Outcome 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.

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.

The progress against this outcome remains on track in 2022. Bangladesh has demonstrated its commitment to improving the lives of women and girls by prioritizing gender equality in the national development plans, including in the country's Eighth Five Year Plan (2020-2025) (8 th FYP). Against this backdrop, the Bangladesh government remains steadfast in its commitments to global normative agendas, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) concluding observations and the UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 (2000) on Women Peace and Security (WPS). The strengthened national women's machinery and relevant national institutions are able to roll out and implement national strategies that focus on enhancing the lives of women and girls, and promote good governance, peace, and social cohesion. The implementation of the country's first-ever National Action Plan on Women Peace and Security (NAP WPS) (2019 – 2022) has been extended until 2025 to enable the government to re-align its priorities at the tail-end of a global pandemic and its ensuing socioeconomic impacts. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina reiterated the importance of the WPS agenda in Bangladesh to build a peaceful and cohesive society. The revision of the National Action Plan (2013) of the National Women Development Policy 2011 (2011) has further refined the plan's priorities. The revised NAP will bolster the implementation of commitments set in the 8 th FYP and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as it maps the key actions of government stakeholders – a testament to the government's national and global commitments to gender equality and women's empowerment (GEWE) priorities. The government's acknowledgment of civil society, especially women-led organizations, as critical partners in implementing national GEWE priorities demonstrates the impact of the country's robust women's movement in advancing the actions of GEWE. The NAP WPS implementation framework, through an Inter-Ministerial Coordination Group (IMCG) led by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), officially included leading women-led organizations Bangladesh Nari Progati Sangha (BNPS) and Bangladesh Mahila Parishad (BMP), both valued UN Women partners, as the two civil society members of the IMCG. The inclusion of civil society in the IMCG safeguards their representation in the implementation of the NAP. The Women Peace Café (WPC ) – a university-based platform for young women and men to promote civic engagement and peaceful societies – co-created by UN Women in partnership with Centre for Peace and Justice (CPJ), Brac University – demonstrated its sustainability as a replicable model as it sustains beyond the UN Women supported intervention under the "Empowered Women, Peaceful Communities" programme, which ended in March 2022. The new WPC in Asian University for Women in Chattogram, Bangladesh, established after the project, is a fully student-led initiative by young women who participated in UN Women-supported training and events. The institutionalization of the WPC model in Brac University as an official university club ensures that the initiative can thrive through the support of the university authorities. Overall, from 2018 to 2022, the WPC model garnered around 400 members; trained over 1,000 students on social entrepreneurship, peace and social cohesion, gender, leadership, and digital literacy; awarded 18 student-led initiatives with seed funds for innovative social entrepreneurship; and reached nearly two million people through robust social media engagement. The strengthened leadership capacity of young female students, and their male allies, has manifested in their ability to continue engaging in and sustaining WPC activities beyond any external intervention. This is demonstrated by anecdotal evidence that several WPC members trained on digital literacy in 2021 became trainers themselves in 2022, replicating a contextualized version of the digital literacy training coordinated by the UN Women Asia-Pacific Regional Office. One of the key outcomes of UN Women's intervention has been the extensive social media engagement, including online advocacy, campaigns, webinars, and events, that has fostered a growing band of youth empowered with knowledge and skills on navigating the difficulties of the virtual space. In their own words, WPC members elaborate on how their lives have changed through engagement with the WPC model: "I have been involved with the Project "HARMONY" as an anchor and content writer for around four months. From this journey, I have learned so many things to raise my voice as a woman[…]. I have also learned how to prevent and take steps against cyberbullying, hate speech, etc. […..] Besides all this, I have achieved some skills such as leadership, decision-taking, gender equality, communication, network build-up, etc. At last, all these works and dedication help me to become the best version of me as a youth leader and peace builder." - Lamiatun Nisa Protibha, Women Peace Ambassador initiative " HARMONY ", Women Peace Café Jatiya Kabi Kazi Nazrul Islam University . UN Women's contribution to the above results was primarily through technical support to the government (Ministry of Women and Children Affairs and Ministry of Foreign Affairs), as well as fostering strong partnerships with key government stakeholders (members of the IMCG, Bangladesh Armed Forces Division and its training wing for UN Peacekeepers), women-led organizations (BNPS), academia (Brac University), development partners (Governments of Australia, Canada, and Japan) and the UN system in Bangladesh (through the UN Country Team Prevention of Violent Extremism Working Group). UN Women enhanced engagement with Members of Parliament on WPS issues, which has opened opportunities for further conversations on their role in promoting peace and social cohesion within their constituencies in anticipation of the national elections in 2024. Engagement with the media, especially through civil society-led initiatives with influential news media (print, television ) has opened avenues for further advocacy on the WPS agenda and the role women play in building peaceful and resilient societies. Key partners have also acknowledged UN Women's interventions. The Secretary, Maritime Affairs Unit, of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rear Admiral (Retd.) Md. Khurshed Alam acknowledged and thanked UN Women for its role and contribution to advancing the WPS agenda. H.E. Ito Naoki, Ambassador of Japan in Bangladesh , said, "I was very impressed by young female leaders from respective universities from Rangpur, Mymensingh, and Dhaka, who empowered vulnerable communities at a grass-roots level in partnership with CPJ, Brac University, and UN Women". Although the Theory of Change (TOC) remains valid for this outcome, challenges remain. With the threat of a looming global recession amidst an ongoing global pandemic and conflicts in Ukraine and Afghanistan, much-needed development assistance has been diverted away from Bangladesh. This has affected UN Women's WPS programme in Bangladesh, with the loss of anticipated funding affecting the planned interventions. To mitigate this, the office is developing a robust resource mobilization strategy, as well as engaging with the UN Women Asia-Pacific Regional Office to contribute to the regional framework for Governance and Peace and Security, which would enable further funding opportunities for the Bangladesh office. The programme partners are also seeking resource mobilization opportunities, including partnerships with other UN Women programmes, such as the humanitarian response or climate change programmes that will enable cross-thematic engagement.

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.

There was some progress against this outcome in 2023. Bangladesh continues to demonstrate a strong dedication to gender-responsive and participatory governance by prioritizing gender equality and women’s empowerment (GEWE), as evident in the national development plans and its commitments to international normative standards. In 2023, the National Statement of Commitment delivered by the Honourable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the SDG Summit reiterated the Government’s dedication to GEWE. The statement re-affirmed that the Government has “extended the National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security (NAP WPS) 2019 – 2022 period until 2025” and remained firmly committed “to fulfilling the WPS agenda”. UN Women provided input for gender equality to the National Statement of Commitment as part of a coordinated effort by the United Nations Country Team. Further, UN Women offered to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, and other key stakeholders (members of the Inter-Ministerial Coordination Group for NAP WPS, Bangladesh Armed Forces Division and BIPSOT) on the implementation of the NAP WPS, the National Action Plan on National Women Development Policy (NAP-NWDP), and other global normative standards for gender equality. UN Women leveraged its convening role by bringing together the civil society and government to advance GEWE. Bangladesh Nari Progati Sangha (BNPS), a longstanding civil society partner of UN Women, supported the localization of the NAP-WPS through a series of dialogues and orientations across 17 districts, bringing together local government representatives, government officials and civil society representatives. Further, BNPS showcased the lessons learned from Bangladesh’s example of developing a NAP WPS at a regional forum on behalf of the Government. This representation demonstrated the collaborative and inclusive outlook of the government concerning the WPS agenda. BNPS and Bangladesh Mahila Parishad (BMP), as the two civil society representatives in the Inter-Ministerial Coordination Group, also acted as a bridge between local and central levels of the government. They brought forth the voices from the grass roots of not only women leaders but also local government officials and representatives on WPS issues to MoFA as the lead ministry coordinating NAP WPS implementation. The support from UN Women has been acknowledged at various levels, including by the Foreign Secretary Ambassador Masud Bin Momen , and the current and former Directors General (UN), Mr. Emdadul Islam Chowdhury and Mr. Toufiq Islam Shatil, during various dialogues and courtesy visits. The Theory of Change remains valid for this outcome. However, the national and global economic slowdown, coupled with an evolving political situation in the country in the latter half of 2023, emphasised by blockades/strikes by the opposition, meant that planned interventions had to be revised and alternate means taken with limited funding. The diversion of funding by donors towards other crisis areas, such as Afghanistan and Ukraine, meant could not be mobilized for Bangladesh in 2023. Hence, a limited scope of the work for this Outcome was undertaken with a small amount of funding from the UN Women Governance, Peace and Security (GPS) Regional Framework 2023-2027 .vTo mitigate the risks, the Country Office remains focused on streamlined resource mobilization, including exploring potential direct funding against the Strategic Note, for which discussions are ongoing with the Government of Sweden. In terms of lessons learned, the voices from the grassroots women amplified the need for local-level engagement between government and civil society on issues of women, peace and security. Although national policies and action plans are in place to advance the WPS agenda in Bangladesh, without proper dissemination of information from the central to the field, especially to the local government authorities, the implementation of such action plans would not be as effective as planned.