Whispers to Voices: Gender and Social Transformation in Bangladesh

Remarks by Mr. Zhu Xian
Country Director, World Bank
At the Launch of Bangladesh Development Series 22
“Whispers to Voices:  Gender and Social Transformation in Bangladesh”
LGED Auditorium, Dhaka

March 13, 2008

Honorable Advisor, distinguished Participants, Ladies and Gentlemen: 

Good morning,

It gives me great pleasure to present some thoughts at the launch of the report “Whispers to Voices:  Gender and Social Transformation in Bangladesh,”.  First let me congratulate Bangladesh on its significant victories in women’s status and gender equality.  It has defied international preconceptions about how such outcomes can be achieved.  The conventional wisdom is that low incomes prevent countries from achieving social sector gains.  Bangladesh has shown this not to be true.  It has closed gender gaps in infant morality, education of girls has made spectacular progress and fertility has been cut in half in a span of 30 years.  Microcredit continues to boost women’s groups and their earning power.  The garment industry has provided young women with avenues for employment and in the process a new life.  There is much cause for celebration. And now, with the announcement of the new National Policy on Women, Bangladesh is showing that it does not intend to stop here.

Let me now draw attention to what the report calls “remaining issues”.  The first of these is women’s labor force participation.  The low rates of women’s reported participation are worrisome.  In July last year when I spoke on the occasion of the launch of the growth report, I posed the question – can Bangladesh attain middle income country status in a decade?  In order to do this it has to generate employment outside agriculture in manufacturing and services and attract more women into the labor force.  All neighboring South East Asian countries that have attained middle-income country status have had a common theme - attracting more women into the “new economy”.  In Bangladesh’s case the initial conditions for women to contribute to a new economy are present.  It has a new and rising cohort of educated young women, fertility rates are down and women’s time is relatively free to enter the labor market.  But of course educated women will not enter under poor conditions of work or in casual, menial jobs. 

Employers or the state or both, will need to provide support services like child care and other benefits.  We welcome the new National Women’s Policy which provides for extended maternity leave.  I would like to reiterate the importance of women’s employment as a core growth issue and not just a poverty alleviation one. 

On the subject of education, and the Honorable Advisor is the expert on the subject, we find the new reality in Bangladesh – of boys’ secondary school enrollment lagging that of girls.  The government is very cognizant of it and we are working together to design a program that addresses this issue. 

We all know that education has far-reaching impacts.  The report brings out the impact education has had on the minds and attitudes of people.  Young women are more confident and assertive and their families are proud.  This is no mean achievement.  The next round of challenges relates to making secondary education reach all children – rich and poor, girls and boys.

While “finding voice” was a common theme in conversations with young women, yet this voice does not translate into decision-making power either within the home or outside.  The new initiatives relating to Union Parishad members and the focus of the National Policy on Women are all welcome developments in this regard.  However, these will require strong political will to be implemented in letter and sprit.

The area of greatest worry is in reproductive health.  Here Bangladesh will not only slip on the Millennium Development Goals but also lags behind its neighbors.  Women’s poor access to care during pregnancy and delivery is symptomatic of the overall low value placed on their reproductive roles.  When asked, the majority of women said they did not use antenatal facilities because they did not think it necessary.  Together, the development community and Bangladesh need to re-think our development priorities if the vast majority of women are left out of critical services.

I would like to make a final point from the report – and it impacts women’s mobility and ability to access new opportunities.  It is about their physical security.  This is where the police, judiciary and administration can show firm resolve.  When a country is in the midst of such rapid and positive transformation as Bangladesh is, it is incumbent upon the state to ensure that women’s fundamental freedoms are not curtailed due to the threat of physical insecurity.

To summarize, Bangladesh has taken huge strides in women’s progress.  Now it needs to address remaining issues and second generation issues.  These include employment outside of agriculture, extending education to all sections, strengthening the demand and supply of reproductive health services and providing for women’s safety.