‘Equality and equity’

Planning and budgeting should be done by keeping gender in mind to ensure equality and equity for the country's women tea-garden workers, said speakers at a webinar yesterday.

The webinar "Multi stakeholders' consultation on Gender Responsive Planning and Budgeting (GRPB) and social protection of tea garden workers" was jointly organised by ILO, UNFPA, Unicef and UN Women.

Incorporating findings and recommendations from two workshops held on December 20 last year and March 11 this year, the event was held with participation from civil society organisations (CSO) and the government.

UN Women Bangladesh Head of Agency Gitanjali Singh addressed the welcome speech, while UN joint programme coordinator Alexius Chicham delivered an overview of the programme.

Tapati Saha, programme analyst of Women's Economic Empowerment Programme at UN Women, hosted the event.

In Saha's presentation, key findings and recommendations of the workshops were presented. She said working women in Sylhet's tea gardens are facing issues centring on health and hygiene, including problems regarding maternity and childcare, long working hours under extreme weather conditions, and lack of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) facilities in the garden.

They are also suffering due to gender discrimination, patriarchal customs and attitude, and are being deprived of decision-making activities.

She said the workshops brought out recommendations like more schools with adequate facilities, skills and entrepreneurship development training for youths, and increased coverage of safety nets.

The recommendations also advocated for policies at national and local level, and partnership and coordination among government sectors, Bangladesh Tea Association (BTA), Bangladesh Cha Sramik Union (BCSU) and CSOs.

Nilufer Ahmed Karim, national consultant of ILO, said gender-responsive budget refers to spending adequately based on women and men's needs. It ensures women's empowerment, advancements and rights in cross-cutting issues.

It also ensures women's contribution in the development process, and can help them come out of poverty, which will ensure equity and equality for both men and women, she said.

It was organised under the joint programme "Enhancing social protection for female tea garden workers and their families in Sylhet Division, Bangladesh" and was supported by the Sustainable Development Goals Fund.

Prof Bazlul H Khondker and Prof Sayema Haque Bidisha of Dhaka University's Department of Economics, and Ferdousi Sultana Begum, gender and social protection expert and international team leader of Asian Development Bank, were present as panelists.

Ferdousi Begum, deputy secretary (budget and audit) of the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, and Md Nayeb Ali, deputy secretary of the Ministry of Social Affairs, attended as panelists from the government.

During the open discussion, Tahsin Choudhury, convener of the labour and welfare sub-committee of BTA, and Ram Bhajan Kairi, general secretary of BCSU, spoke about different issues.

The webinar concluded with remarks from UNRCO rights adviser Huma Khan, followed by Gitanjali Singh.