Budget must be more pro-women

Women have become more vulnerable in the current Covid-19 pandemic, and it is crucial that 2020-2021 budgetary allocation reflects the consequences of the pandemic on women, said speakers at a pre-budget webinar yesterday.

Bangladesh Mahila Parishad (BMP) organised the event.

Maleka Banu, general secretary of BMP, said the pandemic has further increased the inequality between men and women in the past one and a half years, tarnishing the past achievements of women.

"The government must pay special attention in the budget to improve the status of women in the ongoing pandemic and to maintain the development targets," she said.

Dhaka University Economics Professor Dr Sayema Haque Bidisha, who is also the research director of South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM), presented her study titled "Impact of Covid-19 on Women" at the webinar.

She said in the pandemic, women tend to be affected more strongly than men.

According to Bidisha, the results of various surveys conducted by SANEM showed that women faced challenges in terms of job loss, accessing health services, attending online education, experiencing gender based violence and much more.

She recommended that a gender budget monitoring cell should be formed and the budgetary allocation of ministries needs to be aligned with SDGs.

Women-led SMEs need to have special attention in the budget, along with increased attention in terms of allocation is needed for the transgender people, she added.

At the same time, incentives for RMGs need to be linked with the protection of workers' rights, she said, adding that inter-ministry coordination needs to be strengthened while strengthening the capacity of the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs.

BMP president Dr Fauzia Moslem presided over the event.

She said in order to achieve real political development, the implementation of the CEDAW, along with the SDGs, must be reflected in the gender budget.

"Emphasis should be given on the establishment of political, economic and human rights of women to bring them to the mainstream level," she said.

"The Ministry of Finance should give more importance in sensitising the field of women's participation in all economic activities and giving priority to women in leadership," she added.

Dr Nazneen Ahmed, senior research fellow at the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), she said there must be special attention for the female micro entrepreneurs of the informal sector, who have faced economic challenges in the pandemic.

Besides, those who have lost their business must get proper support from the budget, she added.

SANEM executive director Dr Selim Raihan, Jahangirnagar University Economics professor Dr Sharmind Neelormi, DBC head of news Pranab Saha, among others, spoke at the event, moderated by Rekha Chowdhury, vice-president and acting movement secretary of BMP.