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Country Indexes
outcome XM-DAC-41146-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
Some progress was made on this outcome in 2024, with more women demonstrating agency and entrepreneurial capacity to benefit from economic development opportunities, with UN Women’s support. Case studies of women entrepreneurs engaged in the “Women’s Empowerment for Inclusive Growth”(WING) joint programme (JP) demonstrate positive shifts at various levels. Several women self-reported increased agency and decision making and enhanced capacity to access financial resources and business expansion opportunities. Change in traditional gender norms– from limited encouragement to pursue entrepreneurship to increased recognition and support for their work, by family and community members, was also highlighted by many women. “Courage is something that UN Women gave me. I've met many other entrepreneurs through the training sessions organized by UN Women which was very inspiring”, said Zuhana Jaman Jeny, an entrepreneur from Manikganj, Bangladesh. UN Women has contributed to these changes, through a range of initiatives implemented in collaboration with UNDP and UNCDF across ten Upazilas of five districts (Manikganj, Thakurgaon, Jashore, Cox’s Bazar and Kurigram) of Bangladesh, since 2020. Furthermore, an additional 975 employees (933 women and 42 men) from these five districts benefitted from improved workplace practices, including equality in remuneration, 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 ten women-led small and medium enterprises. These ten enterprises were part of the original cohort of 17 women-led enterprises (WLE) that received capacity development and accompaniment support from UN Women, under the WING JP. A UN Women assessment in 2024 shows significant investments by all ten enterprises in gender-responsive measures (such as daycare centres, targeted training programmes, and transportation support) to improve workplace culture and increase women’s participation. Further, some WLEs exceeded the 80 per cent target of hiring women, by a significant margin – reaching up to 93 per cent. In 2024, 12 new women-led enterprises identified concrete strategies to adopt gender-responsive policies in the workplace, while another 22 women-led enterprises enhanced their access to local and national business associations by engaging in networking events facilitated by the JP. Throughout 2024, these women-led enterprises were engaged in stakeholder dialogues, workshops and learning sessions conducted by UN Women’s partner Bangladesh Nari Progati Sangha (BNP), which brought together 551 key stakeholders (374 women and 177 men), including local government officials, representatives of banks and financial institutions and business leaders, both at the district and national level. Further, policy-level commitment to gender-responsive migration governance was sustained, as the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment (MoEW&OE) reinitiated the review and finalization of the National Reintegration Policy (NRP) for Migrants (initially formulated in 2023). As an active member of the Technical Committee, chaired by the Additional Secretary MoEW&OE, UN Women provided additional inputs to the drafting process – for instance crafting the introduction and preamble, with a comprehensive definition of “Reintegration”, in line with the Overseas Employment and Migration Act-2013 (amended in 2023). As a result of UN Women’s technical support and advocacy — key gender equality principles and directives to include psychosocial support for the women returnees who experience gender-based violence and sexual exploitation, provision of employment generation at local markets and low-interest loan support for the development of entrepreneurship for women returnee migrants, were retained in the updated draft. The MoEW&OE also demonstrated increased commitment to enhance inter-ministerial coordination and collaboration with other key stakeholders for the implementation of gender-responsive policy measures for sustainable reintegration. At a multi-stakeholder workshop organized by UN Women, high-level commitment was secured from the MoEW&OE to institutionalise a mechanism to channelise inputs from stakeholders, especially women migrant workers in developing reintegration strategies. Once approved, the NRP will have a significant impact on the lives of migrant workers, including women migrant workers in Bangladesh. Further, the Government of Bangladesh received the Asia-Pacific Care Champion Award at the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Meeting on Beijing+30 in November - a recognition of the collaborative efforts of UN Women and the government to strengthen the care economy. The theory of change for this outcome remains valid. A key takeaway from UN Women’s programming interventions is the importance of longer-term capacity-building interventions and sustainable linkages between women entrepreneurs and key stakeholders at all levels – these are key to promoting women’s economic empowerment at the local level and fostering transformative change.
outcome XM-DAC-41146-BGD_D_1.2
By 2026, ecosystems are healthier, and all people, in particular the most vulnerable and marginalized in both rural and urban settings, benefit from and contribute to, in a gender responsive manner, a cleaner environment, an enriched natural resource base, low carbon development, and are more resilient to climate change, shocks and disasters
Some progress was made on this outcome in 2024 - an unprecedent year for Bangladesh as the country was ravaged by four devastating climate-related disasters. In this challenging context, women-led organizations (WLOs) demonstrated enhanced leadership in advancing gender-responsive climate actions and disaster risk reduction. This was evidenced by their substantive contributions to humanitarian mechanisms and processes, as well as through direct action in their communities- driving innovations and community-based solutions, with support from UN Women. Data and analysis generated with support from local WLOs informed the Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) in 2024. Several recommendations from a Rapid Gender Analysis (RGA) conducted post Cyclone Remal were included in the HRP. This included provisions for psychological first aid, support for referral for high-risk pregnant women and sick children, neo-natal and post-natal services and facilities, mobile health camps for sexual and reproductive health services, and cash support for women. UN Women facilitated this process as co-chair of the national Gender in Humanitarian Action (GiHA) working group led by the Department of Women’s Affairs (DWA). Two local WLOs – that serve as the GiHA chapter leads from Khulna and Satkhira - Association for Social Development & Distressed Welfare (ASDDW) and Bindu Nari Unnayan Shongothon respectively - played a critical role in providing real-time information and data from local government offices for the RGA – developed within seven days of the Cyclone. The Adaptation Report of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), negotiated at the COP29, highlighted the work of UN Women and its partners in Bangladesh as a ‘best practice’ on gender-responsive climate adaptation plans and programming. The Report referenced a Training of Trainers organized by UNFCCC at the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) Expo in April 2024, wherein the participatory approach followed by the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change (MOEFCC) to update the Bangladesh Climate Change and Gender Action Plan (CCGAP), with technical support from UN Women, was presented. Further, the leadership of WLOs in promoting community-driven climate adaptation initiatives was recognized at the international level. Lipika Boiragi, the Executive Director of ASDDW, showcased an innovative solar-powered irrigation pump project run by women in her community – at a short talk titled, "Women’s Leadership in Locally Led Adaptation" at the NAP Expo. By sharing experiences from Khulna, one of the coastal districts worst affected by climate change, Lipika drew attention of climate professionals and policymakers to climate solutions propelled by women in Bangladesh to counter the adverse impacts of climate change - in this case the increasing salinity in the coastal belt of the country. Another WLO from Kurigram - AFAD (the co-chair of the GiHA Chapter) mobilized local stakeholders to develop a winterization plan. Through this initiative, AFAD bolstered the community’s preparedness to protect the most vulnerable groups (women, children and elderly) from the impact of the cold wave that gripped Northern Bangladesh. Both ASDDW and AFAD are part of a larger network of WLOs, supported by UN Women since 2018 through various capacity development, accompaniment support, and networking initiatives. Voices of women leaders were amplified through two key platforms in 2024. At a pre-budget consultation organized by UN Women at the request of MOEFCC. Ten women leaders from the five most climate-vulnerable districts advocated for potential investment areas in gender-responsive climate actions. Leveraging the opportunity presented by the presence of senior policymakers, the women leaders approached the Minister and Secretary, ensuring their voices resonated effectively within this national-level forum and captured the attention of policymakers. A policy brief with key recommendations from the consultation was developed and disseminated by UN Women. In the last quarter, a national Women’s Climate Action Network (WCAN) was established with 100 WLOs from the five most climate-vulnerable districts with support from UN Women and its partner Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF). The network seeks to build solidarity amongst WLOs working on the frontlines, and leverage their collective voice, actions and leadership for climate justice. The theory of change for this outcome remains valid. However, 2024 presented a new set of challenges for WLOs in the aftermath of the civil unrest. Several local partners reported facing attacks, including damage to their office and property. In a context of increasing backlash against women’s rights, a stronger focus on safety and security of grass roots CSOs is critical-including strengthening overall risk assessment capacities as well as providing targeted support to ensure effective security measures are in place.
outcome XM-DAC-41146-BGD_D_1.3
By 2026, more people, especially the most vulnerable, benefit from more equitable, non-discriminatory, gender-responsive, participatory, accountable governance and justice, in a peaceful and tolerant society governed by the rule of law.
Limited progress was made towards this outcome in 2024 – given that Bangladesh witnessed a seismic shift in its political landscape –spurred by a youth-led anti-discrimination movement that led to the fall of the incumbent government, and formation of an Interim Government. At the height of the anti-discrimination movement, members of Women Peace Cafés (WPC) in Dhaka demonstrated increased leadership in promoting peace and social cohesion. WPC members, especially from Brac University , Dhaka University actively supported their peers requiring emergency support and shelter; mobilizing on social media platforms to condemn the brutality and violence; and facilitating dialogues and Peace Addas (informal chats) on mental health, and the importance of promoting peace and tolerance. These interventions were extremely significant at a time when the country witnessed high levels of violence and serious human rights violations . The WPCs are university-based platforms for female students and their male allies to promote civic engagement to promote peaceful and just societies. Co-created by UN Women and its partner, Centre for Peace and Justice of Brac University, the WPCs have sustained beyond UN Women’s financial support, which ended in 2022. The WPCs have emerged as a sustainable model of youth engagement to advance the WPS agenda, that can be replicated and scaled-up with appropriate resources. Currently, there are five WPCs in two public and three private universities, one of which (in Asian University for Women ) was established after UN Women’s programme support ended. UN Women has continued to facilitate the engagement of the WPC members in the civil society-led consultative processes to support the implementation of the National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security 2019 – 2025 (NAP WPS) , as well as capacity development efforts on the localization of the NAP. Furthermore, Bangladesh’s commitment to an inclusive approach in advancing the WPS agenda was demonstrated by the endorsement of a 15-member civil society Consultative Platform to support the localization of the NAP WPS. The Inter-Ministerial Coordination Group (IMCG) responsible for the NAP WPS implementation took this decision at its regular meeting in July 2024. The IMCG already includes two leading women’s rights organizations – Bangladesh Nari Progati Sangha (BNPS) and Bangladesh Mahila Parishad (BMP) – both UN Women partners. UN Women has contributed to this sustained level of interest and commitment to the WPS agenda over several years through technical support to the government to develop and implement WPS-related strategies, along with targeted support to women-led civil society organizations to enhance capacity on the WPS agenda. This support was acknowledged and appreciated by the IMCG during the July inter-ministerial meeting. In addition, representatives of BNPS highlighted UN Women’s support at the International Conference on Women Peace and Security , during a side event on localization of the WPS agenda, held in the Philippines in October 2024. The participatory approach followed to develop and implement the NAP WPS in Bangladesh, and UN Women’s convening role was shared and acknowledged by the civil society leaders. UN Women’s coordination and normative mandates were leveraged, at the request of the Resident Coordinator, to integrate gender in the transitional justice and reconciliation support strategy being developed by the UN Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Transitional Justice, constituted to support the UN Country Team in the wake of the civil unrest. This process was facilitated by including UN Women technical experts from the Regional Office and Headquarters as core members of the IATF, and through consultations with women’s organizations during the IATF’s mission to Bangladesh in December 2024. UN Women prioritized knowledge generation to assess the gendered dimensions of online misinformation, disinformation, and hate speech following the civil unrest. A rapid assessment revealed a significant pattern of misogynistic hate speech targeting women in leadership and activism, despite their prominent roles in the anti-discrimination movement. These findings contributed to the UNCT Action Plan on Hate Speech, led by the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office. The Theory of Change remains valid for this outcome. However, the resource constraints to prioritize the WPS agenda, exacerbated by the shift in the political context, have delayed planned interventions and necessitated alternatives, such as the rapid assessment. In addition, resource mobilization opportunities were explored with the Government of Japan to upscale youth-led initiatives like the WPCs. Lessons learned indicate a critical need to embed conflict-sensitive programming within the development, humanitarian, and peace continuum, informed by thorough analysis and programme design, in the transitional context of Bangladesh. Hence, UN Women has prioritized conflict sensitivity at the country office level through a socialization and reflection session. A continued emphasis on conflict-sensitive programming will be implemented in 2025.
outcome XM-DAC-41146-BGD_D_1.4
By 2026, women, girls and gender diverse people benefit from an environment in which they are empowered to exercise their rights, agency and decision-making power over all aspects of their lives and are free from all forms of discrimination, violence and harmful norms and practices
Notable progress was made on this outcome in 2024. Despite a changed socio-political context, Bangladesh’s commitment to gender equality remained firm. This is evident from the continued efforts to advance gender-responsive national legal and policy frameworks as well as the various advocacy opportunities for engaging women’s rights organizations to influence decision making. UN Women contributed to fostering an enabling environment with various capacity-building and sensitization efforts with key stakeholder that have been institutionalized and sustained over the years. In 2024, the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs (MoWCA) demonstrated strengthened commitment to addressing sexual harassment in workplaces and educational institutions by advancing the drafting of the national bill on sexual harassment. This is a long-standing priority of the women’s rights movement since the High Court's landmark directive on sexual harassment in 2009. With technical support from UN Women and through a consultative approach, seven civil society organizations (CSOs), who are the legal experts in the country, were actively engaged in the drafting process. These organizations played a crucial role by contributing valuable legal input to the draft, drawing on their extensive experience to help MoWCA define the bill’s scope of applicability. MoWCA has laid the groundwork for enacting this national bill that will have a significant impact on the lives of women and girls, promoting freedom from violence and advancing gender equality. This law would encourage greater participation of women and girls in public life, while ensuring safe workplaces and educational institutions. UN Women facilitated these efforts as part of broader UN-wide support, under the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) Strategic Pillar (SP) 5. Following the civil unrest in 2024, the interim government undertook a police reform initiative, to make the police force human-centred, accountable, and responsive to the needs of constituencies including survivors of gender-based violence (GBV). This effort was advanced through multistakeholder consultations, held with technical support from UN Women and other 5 UN agencies, at the request of the interim government. The consultations enabled CSOs, academic institutions, youth, gender-diverse populations, persons with disabilities, and ethnic minorities to exercise their voice and agency to demand gender responsive and survivor-centred institutions and services. These inputs will inform the recommendations of the Police Reform Commission, to be submitted to the Chief Adviser in January 2025. In addition, to advance gender-responsive policing services and address GBV, including technology-facilitated violence against women, Bangladesh Police and the Bangladesh Policewomen Network (BPWN) have continued to strengthen their capacity by participating in knowledge exchange platforms facilitated by UN Women. Further, CSOs and women’s rights organizations effectively participated in decision-making processes through dialogues and influenced policymaking with duty bearers. A total of 116 CSOs across four divisions (Sylhet, Rajshahi, Khulna, Chittagong) and Dhaka City have increased capacity by engaging in the drafting of Charter of Demand (CoD) led by Bangladesh Mahila Parishad (BMP) and Bonhishikha, with UN Women’s support. Commitment was secured from the Women’s Affairs Reform Commission—one of the ten reform commissions formed by the interim government—to take the recommendations forward, following a dissemination event in December 2024. In addition, MoWCA further demonstrated enhanced capacity to implement and monitor key international normative frameworks, including the Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). A critical milestone was the submission of the Comprehensive National Review Report for the BPfA by MoWCA, with technical expertise from UN Women. This was a testament to MoWCA's commitment to aligning national initiatives with global gender equality and women's empowerment (GEWE) goals. MoWCA further showcased its enhanced capacities by preparing the SDG 5 chapter for the Voluntary National Review (VNR). The draft was submitted to the Chief Adviser’s office in October and will contribute to the Bangladesh government’s VNR report. MoWCA demonstrated enhanced accountability and responsiveness to stakeholder engagement. The Country Statement delivered by the MoWCA Adviser at the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Beijing+30 held in November 2024 was informed by recommendations made by women’s rights organizations, facilitated by UN Women’s support. Reflecting the consensus built with civil society partners, the government prioritized five areas – ending gender-based violence (GBV), closing the economic participation gap, enhancing women’s climate resilience, promoting digital inclusion, and strengthening legal frameworks – to accelerate implementation of BPfA. These collaborative efforts underscore MoWCA's commitment and strategic focus on actionable outcomes that advance GEWE. Gender perspectives were foregrounded in the interim government’s reform priorities, with UN Women’s support. This was evidenced by the integration of a dedicated gender chapter in the commissioned White Paper on the State of the Bangladesh Economy . Moreover, the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) enhanced its capacity for producing gender statistics on unpaid care and domestic work, by finalizing the preliminary estimates of the Household Production Satellite Account (HPSA), with technical support from UN Women. The theory of change for this outcome remains valid. A key lesson learnt is the need to effectively link integrated multi-layered support to the government, with evidence-based collective advocacy initiatives. Moving forward, the continued alignment of policy and grassroots action will be critical to sustaining these gains and ensuring a future free from discrimination and violence for all women and girls.
outcome XM-DAC-41146-BGD_D_1.5
By 2026 more Rohingya and host community women and girls are empowered by gender responsive enabling environment, to exercise their agency and decision-making with improved access to protection, education, and socio-economic opportunities.
This result was partially achieved in 2024. Against increased insecurities, gender-based violence (GBV) incidents, and the arrival of tens of thousands of Rohingya fleeing the armed conflict in Myanmar, the self-mobilization of Rohingya women to assert their rights and leadership demonstrated the most progress. Continued prioritization by the interim Government of non-integration and repatriation, barring Rohingya from pursuit of formal work and maintaining dependency on declining aid, heightened stress and risks for exploitation and abuse, especially among women. Amid men’s forced recruitment, Rohingya women exercised agency and leadership, many assuming sole responsibility for their families, some organizing into groups to protect their camps from violent groups. High numbers of women pursued protection and empowerment services, despite mobility restrictions. Altogether 5,772 Rohingya women and men accessed standardized vocational training, introduced in 2024. However, whereas 52 per cent (3,600) of trainees comprised women, showing the hope they place in furthering their skills, the proportion of women earning an income remained low among the refugees at only 8 per cent of the total. Addressing the critical lack of essential literacy and numeracy skills among adults, 2024 saw the introduction of Accelerated Adult Learning in the camps. Contributing to these results, the 53 UN Women supported Rohingya Gender Volunteers adopted expanded roles, monitoring gendered insecurities, accompanying women and girls to essential services and providing psychosocial support, reaching 51,566 Rohingya women and men and facilitating 5,652 service referrals in six camps. Services provided at the eight UN Women supported Multi-Purpose Women’s Centres (MPWCs) in the camps and in host community locations enhanced the resilience and empowerment of 120,524 women and girls in 2024 (Rohingya: 97,591; host community: 22,933), with 25,745 Rohingya women (24,925) and girls (820) seeking psychosocial counselling and other protection services at the MPWCs. Aligned with the 2023 Thematic Evaluation recommendations, inter-sector commitments to localization and the UN Women Sustainability Plan developed in 2024, UN Women transitioned five MPWCs operated prior by BRAC and Oxfam to partnerships established with local WROs, Rights of Women Welfare Society (RWWS), and Jago Nari Unnayon Sangstha (JNUS) in consortium with Samaj Kalayan O Unnayon Shangstha (SKUS). ActionAid Bangladesh (AAB) continued to operate 3 MPWCs and assisted the localization process through hosting GBV case management and AAL trainings for the new partners. Support by UN Women resulted in 1,213 women (Rohingya: 345, including 32 gender-diverse persons; host community: 868) enhancing their earning abilities by completing livelihoods trainings, inspiring 1,483 women (Rohingya: 1,173 Rohingya; host community: 310) to initiate income-generating activities that yielded an average monthly income of BDT 2,500. A total of 100 Rohingya women and 76 host community women completed foundational literacy and numeracy courses, enhancing their resilience and earning capacity. Final reports of UN Women partners, Oxfam and BRAC, demonstrated increased income generation among 5,070 women (Rohingya: 3,020; host community: 2,050) and greater community acceptance of gender equal roles. Under the WPHF, the resilience of 34,329 Rohingya and host community women was enhanced. The 2024 External Review recognized the relevance and value of UN Women supported leadership initiatives, recommending to develop and scale out a strategy on women’s leadership building on the collaborative approach pursued by UN Women with its partners Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK), Bangladesh Nari Pragati Sangha (BNPS), and Research, Training and Management International (RTMI), addressing leadership, GBV, peacebuilding and social cohesion as interconnected issues. Funding for the Joint Response Plan declined by 85.5 million USD in 2024 compared to 2023. UN Women support contributed to increased visibility of refugee- and women-led solutions as an effective means to ensure longer term sustainability of the response, and to access gender analysis, and enhanced capacities of WROs and humanitarian actors. A significant result- the six Rohingya community-based organizations supported through the partnership with RTMI developed and implemented their own strategies and workplans, reaching 2,772 community members through their activities.Showing 1 - 5 of 18