Monitoring of allocation crucial

Women's rights activists yesterday stressed on monitoring of the budgetary allocation for women's development to ensure its optimum benefits.

Speakers at a seminar, titled “Analyzing Gender Budgeting for Women's Empowerment: The Way Forward”, organised by Manusher Jonno Foundation at the capital's Brac Center Inn, also said better working environment must be ensured for women.

“Doubling the allowance for widows is bringing welfare of women to the society. But to empower women, steps need to be taken to create an environment where they would be able to carry out their jobs without hassle,” said Fawzia Khondker, executive director of Proggashor, a non-government organisation.

She added that due to a shortage of daycare centres at government and non-government organisations, many young women leave their jobs to take care of their infants a few years into joining the workforce.

Shaheen Anam, executive director of Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF), said allocation of budget for women needs to be monitored to ensure that these are being used properly.

Ayesha Khanam, President of Bangladesh Mahila Parishad, suggested both government and non-government organisations working on women's rights to take a holistic approach for the development of women.

Associate Professor of economics at Dhaka University, Dr Sayema Haque Bidisha presented a keynote paper on a qualitative analysis of gender budget of Ministry of Women and Children Affairs for the empowerment of women.

“Though a significant percentage of the budget is dedicated towards women, the proportion of female employees is quite low,” she said, and recommended that monitoring and evaluation of projects be strengthened.

Bangladesh Harijan Oikya Parishad Secretary General Nirmal Chandra Das and economics professor at Jahangirnagar University Dr Sharmind Neelormi also spoke at the event.