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

There has been progress towards this outcome in 2022. In line with the gender-related priorities highlighted in the Eighth Five-Year Plan (2020-2025), the socioeconomic policies of the government are focusing more on addressing the lack of inclusive and equitable economic development among subpopulations. Women constitute 36 per cent of Bangladesh’s labour force, of which migrant workers, Cottage, Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (CMSMEs), and tea garden workers are a critical but vulnerable subgroup. The Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment (MoEW&OE) has taken concrete steps to address the policy gaps for migrant workers with the development of a draft comprehensive National Reintegration Policy for Migrants with a clear focus on the needs and challenges of women migrant workers. There is an uptake on the policy commitment by MoEW&OE, at the Ministerial level, for increased legal assistance, health and psychosocial assistance, social protection, vocational training, and employment opportunities for returnee women migrant workers. UN Women, along with ILO and IOM, supported MoEW&OE to develop the National Reintegration Policy for Migrants through a participatory process that has resulted in a gender-responsive draft policy that incorporates the voices of women migrant workers which addresses the needs of migrant returnee women, including social stigma associated to women migrant workers and lack of livelihood opportunities for women. Another policy area that has seen improved attention, through strengthened capacity, is the social protection of tea garden workers and their families. There has been commitment from the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs (MoWCA) to increase social protection support for tea garden workers and their families by strengthening their capacity on the application of gender-responsive planning and budgeting (GRPB). In the multi-stakeholder workshops on GRPB, participant’s advocacy on increased investment for most disadvantaged women workers and their family members in the tea garden communities was amplified, drawing the attention of policymakers as reflected in national and local media. For example, Ferdousi Begum, Deputy Secretary (Budget and Audit) at MoWCA, said “By 2025, we wish to support 100% of pregnant mothers in vulnerable communities, and we also have the safety nets for female tea garden workers in Sylhet, which is ongoing”. Gender equality issues have also been prioritized by the private sector as demonstrated by their commitment to the Women's Empowerment Principles (WEPs) in 2022. Sixteen CMSMEs in Bangladesh became signatories to WEPs, which will ensure leadership commitment to providing sustainable livelihood opportunities for women. The commitment of the sixteen WEPs signatories will potentially impact over one thousand employees through gender responsive and sustainable and decent work opportunities. On the individual level, women tea garden workers have strengthened agency to stand up against injustice through collective solidarity to ensure decent work environments, supported by UN Women, in partnership with Oxfam Bangladesh. The “Gender Talks” were deemed as one of the most effective initiatives taken by the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) joint programme, according to the evaluation, noting that women tea garden workers participating in the “Gender Talk” sessions were more conscious and vocal about their rights, both in the in the work environment and within the family. The “Gender Talk” sessions were discussion forums to change social norms and gender stereotypes to contribute to a positive and respectful work environment through women’s solidarity, implemented as part of the UN SDG Joint Programme “Enhancing Social Protection for Female Tea Garden Workers and Their Families in Sylhet Division, Bangladesh". With improved understanding of human rights and gender equality through the “Gender Talks”, women were more aware and vocal about the rights. The Theory of Change (TOC) remains valid for this Outcome. The Government’s leadership has played a critical role in driving the drafting of National Reintegration Policy development, through which there has been observed increased consideration for inclusive and participatory policy development. This participatory and consultative process can be considered as best practice in the policy formulation, which is owned and driven by the relevant ministry.

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 a year which saw female labour force decline, gender responsive policy and institutional measures were strengthened in two critical sectors – migration and skills development to enhance women’s access to sustainable livelihood and decent work opportunities. Firstly, the adoption of the National Reintegration Policy (NRP) marks a significant step forward in addressing longstanding gaps in reintegration support for returnee women migrant workers (RWMW). The NRP integrates concrete gender-responsive measures such as psychosocial and legal support, access to finance, and entrepreneurship support for RWMWs. The policy, which has been under development since 2019, was re-opened for review when the Interim Government (IG) assumed office. Led by the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment (MoEW&OE), inputs were sought from diverse stakeholders to strengthen the final draft. UN Women provided extensive technical support, in close collaboration with sister UN agencies particularly the International Labour Organization and International Organization for Migration (IOM) to ensure a strong gender focus in the draft, grounded in normative frameworks such as the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and Beijing Platform for Action. These inputs were also shaped by UN Women engagement with stakeholders including women’s rights organizations, to ensure the NRP addresses specific barriers faced by returnee women, including deep-rooted social stigma, experiences of gender-based violence and limited social and financial resources, that create additional access barriers for women. By aligning reintegration with inclusive, green, and equitable economic development, the NRP aims to provide coordinated gender responsive support (economic, social, psycho-social) for RWMWs, and creates a comprehensive framework for holistic, needs-based support to leverage migrants' skills and ensure dignified return. The MOEW&OE is in the process of developing an action plan to operationalize the NRP; to which UN Women has provided inputs to at the technical level. In parallel, institutional preparedness to strengthen service delivery for returnee women migrant workers was strengthened. A draft Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for gender-responsive, rights-based reintegration services at One-Stop Centres (OSCs) was developed under the leadership of MOEW&OW. An inclusive approach was adopted to develop this SOP with contributions from 595 representatives (299 women, 296 men) from the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) , the Wage Earners’ Welfare Board, Trade Unions, Private Sector and civil society organizations (CSOs).? The process was coordinated by UN Women and its partner organization Bangladesh Nari Sramik Kendra (BNSK) – a national level CSO, and a powerful feminist platform dedicated to dismantling systemic oppression, advocating for gender equality, and empowering women. Once formally endorsed, the SOP will serve as a key resource to address critical outreach and coordination gaps in reintegration services for RWMWs, translating policy commitments into accessible and standardised service delivery. These e vidence - based interventions are expected to improve equitable access to reintegration services, reduce informal and ad hoc reintegration pathways, and strengthen the transition of RWMWs into safer, more sustainable livelihood options, addressing both policy and service delivery deficits that have historically undermined women’s economic recovery. Secondly, the institutional mechanism for gender mainstreaming was bolstered through the establishment of eight district-level Gender Mainstreaming Forums (GMFs) within polytechnic institutions under the Directorate of Technical Education (DTE) of the Ministry of Education (MoE). While skills development remains a critical pathway to women’s economic empowerment, opportunities are constrained by gender norms, institutional bias, and unsafe learning environments. To address this critical gap, the GMFs aim to institutionalize gender equality within TVET governance and coordination structures. Each GMF comprises Polytechnic Institutions relevant to government departments, CSOs and law enforcement agencies under DTE. This was complemented by the establishment of high-level coordination mechanism, namely the Gender Skills Taskforce at the national level to provide strategic advice for promotion of women’s economic empowerment with a special focus on transforming the TVET and skills sectors fully gender responsive. The taskforce is co-led by the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs (MoWCA) as the nodal ministry for promoting gender equality and empowerment and the National Skills Development Authority (NSDA). UN Women contributed to this process with a series of interventions, which included developing a draft Action Plan of this Task Force and capacity development efforts, in collaboration with ILO under the ProGRESS project. Further, commitments to improve gender responsiveness of TVET institutions were secured from high level officials of DTE and management of BMET. This was a result of targeted capacity development initiatives with 382 representatives (110 women, 272 men) in ten districts Rangamati, Bandarban, Khagrachari, Chattogram, Sylhet, Mymensingh, Dinajpur, Rajshahi, Khulna, and Barishal and of Level 4 instructors under the Teacher Training College (TTC) of BMET. The latter resulted in the development of an action plan, w ith an expressed commitment from the Director General to advance its implementation . Throughout the reporting period, other actors played critical roles in advancing these efforts. Sister UN agencies supported complementary capacity development , while civil society partners such as Bangladesh Nari Progati Sangha and BNSK, contributed to outreach and advocacy. Strategic media engagements, with an estimated outreach of 1 million people, helped raise awareness on restrictive gender norms that limit women’s participation in skills development, labour migration, and formal employment. The Theory of Change for this Outcome remains valid. Evidence from this period confirms that gender-responsive policy reform, institutional capacity strengthening, and sustained multi-stakeholder engagement are effective pathways to enabling vulnerable and marginalised groups to benefit from sustainable livelihoods and decent work. However, these can be offset by increased contextual risks , specifically those associated with the political transition in the context of the upcoming election, which may slow implementation, as well as further entrenchment of regressive social norms limiting women’s mobility and access to equitable economic opportunities. A critical lesson learned is that for policy gains to sustain, multi-stakeholder engagements are needed, including those that explicitly address social norms. Results under this outcome were acheived in collaboration with UN sister agencies (ILO and IOM), with funding support from the Governments of Canada and Switzerland.

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

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.