Region:Asia PacificCurrent UN Women Plan Period Afghanisthan:2018-2022
World Bank Income Classification:Low IncomeThe World Bank classifies economies for analytical purposes into four income groups: low, lower-middle, upper-middle, and high income. For this purpose it uses gross national income (GNI) per capita data in U.S. dollars, converted from local currency using the World Bank Atlas method, which is applied to smooth exchange rate fluctuations.Least Developed Country:YesSince 1971, the United Nations has recognized LDCs as a category of States that are deemed highly disadvantaged in their development process, for structural, historical and also geographical reasons. Three criteria are used: per capita income, human assets, and economic vulnerability.Gender Inequality Index:0.575GII is a composite metric of gender inequality using three dimensions: reproductive health, empowerment and the labour market. A low GII value indicates low inequality between women and men, and vice-versa.Gender Development Index:0.723GDI measures gender inequalities in achievement in three basic dimensions of human development: health, education, and command over economic resources.
Population:209,497,025Source of population data: United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2022). World Population Prospects: The 2022 RevisionMale:19,976,265 (9.5%)Female:189,520,760 (90.5%)
By 2026, more people in Bangladesh, particularly the most vulnerable and marginalized from all gender and social groups and those from lagging districts benefit from sustainable livelihood and decent work opportunities resulting from responsible, inclusive, sustainable, green, and equitable economic development
Activity DetailsResourcesOutcome Indicators and ResultsStrategic Note Outcome Progress NoteDocuments
Outcome details
SDG alignment
Impact areasWomen’s economic empowerment
Organizational outputsNorms, laws, policies and institutionsFinancing for gender equality
Policy markerGENDER EQUALITY
Humanitarian scopeNo
UN system functionAdvocacy, communications and social mobilizationCapacity development and technical assistance
Outcome Indicator and ResultsPlan Period :
2022-2026
OUTCOME
BGD_D_1.1
By 2026, more people in Bangladesh, particularly the most vulnerable and marginalized from all gender and social groups and those from lagging districts benefit from sustainable livelihood and decent work opportunities resulting from responsible, inclusive, sustainable, green, and equitable economic development
SP_D_0.1.5
SP_D_0.1.5
Country
Number of national and/or local (multi) sectoral strategies, policies and/or action plans that are adopted with a focus on gender equality (CO)
Complementary indicators are identified as those in the results framework
that are not repeated verbatim in the results framework of another United Nations entity, but are related or provide
different but complementary lenses or insights into the same issue, high-level result and/or area of complementary work,
such as a Sustainable Development Goal target.
Complementary
UNAIDSUNDPUNFPAUNICEF
2023
Result0
SP_D_0.1.5
Country
2021
Baseline
00
2022
Milestone
11
Result
00
2023
Milestone
11
Result
00
2024
Milestone
11
Result
--
2025
Milestone
11
Result
--
2026
Target
00
Result
--
SP_D_0.2.4
UN Women reports on this indicator in a global scope, signified by "(Desk Review)" at the end of the indicator statement (see the Our Global Results page for the global result)
SP_D_0.2.4
Country
Number of innovative financing instruments introduced that include gender equality objectives (Desk Review)
Strategic Note Outcome Progress NoteShowing data of :
2023
By 2026, more people in Bangladesh, particularly the most vulnerable and marginalized from all gender and social groups and those from lagging districts benefit from sustainable livelihood and decent work opportunities resulting from responsible, inclusive, sustainable, green, and equitable economic development
There has been some progress towards this outcome.
In 2023, 2,200 employees (933 women, 1,267 men) from five districts of Bangladesh benefitted from improved workplace practices, including equality in remuneration, parental leave, protection from harassment and abuse and access to safe working environment – all core components of the decent work agenda. This was facilitated through the adoption and implementation of gender-responsive organizational policies, standards, and practices in 17 small and medium enterprises, under the Women’s Empowerment for Inclusive Growth (WING) programme, implemented jointly by UN Women, UNDP and UNCDF. All 17 enterprises have signed Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) demonstrating their commitment to promoting gender-responsive and inclusive workplaces.
“Our journey with WING has enabled us to internalize empowerment at multiple levels, not only as individuals but also as entrepreneurs to engage more women and girls in earning opportunities by facilitating gender-friendly work environment,” said Farida Yasmine from Kurigram, Proprietor of Nari Natural Craft, one of the 17 women entrepreneurs supported by the project. Initiated in 2021, UN Women continued to provide technical and accompaniment support to these enterprises in 2023. In total, 13 Human Resource (HR) and Gender Policies (GP) were revised, and four new policies developed.
Further in 2023, gender-responsive migration governance was strengthened through the development of two key legal and policy instruments. Firstly, the Overseas Employment and Migrants (amendment) Act, 2023 was passed by Parliament on 14 September 2023 to bring sub-agents of international migration under accountability; and secondly, the National Reintegration Policy for Migrants was re-submitted to the Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs Division. Both instruments (one approved, and the other under review) will have a significant impact on the lives of migrant workers, including women migrant workers in Bangladesh. Women migrant workers constitute on average 14 per cent of the total migrant workers in Bangladesh (2013-2022).
UN Women contributed to the drafting of the National Reintegration Policy for Migrants, as a member of the Technical Committee led by the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment (MoEW&OE), as well as through the agency’s active members in the Labour Migration Technical Work Group, under the UN Network on Migration in Bangladesh. In line with CEDAW General Recommendation 26, key recommendations provided by UN Women with regard to dedicated interventions to address social stigma attached to returnee women migrant workers, criticality of psychosocial support to gender-based violence (GBV) survivors and enhancing access to financial inclusion and social protection, have been included in the final draft of the Policy that is now under review by the Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs Division.
The focus on regularizing sub-agents in the Overseas Employment and Migrants (amendment) Act, has been a key demand of women migrant workers and their networks. This is an extremely important legal pronouncement that will promote fair and ethical recruitment at the national level and enhance decent working conditions for vulnerable women and men migrant workers. UN Women has supported these advocacy efforts since 2022. In 2023, in collaboration with Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU), UN Women and ILO advocated for the regularization of sub-agents in the field of international labour migration, to address fraud and ensure ethical recruitment practices for migrant workers in Bangladesh. At a national level multi-stakeholder event, Rana Mohammad Sohail, the Member of the National Parliament (MP) said, “Neither the agency nor the sub-agent takes responsibility when mismanagement occurs. The absence of evidence and the legal identity of sub-agents prevents the legal process. This issue can be solved if we implement registration of sub-agents.”
The theory of change for this outcome remains valid. A key lesson learnt is the criticality of peer networking, cross-learning opportunities and accompaniment support to partner enterprises – this serves as a motivator to improve and strengthen their organizational policies and practices. Noting that gender-responsive organizations benefit all employees, regardless of gender, greater efforts are needed to identify opportunities and strategies to increase and facilitate women’s access to decent work, especially in male-dominated sectors, to enhance women’s participation in the labour force.
[1] https://unglobalcompact.org/take-action/action/womens-principles
Documents
Title
Categories
Download
Strategic Note (SN) Development Results and Resources Framework
Intended ultimate beneficiaries, Conditions, Budget, Results, outcomes and outputs
The boundaries and names shown and the designations used on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations.
The boundaries and names shown and the designations used on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations.
References to Kosovo shall be understood to be in the context of United Nations Security Council resolution 1244 (1999).
World Bank Income Classification:Low Income
The World Bank classifies economies for analytical purposes into four income groups: low, lower-middle, upper-middle, and high income. For this purpose it uses gross national income (GNI) per capita data in U.S. dollars, converted from local currency using the World Bank Atlas method, which is applied to smooth exchange rate fluctuations.
