Feature
Thursday, September
11, 2003
Compiled by SDNP
Head
lines
Women In The
Development Process
Mohammad Mosaddek Hussain
The Bangladesh Observer
The women's development programme has been initiated in
many countries because they feel the need to develop the production
aspects of women development projects. The purpose of the women
development programme is to provide them with the technical know-how and
skills necessary to owning and managing their own off-farming economic
activities and small business enterprises.Women constitute almost a half
of the total population of Bangladesh. But, unfortunately, human resources
remain inadequately in tapped in the much-needed task of national
development and reconstruction. In Bangladesh, this inactivity becomes
conspicuous particularly in the background of women's vital and dynamic
role in the developed countries.
In the developed countries where women are playing a very vital and
positive role for achieving national goal of development. Our Society is
still traditional where we wants to see them as dependent mothers,
housewives and docile daughters. They are deprived of the opportunity to
take part in the nation building efforts. After realizing the need to
empower women in a male dominated society, the Bangladesh Govt. reserved
for qualified women 10% of the posts in all categories of gazetted posts
and 15% non-gazetted posts to help them come forward and play their due
role for national development efforts.
"Women for women" a research organization formed in 1973, has come out
with proposals for bringing women into the mainstream of overall
development process. The organization has achieved destination as a
path-finder through its records and research publications. Women's
disadvantaged situation in the socio-economic development planning, legal
and political spheres entitle them to be the largest target audience in
the national development planning. Women development objectives and
strategies in the planning process must be placed in the contect of marco-economic
frame-work and women must be treated as a largest beneficiary groups. The
primary objects of the women development programmes is to guide the target
beneficiaries towards management and ownership through continuous training
programmes by assessing the actual needs of the women and working to
fulfill those needs. In order to achieve it effectively, it is perceived
vital to have women national leaders who can communicate well with the
women directly.
As women's development is a new arena of exploration for employment
generation, we are still in the development stages of the new programmes.
Some of the NGO's have been contacted with the intent of cooperating with
them to receive the training necessary to achieve the programme objective.
The NGOs and other to be contacted in due time, have previously designed
many training programmes that will assist the women producers in the
development process. Therefore, it is true that the necessary training
programmes for women is a must for sustainable development process in
Bangladesh. Women are crucial to the improvement of infants and child
survival, but in most societies their situation prevents them from being
as effective as they might be as mothers. Mothers are frequently ill and
tired, receive little support and services in their male dominated and
repeated pregnancies and breast feeding take a toll on their nutrition and
health. Wherever, social development has taken place, it has been preceded
by upliftment in the situation of women through better access to
education, employment, health facilities, income generating opportunities
and productive resources, such as land, capital and credit.
To meet these needs, may international agencies/organizations give
considerable emphasis to women development programmes. Specific activity
supported by international organizations are: Tanzania is formulating and
advocating strategies to ease the work burden of pregnant women and
promoting her closer monitoring of pregnancies, by health committees,
Nigeria is supporting national workshop on women health, Malawi is
distributing tetanus toxoid and iron foliate to pregnant women. Egypt is
mobilizing rural women leaders and daycare teachers to ensure health
facilities to mothers. Bolivia is publishing manuals on reproductive
health for use in primary schools. Community development programmes
provide opportunities to women for income generating activities (IGAs),
show there trends: aiding women to engage in small businesses and off-farm
economic activities by providing subsidized bank loans, through for
initiative that encourage their direct excess to formal credit system to
involve commercial banks in direct credit extension to assetless and
destitute women, support for pre-cooperative forms of production which
generate income for women in Bangladesh and other countries.
It is also true that women programmes in many countries are the prime
channel for diffusing messages for providing necessary training for
national development.Available data indicate that women have substantive
contributions to the national economy and development process of
Bangladesh. The approach is to create assure access for women to the
resources of development as both agents and beneficiaries. The planners
also argue for a separate chapter on women in national development
specifying the ways and means needed to be adopted for integrated
development.
"Women For Women" proposes a 20 years plan for setting up of a national
Commission on the status of women to serve as a first step towards the
prospective plan. Women's integration in the national development has been
accepted in principle by the govt. of Bangladesh since 1975. Analysts have
pin-pointed many gapes and contradictions in the stated principles,
objectives and the allocation of resources. Specific needs of women are
not clarified and consequently, means and ways of women's development were
not identified. So the programmes were faulty and unfruitful.
To paraphrase Abraham Lincoln' Meaningful development must be of the
people, for the people, by the people, women as well as men. For unless,
development invovles women's active participation, it is unlikely achieve
enduring improvements. No matter can afford to neglect a full half of its
human resources.This neglect is not only morally dubious but
developmentally short-sighted. In most 3rd world countries, women have a
vital, if often unrecognized role in the family and society. The failure
of many development projects to provide them the necessary materials and
training support they need deserve means that vast development resource is
being wasted.
In most rural areas, women, in addition to their domestic chores have the
sole responsibility for such activities as planting, weeding, or
harvesting crops, making and mending fishing gear, raising small
livestock, processing and marketing produce. IFAD is to provide women with
the assistance they need to become more productive and to integrated them
as full partners in the development process. In fact, 23% of all funding
for 1988 went towards programmes explicitly designed to benefit women. A
special programme for women in development has already been established.
In many parts of the developing world, the employment of female workers
has meant that women, excluded by cultural tradition from training given
by men, can benefit from extension services. Women have been special
targets for national development with credit programme in a number of
countries of 3rd world including ours.
The organization 'Women for women' therefore recommended the following
approach under the macro-economic frameworks in the national development
plan.a) Removal of gender inequality by providing equal opportunity for
women's development in employment, education and health.b) Women's
inclusion in the social....accounting matrix (SAM) and the development
matrix.c) A specific chapter in the national development plan on women in
development explicitly reviewing women's status under the previous plans
and eliminating generalizations. Specific objectives and the ways and
means to realize those objectives should be stated in the national plan.
Under the 1st part of 4th plan which dealt with the national framework,
interval and external resource mobilization and allocation, employment
generation, human resource development through technology, management and
administration.
d) Identifying women as a target group in all major activities and
strategies of the national plan.e) Specific women focussed programmes in
development sectors (IGAs, education, health, small industry, new
technology and management).f) A national commission on the status of women
should be set up to survey women's participation in development and lay
down the means for formulating the prospective plan.
g) Induction of qualified women from various sectors through lateral entry
at the top level of decision making and policy framing bodies to overcome
unrealistic planning in the women's sector. It is extremely important to
recognize that women's development is an integrated; Multi-sectoral and
multidimensional issue which can not be segregated from the mainstream
development.
Development by people means development by men and women, is a concept
that encompasses more than one alternative strategies of development
mentioned earlier. It is a reaction to the failure of traditional strategy
of women development based on the growth of GNP. "Development by people"
means a strategy of development that will ensure participation of the
women in the development efforts and bring out the development results for
the benefit of the majority of the women groups of a society. It is a
process through which the lowest strata of a society will be rallying
points of all development activities. It can be implemented by committed
and dedicated persons who are in power.
Majority of the population of Bangladesh live in the rural areas. They
remain unemployed most of the time. Women employment opportunities can be
created not by setting up large industries by infusing minimal amount of
capital to carefully selected women based on enterprises of different
types. These may include small off-farming credit for the landless
destitute, abandoned, widow and resourceless women credit for poultry and
cattle raising, goat rearing, tool making sewing, handlooms, weaving
fisheries, cane and bamboo works, jute and pottery and handicrafts etc.
These project needs entrepreneurship and marketing skill for women
development, but the training facilities and skill development programme
are not sufficient as per need.
Women's involvement and participation in various socio-economic schemes
are essential elements for the development programmes. Such a change is
viewed as essential because the prevailing social, cultural and economic
restrictions in many societies undermine the contribution of women.
Everywhere, women's position in respect of income, education, employment
and social prestige is lower than that of man. The existing socio-cultural
background is responsible for this discrimination. The actual and
potential economic contribution of rural women in Bangladesh is not always
fully raised, their rate of participation in economically productive
activities is substantial. Female participation in productive work within
the household can be undertaken as a good indication of the importance of
female labour in rural economy. The traditional role of women has
prevailed for many years, but, in recent years, an increased participation
of women in non-farming activities can be seen. Higher educational levels,
economic hardship and breakdown of traditional norms and attitudes have
all contributed to the increased female participation observed in
non-agricultural sectors.
After liberation war, there has been a gradual change towards women. More
involved in different development programmes for improving their economic
status. Attitudes towards different professions and values are changing.
Several programmes are undertaken for the rehabilitation and employment of
women with a view to national growth and development later, they have been
involved in such programmes also to promote self-reliance through skill
generation and employment.
The best women's development programme are: Bittahin cooperatives of BRDB
Department of cooperatives/ BARD/BSCIC/Gramen Bank. Vocational training
programmes of the Deptt. of women affairs, Jatio Mohila Sangstha, BRAC and
programmes of Swanirver-Bangladesh. Also the FFW programmes hires women to
do physical labor for digging earth, excavation of cannel's and the
construction of bridges and culverts and embankments. Women from different
classes have joined these programmes for overall development of the
nation.
Women's cooperatives and other development programmes have the broad
perspectives to provide more reliable sources of income to women. These
gives them an opportunity to acquire technic, knowledge, attitudes and
skills which may broaden their outlook. Self income earning opportunities
by women are likely to increase their position within the society and
ensure their greater participation in the development planning and
decision making process. The traditional attitudes and biases against
women's work are slowly changing. Vast women are now working outside their
homes for bringing better life and status.
This occurs mainly due to the increases necessity of having to work as
poverty and landlessness have increased. But necessity have also led to
change in attitudes and a greater willingness to support activities for
the employment of women for achieving national goals of overall
development.
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Combat Trafficking
Of Women And Children
Muksudul Haider Chowdhury
The Bangladesh Observer
Human
trafficking especially of women and children are on the rise. The
increasing incidents have become so alarming in recent years that
concerned agencies have served the issue as "crisis one".About seven
thousand women and children of Bangladesh fall prey to external
trafficking every year, according to the findings of an anti-trafficking
campaign group. The group, Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association (BNWLA),
carried out the survey at 250 points of the country considered to be
seriously prone to trafficking said the figure might be much more higher
as there was no organised survey in ascertaining the real picture of
cross-border trafficking.
Some twentyfive thousand women and children are being trafficked every
year, said a government official at a seminar outside Dhaka. Meanwhile,
South Asia Court of Women on Violence Of Trafficking and HIV/AIDS at a
seminar in the capital recently shared the same view on external
trafficking from Bangladesh.
According to the survey, poverty remains as the centre point while
divorce, disaster, unhealthy family atmosphere, illiteracy, lack of
awareness are also mentioned as facilitating factors responsible for
external trafficking. Activists of South Asia Court of Women On Violence
of Trafficking and HIV/AIDS found that toopholes of existing laws that
encouraged perpetrators to continue the crime.
About seventy per cent of these victims are female, of whom over fifty per
cent between the age group of 13 to 20, while the rest are boy children
aged between 10 to 12, mentioned another survey.The survey found some ten
areas as highly prone to external trafficking namely Dhaka, Narayanganj,
Laxmipur, Cox's Bazar, Gopalganj, Jessore, Satkhira, Dinajpur, Lalmonirhat
and Chapai-Nawabganj. Some of these areas are used for collection, some
for transit and some for final exit outside while some areas as used both
for collection and exit. Dhaka and some bordering areas remain at the top
as collection and exit points.
In Dhaka, a recent survey of another anti-trafficking campaign group said,
a number of travel agencies, located at the city centre, are allegedly
involved in external trafficking under the cover of manpower business.
Women are mainly trafficked in this way to India, Pakistan and some middle
eastern countries. These women are being sold to red light areas in India
and Pakistan while some of them found their way in Sheikhdoms as 'house
assitants'. Actually these women are forcibly engaged as sex slaves. Boy
children and trafficked from Bangladesh and engaged as 'camel jockeys' in
United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Elaborating further, the survey said, hundreds of boy children are
reported to be engaged as jockeys in camel racing, a traditional sport in
desert area. Besides Bangladesh, a good number of these ill-fated children
are from Pakistan and Sri Lanka.The rescue, reintegration and repatriation
of these victims are quite inadequate compared to the existing need, said
Salma Ali, Executive Director of BNWLA.
'Cross-border trafficking has become a regional issue', Salma Ali said,
adding there must be a coordinated approach among the states involved to
address the crime against humanity. She said we need bilateral agreements
with India and Pakistan separately to speed up the smooth rescue and
repatriation of the victims. So that the victims can be reintegrated in
the family and finally in the society at the earliest possible time. The
process may help heal the ill of the victims to some extent.
Besides government, a number of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are
now working in this sector in their own way. These initiatives seem to be
quite inadequate in generating any positive breakthrough in combating
trafficking. Recognising the urgency of addressing the unabated crime,
Salma Ali said, we need positive efforts by formulating a plan of action
for a period of five-year or ten-year with partners in sending and
receiving countries.
With a view to establish greater understanding in dealing with
trafficking, a common platform of fourteen local non-governmental
organisations NGOs has been formed. The activists of these organisations
are sharing their experiences among themselves and Action Against
Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation Of Children (ATSEC) Bangladesh Chapter
in recent times to establish more working and meaningful understanding to
fight the issue in an effective way.
ATSEC has its offices in India and Nepal and is opening another office of
Pakistan."We have exchanged views with leading NGO personalities in India
regarding cross-border trafficking", said Salma Ali, Executive Director of
BNWLA, adding, 'we are aware of the future challenges that cannot be
addressed through some selective activities or measures only "Elaborating
further, she said, "we are continuing our efforts for establishing a
regional partner group to deal with the issue in close cooperation.
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