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News from the Field: Promoting the Rights of Women through Changing the Mindset in Bangladesh

In Bangladesh, UNDEF supports a groundbreaking initiative to mainstream gender equality issues in broader policy contexts and promote informed policy interventions to improve the status of women. The project, implemented by the Bangladesh Nari Progati Sangha Organization, BNPS, is the first in Bangladesh to conduct nationwide analyses on public policies affecting women and marginalized groups.

On June 20 2009, BNPS gathered more than 100 representatives from Government agencies, national and international NGOs, think tanks and research institutions for a seminar on the “Status of Implementation of National Policies and other Commitments Related to Women in Bangladesh.” The main objective was to present the findings of their study “Promoting Rights of Women through Changing Mindset.”

The study identified political, socio–religious and financial barriers to women’s empowerment, and made important policy recommendations, including the need for disaggregated data as well as tax and legal reforms. Participants stressed the need to focus on implementation, coordination among Government entities, and women in Government.

Before the dissemination of results, three workshops were carried out to validate the study findings, conclusions and recommendations, with experts from Government, NGOs, think tanks, research institutions, and UN agencies. In this way, BNPS is advocating in an informed and constructive way for policy actions that introduce gender perspectives in national plans and programmes to make democracy work for all Bangladesh.

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