laws and Bangladeshi women are not likely to even claim their share of the family property unless it is given to them.Civil LibertiesWomen can move relatively freely in the vicinity of their home and local neighborhood. To various degrees - much depending on the traditions of individual families the Islamic system of Purdah may impose some restrictions on womens participation in activities outside the home, such as education, employment and social activities. To engage in any such activities, a woman generally needs her husbands permission.EmploymentRural and urban in both area womens participation has increase. This labor force is comprised mainly of young women, particularly those from landless backgrounds and including many from female-supported households. Even so, open unemployment among graduates is much higher among women than among men (17 percent compared to two percent). Womens average weekly earnings in 1989 were 202 Taka compared to 477 Taka for men (i.e. 42 percent of mens earnings). The wage differential by gender is widest in nonagricultural employment, in both rural and urban areas. In agriculture, the most notable feature is the very marked and distinctive seasonal variation in womens wages. In rural industry, women are concentrated in the lowest productivity sectors. In export industry, there seems, atypically for industry as a whole, to be relatively little wage discrimination by gender (womens wages are 86 percent of the level of mens). Job mobility is not, for women, a way of increasing wages, as it is for men. Legislation has been introduced guaranteeing women a specified percentage of public sector employment but the quotas have not been filled and there is no system for monitoring or implementing them.Female Headship of HouseholdsHigher proportions of female than male-headed households fall into the categories of ultra and extreme poverty and the disparity widens the more severe the level of poverty. The disparity is greatest among urban households, where the proportion in poverty is up to one half of female headed households. While womens autonomy may be stronger within the household in female-headed households, patriarchal systems still exert control over them at the level of the village. Women in such households do not exist in their own rights as full participating members of society but owe their survival to the largesse of others. They are disadvantaged economically by their brokered access to markets through males, and their inability to participate in local political, social and legal institutions. They are also more subject to physical insecurity and violence.Female-headed households as such may not, however, be a suitable target group for poverty alleviation programs. More broadly gender sensitive policies would be effective in reducing the particular hardships of these households.Credit ProgramsBangladesh is well known for the scale of NGO activity, particularly in the area of credit provision. Government has also operated subsidized credit programs for the poor, which have reached about 20 percent of the rural poor. How far these programs, in which women undoubtedly participate, go to alleviate womens poverty and improve their position as economic actors is not so clear. The race to expand credit operations seems to be occurring at the expense of qualitative program improvements with respect to class and gender biases. None of the large credit institutions field-level workers receive gender training. The phenomenon of women-fronted loans means that access to credit cannot be assumed to be linked to investment in womens profitable activities, nor to improvements in womens consumption. Where the end-use and productivity of loans is recorded, it tends to be lower for womens loans, reflecting the low returns to most womens economic activities. Improving womens market access could be a powerful way of enhancing loan use and also meeting womens empowerment objectives.There has been considerable improvement in female educational provision in recent years, particularly at primary level, but overall enrolment is far short of universal and a gender gap persists. Very few girls participate in secondary or vocational, technical and higher education and female participation in these areas ends to be highly sex segregated and stereotyped. This limits womens upward mobility in the labor market. Girls. Participation varies by residence, region and socio-economic group. Rural participation is generally lower and girls attendance is positively correlated with size of family landholding. Various measures have been introduced recently to encourage female school enrolment and to reduce drop-out rates, in furtherance of Government policy to give higher priority to improving clear understanding of the relative importance of weaknesses on the supply and demand side respectively (www.gdrc.org).Political, Legal and Human Rights and NGOsThere is a generous quota system for womens representation in official public bodies. But quotas are not generally met and where they are, the women are regarded as token appointees and adapt a passive role in the bodies concerned. As regards womens representation outside official bodies, more than one million women participate in group activities in grassroots organizations and over 100,000 field workers are involved in mobilizing and supporting such activity. Womens NGOs and activist groups have spearheaded attempts to bring out legal reform and to resist retrogressive changed in the legal system. The Constitution explicitly provided for equality between the sexes but some of its own articles contradict this provision. Womens legal rights have also to be viewed within the social construction of women as dependents. They live under the guardianship of fathers or elder brothers before marriage and under the protection of husbands after marriage.Government and NGO WID programs and projectsGender policy advocacy is poor in Bangladesh. Only the social sectors contain budgetary expenditures aimed at women. Even here, women-specific projects are mainly donor funded and not part of the core portfolio of the relevant ministries. Government sponsored women centered projects tend to be the traditional variety, giving limited skills training and promoting income generating activities which give a poor financial return. In the health field there is an over-emphasis on population and related programs. Although many NGOs include large numbers of women among their beneficiaries and have undoubtedly pioneered innovations in some areas, they preserve a male bias in their staffing which may hamper the design and full implementation of gender sensitive programs and projects, especially as regards the goal of empowering women within and outside such projects.During 2004-09, as a gender expert in different positions with different organizations, I had to facilitate several trainings on gender and had to share research findings. For those, I had to travel different parts of Bangladesh (and beyond) to work with local NGOs, local government authorities, and community leaders including social and political activists. My experiences with these actors were not always easy. In contrast, this time it was different. I observed a few changes which are promising for the movement of gender justice in Bangladesh.Acceptance of gender concerns at different levels of the society has undoubtedly been established. Additionally, attitudes of community leaders and public servants to gender sensitivity have improved a lot. However, understanding of the issue still remains as challenge, where we need careful intervention.Before men were not facilitating space for womens empowerment. Moreover, there were many barriers to talking about gender equality with communities which has been dramatically improved. Now, this is much more positive and ready for action.Facilitating any training or workshop on gender for men was very challenging. Women activists were skeptical of accepting men in the field. Surprisingly, this time, I experience major change in womens generosity accepting men in the gender equality movement/work.Previously skills on gender issues were mostly found in INGO staff or staff of some big NGOs. Recent experiences indicate staff of local NGOs is now better informed about gender issues than INGOs.A number of elements have played a critical role in bringing about these changes. Massive awareness initiatives by several organizations and taking the issue seriously from top level of the state were important factors. A group of young professionals with relevant academic backgrounds came into the development sector with more analytical insights, and last but not least several INGOs have taken the approach known as working with men for achieving gender equality which has contributed to these changes. I think this is because of, over time, many donors, INGOs and Government agencies have taken lots of initiatives for building capacity of front line staff of the implementing (local) organizations. Whereas, capacity building for INGOs staff (beyond project activities) has been in gradual decline.Priority areas for promoting gender equality: To promote equal opportunities and womens rights the Action Plan defines six priority areas used as basis for the Secretariat, Institutions and field operations when developing projects and activities: Nondiscriminatory legal and policy frameworks; Preventing violence against women; Ensuring equal opportunity for the participation of women in political and public life; Encouraging womens participation in conflict prevention, crisis management and post conflict reconstruction; Promoting equal opportunity for women in the economic sphere; Building national mechanisms for the advancement of women.Brief History of Gender and Environment:The Third United Nations Womens Conference in Nairobi in 1985 was one of the first international forums that made explicit the linkages between sustainable development and womens involvement and empowerment as well as gender equality and equity. In the Nairobi Forward Looking Strategies, the environment was included as an area of concern for women.In the run-up to the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), held in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro, a number of advocacy activities were undertaken to reflect that women not only bear the highest costs of environmental problems, but as managers of primary resources, also have the greatest potential for contributing to the solution of the crisis.The United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995 identified environment as one of twelve critical areas for women. Section K of the Beijing Platform for Action, on women and the environment, asserted that women have an essential role to play in the development of sustainable and ecologically sound consumption and production patterns and approaches to natural resource management Five years later at the Millennium Summit in New York, world leaders promised in the Millennium Declaration to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women as effective ways to combat poverty, hunger and disease and to stimulate development that is truly sustainable. This vision was reflected in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs including MDG 1 - eradicate extreme poverty, MDG 3 - promote gender equality and empower women, and MDG 7 - ensure environmental sustainability.)Relation between Gender & Environment:Gender and environmental concerns come across in certain aspects of policy-making, particularly in participatory decision-making and stakeholder involvement, which are important, both from the gender perspective but also from a broader environmental perspective. Gender equity is also essential in addressing major sustainable development challenges, namely use and management of natural resources and the prevention of environmental degradation and pollution. Although at first glance, the relationship between human society and the physical environment seems to be gender-neutral, affecting both women and men in a similar way, upon closer examination one realizes that the relationship is not neutral. The differentiated socio-cultural construction of men and womens roles means that the linkages between people and the physical environment impact differently on both sexes. As men and women have different roles in the family, community and work-force, they are likely to have different personal attitudes, priorities and power over resources when it comes to environmental protection. Men and women also interact differently with the environment, which provides them with different opportunities to protect it. All this requires that strategies for promoting environmental protection at the country, local and community level approach men and women differently.For example, in most households women are responsible for water and waste management. However, due to their often restricted access to public positions and political participation, decisions about water and waste management systems in the community are often taken by men who not necessarily take into account the views and needs of the female household managers. Consequently, the goal of gender mainstreaming for environmental protection is to promote equal opportunities for men and women as participants and beneficiaries of environmental protection by considering their different positions and knowledge in regard to the environment. This includes producing and disseminating information about environmental protection reaching out to both women and men, and recognizing their different roles and priorities in relation to the environment. In a broader context, the objectives of gender mainstreaming for sustainable development are to minimize the negative impacts of certain economic and social activities on the environment by raising awareness among men and women to promote gender-sensitive approaches and solutions for minimizing consumption of natural resources and to accelerate the use of environmentally sound and cost-effective technologies by men and women.From an environment and security perspective, environmental degradation is intensifying conflict and competition over natural resources, aggravating social tensions, and in certain volatile situations, provoking or escalating violence and conflict. Women and men have different responsibilities and experiences which affect their knowledge and use of natural resources differently. Therefore, participation and knowledge of both women and men in conflict-preventive initiatives is necessary and should be encouraged. The security of human beings is also threatened by the extent to which environmental and hazardous changes are affecting livelihoods, health and the fulfillment of basic needs of women and men. For example, women and men need to be alerted to the threats that environmental degradation pose to food security. When, for example, climate change threatens the security of livelihood in which women are often more involved than men, women in particular need to be informed about alternative methods of cooking, farming, heating and waste disposal. Women need to be informed about alternative methods of house holding.Some gender sensitive criteria:Gender and Water:Women and men have different and changing gender roles in water resources management. They derive different benefits from the availability, use and management of water. Women are often the primary users of water in domestic consumption, subsistence agriculture, health and sanitation. Women in many cases also take the primary role in educating children and in child and family health, including sanitation. Lack of access to water and sanitation facilities has an impact on the exercise of basic rights.The goals of gender mainstreaming for water resources management are: To ensure that women and men have equal representation in decision-making with regards to the use of water resources and sanitation at all levels; To ensure that women and men have equal representation in decision-making with regards to policy and policy instruments aiming at improving water management at all levels; and To ensure that all policies and policy measures take into consideration the gender impact of water scarcity and pollution.Gender and Energy:Women and men have different energy needs due to their differing household roles, responses to crises and coping mechanisms. A gender-sensitive energy policy aims at offering energy technologies and services that match those needs. Such a policy involves more than the creation of a gender-sensitive set of energy-related goals. Gender mainstreaming should take place at the actual policy formulation and implementation stages. Increased participation of women in the energy sector and improvement of their status can help to incorporate gender as an integral part of energy policies and practices. Availability and use of disaggregated data by sex would also facilitate the energy policy process in defining the issues, examining policy alternatives, making policy choices, implementing policies and evaluating results.The feminization of poverty in transition countries has been further aggravated by male labor migration and forced resettlement. With the prices of electricity and fuel constantly rising, women will suffer more than men from a deepening of fuel (or energy) poverty.Issues and key questions that could be addressed in energy are the following: What is the number of women and men as top level decision-makers in the area of energy? How aware are women and men of the links between environmental degradation and energy production and consumption? Of ways and means to improve energy efficiency? Of new technologies and home appliances that could improve energy efficiency both at the work place and home? How accessible and affordable is clean energy to women and men? What are the energy consumption levels of women and men? Do men and women participate equally in decision-making in energy management? Are NGOs working on gender, health and environmental issues participating?

Gender and Land Management:Land degradation leads to a significant reduction in the productive capacity of land. Human activities contributing to land degradation include unsustainable agricultural land use, poor soil and water management practices, deforestation, removal of natural vegetation, frequent use of heavy machinery, overgrazing, improper crop rotation and poor irrigation practices. Natural disasters, including drought, floods and landslides also contribute to land degradation. Some of the main constraints to engaging women in sustainable land management are insecurity of tenure, lack of value assigned to labor and subsistence farming, lack of access to credit, and lack of opportunities to gain and share technical knowledge on sustainable land management practices. Issues and key questions that could be addressed in land management are the following: What is the access to land and land titles for both men and women? What kind of land has traditionally been controlled by women? Do practices of men and women differ in relation to land degradation? Do their knowledge and awareness differ? Do men and women have access to credit? Do men and women participate equally in decision-making around management of land and land resources? Are NGOs working on gender, health and environmental issues participating? Do men and women have access to traditional and contemporary knowledge and information on sustainable land management practices and technologies?Gender and Chemicals Management:Efforts to ensure sound management of chemicals within the context of sustainable development have important gender dimensions. In daily life, women, men and children are exposed to different kinds of chemicals in varying concentrations. The levels of exposure to toxic chemicals as well as the resulting impact on human health are determined by social as well as biological factors. Social factors, primarily gender-determined occupational roles and household responsibilities have a direct impact on human exposure to toxic chemicals, including the kinds of chemicals encountered as well as the level and frequency of such exposures. The biological factors, notably size and physiological differences between women and men and between adults and children, also influence susceptibility to health damage from exposure to toxic chemicals. Gender and Climate Change:Gender is a significant aspect to be taken into account both when considering actions to adopt and to mitigate climate change. Climate change impact is not only physical and economic but also social and cultural. Because of gender differences in social and economic roles and responsibilities, the effects of climate change affect women and men in varied ways, often affecting women more severely. Women tend to be affected differently, and more harshly, by climate change because of their social roles and more impoverished status. In many countries, women are among the most vulnerable owing to reduced ability to access finance, technology and information needed to adapt to climate change. Increased costs of energy, transportation, health-care and food caused by the disrupting effects of climate change disproportionately affect women negatively by increasing their poverty and insecurity. Climate change can adversely affect crop yields and thus the livelihoods and food security of rural women, who are largely responsible for food production as well as family nutrition. Supplying water and fuel for families, which is typically the responsibility of women, becomes more difficult as environmental changes negatively affect clean water supply, existing infrastructure and urban and rural settlements. Coping with the damage of extreme weather events linked to climate change may also fall more on women who hold together families and households. Gender differentials in the access to land and land titles also have significant implications. On the other hand, women are able to contribute significantly to mitigation of an adaptation to climate change through their central role in food production and involvement in agriculture and biomass energy. Furthermore their experience and knowledge make them one of the key stakeholders in mitigating climate change.Issues and key questions that could be addressed are the following: Are there any different patterns in the use of resources among men and women? In which way does climate change affect men and women? What are the different levels of vulnerability of men and women to climate change? What are the roles of men and women in mitigation and adaptation? With what results? Do men and women participate equally in decision-making related to climate change? Are NGOs working on gender, health and environmental issues participating? What is the capacity of women to cope with climate change?Gender and Waste Management:Management of household waste is more the responsibility of women than of men. Therefore training and awareness-raising activities related to domestic waste management need to have a special focus on women. The removal of waste is often the unpaid work of women, but as soon as it is slightly mechanized, for example by the use of carts or delivery tricycles and at the same time paid for, men take over this work. Interventions in waste management including sorting, recycling and reuse of waste products, and can often create paid employment. It is important that women as well as men are given the choice to be involved. Waste is often chemically and biologically contaminated. When women and men are trained to manage the waste, it is important that awareness of health hazards is included in the awareness-raising activities and training curriculum. Men and women may differ in their attitudes towards public health and community cleanliness and have markedly different preferences for how to address public health and environmental problems. These differences, at the most local level, affect the type of services women and men would like to see developed in their communities, how much they are willing to pay for these services and who is responsible for finding the money to pay from within his/her part of the family budget. Such differences may also carry through to preferences for policies, technologies or approaches, which affect decisions made by women and men leaders, entrepreneurs, managers and public authorities at various levels.Issues and key questions that could be addressed are the following: What are the roles of men and women in the management of waste? Who is in charge of waste management at home? Are both men and women involved in commercial waste management? Are they benefiting equally economically? What is the level of awareness of men and women of the risks and possible benefits of waste management? What is the impact of chemical or biological waste on men and women? Do men and women participate equally in decision-making on waste management and public health related issues?Gender and Local Environmental Governance:The scope of governance goes beyond technical or even political decision-making processes on the delivery of basic services such as health, water supply or education. It extends to civil society empowerment, processes of collective action, collective bargaining and social expression. Good governance requires a bottom-up process of participation in decision making. It becomes meaningful as a system operating on democratic principles, with values and practices that stress peoples empowerment and participation, gender equality, legitimacy, transparency, accountability and effectiveness. Civil society is an important factor in this process. Gender sensitive Indicator:What is an indicator?An indicator is a pointer. It can be a measurement, a number, a fact, an opinion or apperception that points at a specific condition or situation, and measures changes in that condition or situation over time. In other words, indicators provide a close look at the results of initiatives and actions. For this reason, they are front-line instruments in monitoring and evaluating development work.Bauer (1966) described social indicators as "statistical series, and all other forms of evidence....that enable us to assess where we stand and where we are going with respect to values and goals, and to evaluate specific programs and determine their impact." This definition is useful because it recognizes the normative nature of indicators, in that a change in a particular direction can be interpreted as "good" or bad". For example, a rising birth rate may be interpreted as good in one country but bad in another. It also recognizes that indicators can come from "all... forms of Evidence", both quantitative and qualitative; and those indicators must measure changes Over time. Because of their normative nature, care must be taken in defining the normal bench-mark implicit in any indicator and against which change is measured. For Example, in examining the status of women, is the norm the situation of men in a Particular country, or is it women in other countries? Gender-sensitive indicators have the special function of pointing out gender-related Changes in society over time. Their usefulness lies in their ability to point to changes in the status and roles of women and men over time, and therefore to measure whether gender equity is being achieved. Because use of indicators and other relevant evaluation techniques will lead to a better understanding of how results can be achieved, using gender-sensitive indicators will also feed into more effective future Planning and program delivery.Political bias and indicator use:As tools for measuring social change, indicators are subject to political forces. It is Important to recognize before using indicators that all indicators have their own Political heritage and bias. This is important because certain types of indicators, particularly so-called quantitative indicators, receive legitimacy as they are considered Objective'.However, gender specialists have pointed out that the use of economic indicators, for example in relation to employment, has until quite recently been used in a way which has excluded women's work from analysis (Waring 1988). This serious omission has-been seen as a consequence of the fact that most censuses and large scale surveys, particularly in developing countries, are organized and carried out by men and formal policy-makers.Indicator use and WID/GE at the donor level:Most agencies recognize that their monitoring and evaluation capability, including their ability to develop and use indicators, is weak (CIDA 1994b; World Bank 1994a).A review of donor literature also shows that the terminology employed in indicator use is inconsistent. How agencies have dealt with indicators so far can be summed upon the following four general points:i. Indicator systems have usually been developed by donors in a non-participatory fashion, using expertise and knowledge from developed countries. As such, the indicator systems designed may not be relevant to social scientists or women indevelopingcountries.ii. Most donor work has dealt with indicator questions such as, "Were women included in project planning?" rather than indicators themselves. Such questions are usually less precise and more difficult to use than indicators.iii. Most agency documents have put their energies into developing indicators of the implementation of WID policies within the agency, focusing, for example, on funds devoted to WID, WID training and the hiring of WID specialists. Less work has been done on the development of indicators to evaluate the effectiveness of development programming.iv. Much more work has been done on quantitative than qualitative indicators. Some recent work has experimented with the use of qualitative indicators, but the development of such indicators in agency literature is still in its infancy (CIDA 1994i). However, even the production of quantitative sex-disaggregated data in project evaluations is not widespread. CIDA staff should be aware of these facts when attempting to institutionalize the use of quantitative and qualitative gender-sensitive indicators within their work. INDICATORS IN THE EDUCATION SECTOR:Consider a region in which agriculture is the principal source of livelihood, supplemented by home-based activities such as weaving and sewing, carried out mainly by women. Women's main production activities include growing vegetables, hoeing, and weeding, harvesting, threshing, and small-animal husbandry (e.g. poultry, milking). Because of poverty, socio-economic inequality and lack of gender- equity in the region, there is a bias in the local educational system towards the education of boys from wealthier households.All primary and secondary education is provided in village-based public schools, and teachers are mainly educated local people, with 75% of the teachers being men. The number of teachers is insufficient for the potential number of students. Although the law requires compulsory primary schooling from age 6 to 13 years, there is only sporadic enforcement of this. (Bauer, R. (Ed) (1966) Social Indicators. Cambridge: MIT Press).Risk/enabling indicators: Government support gauged by analysis of official attitudes. Popular community support gauged by attendance and analysis of comments at meetings. Elite support, gauged by focus group meetings and comments at meetings and interviews.Qualitative analysis:This would involve identifying and isolating the factors that caused specific indicators to be in place and why the project succeeded or failed. For example, it would involve analyzing how, why and when members of the community participated, any constraints placed on the project by wealthier socio-economic groups and how these were overcome, and showing the links between increased education and higher status.INDICATORS IN THE HEALTH SECTOR:Making sure that primary health care is available is a central task in health interventions and especially important for women and girls. As an example of how such an initiative can be evaluated, we shall consider a WID-specific health project whose principal focus is "safe motherhood," i.e., prenatal care and delivery, postpartum care, and family-planning services. The stakeholder population lives in an isolated area where child and female mortality and morbidity rates are about 50% higher than in the rest of the country. Risk/enabling indicators: Women from the community have an interest in the project and are willing to participate. Women are interested in being treated by more advanced medical technologies. Local men support the project. Local elites support poor people's access to the resources provided.INDICATORS OF EMPOWERMENT:"Empowerment is about people - both women and men - taking control over their lives: setting their own agenda, gaining skills, increasing self-confidence, solving problems, and developing self-reliance. It is both a process and an outcome" (CIDA 1994k)"A term generally used to describe a process by which powerless people become conscious of their own situation and organize collectively to gain greater access to public services or to the benefits of economic growth" (ODA 1994: 32).Components of empowerment: Womens and men's sense of internal strength and confidence to face life; the right to make choices; The power to control their own lives within and outside the home; "The ability to influence the direction of social change towards the creation of a More just social and economic order nationally and internationally" (Heyzer1994: 24)Examples of quantitative indicators of empowerment: Enforcement of legislation related to the protection of human rights. Number of cases related to women's rights heard in local courts, and their results. Number of cases related to the legal rights of divorced and widowed women heard in local courts, and the results. The effect of the enforcement of legislation in terms of treatment of offenders against women. Increase/decrease in violence against women/men. Rate at which the number of local justices/ prosecutors/ lawyers who are women/men is increasing/decreasing. Rate at which the numbers of women/men in the local police force, by rank, is increasing or decreasing. Political empowerment (indicators should reflect changes over time): % of seats held by women in local councils/decision-making bodies. % of women in decision-making positions in local government. % of women in the local civil service. % of women/men registered as voters/% of eligible women/men who vote. % of women in senior/junior decision making positions within unions. % of union members who are women. Number of women who participate in public protests and political campaigning, as compared to the number of men.Economic empowerment: Changes in employment/unemployment rates of women and men. Changes in time-use in selected activities, particularly greater sharing by household members of unpaid housework and child-care. Salary/wage differentials between women and men. Changes in % of property owned and controlled by women and men (land, houses, livestock), across socio-economic and ethnic groups. Average household expenditure of female/male headed households on education/health. Ability to make small or large purchases independently. % of available credit, financial and technical support services going to women/men from government/non-government sources.Social empowerment: Numbers of women in local institutions (e.g. women's associations, consciousness Raising or income generating groups, local churches, ethnic and kinship associations) relative to project area population, and numbers of women in Positions of power in local organizations. Extent of training or networking among local women, as compared to men. Control of women/men over fertility decisions (e.g. number of children, number of Abortions). Mobility of women/men within and outside their residential locality, as compared to men.Economic and Social Measure:To expedite womens economic empowerment, comprehensive initiatives have been undertaken by providing extensive training, creating job opportunities, ensuring participation in labor market and providing support to small and medium women entrepreneurs. Extensive social safety net programs 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.For the economic empowerment of rural women, collateral free micro-credit is given with 5% service charge. Women entrepreneurs receive 10% of the Small Enterprise Fund and 10% industrial plots. Currently more than 3 million women are working in the RMG sector alone. Bangladesh has enhanced its women labor force from 24% in 2010 to 36% in 2013. Like the year before, gender sensitive budgets were prepared for 40 ministries in the recently passed Budget 2014-15, and a special allocation of TK.1 billion was provided for development of women.Womens participation in agricultural production is facilitated through access to agricultural technologies and loans given for agro-processing, homestead gardens, nurseries, bee-keeping and other activities. Marginal and landless farmers, of whom 50% are women, are being given support. Enhanced participation and livelihood of rural poor women is a priority program of the government implemented through the One House, One Farm Project, which gives priority to female households in every village.To encourage women entrepreneurship, a number of financial incentives are provided. Between 2010 and 2013, banks and non-bank financial institutions has disbursed TK 67 billion to 57,722 women entrepreneurs from their own sources. In 2010, 13,831 women entrepreneurs received TK 18 billion; in 2011, 16,696 women entrepreneurs received TK 20 billion; and in 2012, 17,362 women entrepreneurs received TK 22 billion as SME credit. This indicates that disbursement towards women entrepreneurs has been increasing both in amount and numbers.Women entrepreneurs can get advantage of re-financing both from ADB fund and Bangladesh Bank fund. Women are getting credit at concessional rate of 10% interest. Fifteen percent (15%) refinance fund is reserved for women entrepreneurs. Women are also entitled to SME loan up to TK 2.5 million free of collateral, only against personal guarantee. Moreover, all banks and NBFIs have opened women entrepreneur dedicated desks through which bank officials are providing information and service to women entrepreneurs.Bangladesh government dreams for a democratic and inclusive society of Bangladesh. With the aim of making reality Vision-2021, the government has been taken some amazing initiatives that definitely deserve appreciation, JOYEETA is one of them.An initiative of the Ministry of Women and Children affairs established to empowering rural women of Bangladesh. Its a business platform to support and facilitate the grass root women entrepreneurs to showcase and market their own arts, crafts, products and services. To promote the products of women entrepreneurs for the first time an independent sales center was established at the Rapa Plaza of Dhaka under the program of Development Efforts of Women Entrepreneurship of Department of Women Affairs. At present 180 entrepreneurs are being provided with 140 stalls. Disabled and oppressed women entrepreneurs are also provided with stalls.Keeping in mind the needs of mothers, the current government extended maternity leave for expecting mothers from four months to six months. Bangladesh has made tremendous success in cutting down maternal mortality rate (MMR) drastically. MMR has declined by more than 66% over the last two decades and is dropping around 5.5% each year which makes Bangladesh highly likely to achieve the target of 143 deaths per 100,000 live births under the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 2015.According to a 2013 survey by different UN organizations, 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.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 frees 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 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%.

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 Bangladeshs 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.Other laws enacted by the current government for combating violence against women include Prevention and Restraint of Human Trafficking Act 2012 and the Pornography Control Act 2011. In addition to enactment of laws, One Stop Crisis Centers in 7 divisions are providing medical treatment, legal support, policy assistance and rehabilitation to the victims. DNA profiling lab and DNA screening labs have been established in few national hospitals for effective investigation of gender based offences such as rape. Continuing that total 80 One Stop Crisis Cells are established, among them 40 in district hospitals and 20 in upazilla health complex.Victim support centers are run by trained, professional women officers making the center more approachable for women victims. Training on international laws and conventions are being imparted to judges, and law enforcement agencies to make them conversant with the existing international framework on violence against women and gender sensitivity. The Ministry of Women and Children Affairs (MoWCA) operates a Central Cell to ensure coordination of work on prevention of violence against women and children and extends necessary support to the victims of violence. The MOWCA now maintains a helpline (10921) to provide legal, medical, rehabilitation and counseling help to victims of violence.In order to enhance womens 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 womens 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. Womens participation in local level elections was perhaps one of the greatest milestones for Bangladesh.At present in Bangladesh, the Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition, Speaker and Deputy Leader of the House are all women. Number of women among the Justices of the Supreme Court, top positions of the administration secretaries, additional secretaries, joint secretaries, deputy commissioners, top positions of police, armed forces and UN peacekeepers, indicates improvement in womens empowerment. This has been possible due to a reserve quota created by this government for women employment at every level of administration to enhance women participation in government jobs.Gender perspective has been integrated into Bangladeshi peacekeeping missions too. Bangladesh is now the top contributor of female police officers to the United Nations Peacekeeping Operations as Formed Police Unit. Bangladesh female peacekeepers have placed themselves as key driving force to reduce gender-based violence, conflict and confrontation, providing sense of security especially for women and children, mentoring female police officer in the local area and thus empowering women in the host country and promoting social cohesion. Presently 190 female officers from Bangladesh are working in different peace keeping missions around the world.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 womens empowerment at the center of the new post-2015 development agenda. The goals set out in the report include a standalone goal on gender equality and womens empowerment with four main priorities: eliminating violence against women and girls, womens 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 womens empowerment.21 | Page