Monitoring, accountability needed: Speakers

Proper monitoring and accountability have to be ensured to maximise the benefits of the gender budget, speakers said at a symposium yesterday.

The programme was organised by Bangladesh Mahila Parishad at its office in Dhaka.

The government has allocated Tk 1,36,938 crore this fiscal year for empowerment of women under different ministries and divisions. This is 29.48 percent of the total budget of Tk 4,64,573 crore for 2018-19.

BMP President Ayesha Khanam said the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs has to play a key role to empower women and end discrimination against them.

She also said, “We want to give our suggestions to the finance ministry for effective implementation of the budget next year.”

Associate Professor Dr Saima Haq Bidisha of Department of Economics at Dhaka University said day-care centres play a vital role in women empowerment.

The government should introduce loan schemes and encourage women to be entrepreneurs to establish day-care centres, she said.

Bidisha also underscored the need for training female workers to build them as skilled human resources.

While giving a presentation, Dr Nazneen Ahmed, senior research fellow of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), said the size of the national budget has increased but the gender budget has not grown proportionately.

She also said the gender budget should not only focus on economic empowerment of women but also consider their honour in society.

Laila Khandaker, Director of the Child Protection Unit of Save the Children, also spoke on the occasion.