Elected UZ women vice-chairpersons sidelined

In a recent daylong workshop held at the Dhaka Divisional Commissioner's office, the women vice-chairpersons from 69 upazilas of Dhaka division took part to vent their frustration about non-distribution of the 3 percent budget. Although the government has made it mandatory for this sum to be given to Women Development Fund (WDF) annually, the upazila chairmen and Upazila Nirbahi Officers are deliberately withholding funds. The end result is that these elected vice-chairpersons are failing to discharge their duties and women's empowerment activities are curtailed at the local administrative level. This is typical gender power play where women are being sidelined in the administration. What male counterparts fail to appreciate is that these representatives are elected through popular vote and they are entitled to that fund.

The idea behind creating the new position was to ensure direct participation of women in decision-making at a very important tier of the local government, but it is not being followed in the right spirit. It stands to reason that the fund should be allocated directly to WDF accounts in the respective upazilas so that the vice-chairpersons can work for women's development at the sub-district level. We cannot ignore the fact that women are contributing significantly to the development process and credit is due to them for the success of many income-generating projects all over the country. 

The issue should be resolved on a priority basis in a way that would begin with financial and administrative help to these WDFs directly so that they may work for the betterment of women's livelihoods. Direct allocation would cut through red tape and allow for the vice-chairpersons to undertake projects independently.