Gender Equality Research Ideas

Dhaka June 18, 2015

Bangladesh PrioritiesWORKING WITH 30-50 economists including Nobel Laureates, 100+ sector experts engaging major development organizations, NGOs, government, businesses, youths, rural and urban Bangladeshis to identify, analyze and prioritize interventions that will deliver greater benefit per taka spent, helping move Bangladesh towards Vision 2021 and a more prosperous long term future.

In cooperation with the Research and Evaluation Division of BRAC,

Copenhagen Consensus Center organized roundtable discussions with

an aim to figure out smarter solutions to the most problematic issues facing

Bangladesh.

These roundtables are one of several sources

for research ideas.

Sourcing ideas and solutions

Smarter solutions for Bangladesh

Complete set of papers on 30-50 solutions

PRIORITIZATION

Government NGOs

Academia Pvt sector

Think tanks Developmentorganizations

Eminent Panel Assessment

Government and donor seminars

Rural polls Newspaper pollsamong readers

Youth forums across the

countryPrivate sector

meetings

Social, economic and environmental benefit-cost

research by top Bangladeshi, and

international economistsExtensive peer review by

sector experts and academics

100+ ideas on policies & investments

2016

2015

Continuous engagement

with the public via electronic,

print and social media

Working with civil society, government and sector

experts

Widely advocating results of

prioritization exercises

OUTREACH

Research Ideas

Gender Equality;(1 of 10)

• Implementing existing laws and acts against domestic violence, dowry.

• Design and implement sexual education for the youth.• Accessible and affordable tertiary care.• Ensure maternal and ante-natal care for pregnant

women. • Ensure post-natal care for both mother and child. • Expand reproductive health care services including

counselling. • Ensure availability of geriatric care at the upazila level,

which may include introduction of health voucher for elderly women.

Gender Equality;(2 of 10)

• Use mobile and electronic health technologies to bring all mothers and children under a universal vital events and health information system [MOVE-IT Bangladesh].

• Scaling up prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) services for HIV infected women.

• Continue ongoing iron acid (IFA) supplementation for pregnant mothers.

• Provide postpartum vitamin A supplementation.• Expand maternal health vouchers and allowance to cover

women’s/girls’ nutritional deficiencies particularly in the calamity/poverty prone areas.

• Promotion of homestead gardening and poultry for increased protein and vitamin consumption.

Gender Equality; (3 of 10)

• Continue community based family planning services to cover urban poor women and men.

• Increase use of modern contraceptives in urban slums and remote areas.

• Ensure availability of modern contraceptives at a low cost.

• Include elements of reproductive health care in education curriculum.

• Scale up government’s maternal health voucher schemes to100 upazilas with a 20% increase each year.

• Strengthen girls’ and women’s proficiency in ICT.

Gender Equality; (4 of 10)

• Increasing girls participation at the tertiary level through scholarships, special quota provisions, infrastructure including accommodation, transport and such support.

• Expand access to safe water for drinking and household to facilitate women’s healthy participation in economic activities.

• Include penal provisions for both guardians and registers under the revised Child Marriage Restraint Act 2013.

• Support female education at secondary levels.• Extend social protection measures to cover physically

disabled girls and women.

Gender Equality; (5 of 10)

• Implement transient safety net programs for women.• Setting target for short-term employment opportunities

under construction and development projects. • Filling up existing women vacant positions in the public

sector.• Addressing safety and security concerns for public

service women at field levels.• Increase existing quota of 10% to 15% for women

officers and staff in public service. • Expansion of business incubator services by women

chambers and associations.

Gender Equality; (6 of 10)

• Identify women at different value chain levels to disseminate relevant technology and inputs.

• Provide safe and affordable transport system to increase women’s mobility.

• Offer incentives to public and private sector to run more buses with reserved seats for women or women only buses during peak period.

• Increase bus services for girls’ schools and colleges in all cities.

• Introduce commuter train services between Dhaka and nearby cities, like Narayanganj, Gazipur, Tongi, Narshingdi with ladies compartments at peak hours.

Gender Equality; (7 of 10)

• Reaching women with support for training on technology, market information, etc through government’s extension services.

• Increasing women’s share in government’s field-level extension workers.

• Distribution of seeds and fertilizer through women farmer groups.

• Distribution of khas land in the name of both spouses. • Combine micro-finance operations with vocational skills

training.• Prioritize housing or land support to women displaced

by river erosion or other natural disasters.

Gender Equality; (8 of 10)

• Strengthen a2i’s gender initiatives, such as Joyeeta, to reach young girls.

• Increase women’s access to solar power, bio-gas, improve cook stoves.

• Expand women’s electricity access - both grid and off-grid areas.

• Expand women’s access to rural market corners in collaboration with the local government institutions.

• Enforce sexual harassment directives in work places/ educational institutions and other public places.

• Increase enrolment rates for female across all skills development programs.

Gender Equality; (9 of 10)

• Set up separate wash rooms for male & female students.• Regular collection, collation and analysis of sex

disaggregated data on different sectors by BBS. • Inclusion of the third gender in all national level data. • Implement the lifecycle based social protection strategy. • Equipping adolescent girls with knowledge and skills to

build their confidence. • Continue community awareness raising programs and

actions involving men, women and youth against the existing harmful practices, such as dowry, VAW, Child Marriage.

Gender Equality; (10 of 10)

• Highlight the social significance of household care work for society’s development and productive work.

• Highlight contribution of women to society e.g. using media / movie / soap opera campaigns.

• Expand legal services and access using paralegals and admin. • Establish one-stop crisis centers for women to seek legal

advice.• Use Union Digital Centers (UDCs) for rural women’s

empowerment by increasing access to information services [such as agriculture, education, employment, health, legal, etc].

• Use of Union Digital Centers by the government to connect with women migrant workers [for G2G migration].

Full List of AttendeesRokeya Kabir, ED, BNPS.Mahmuda Rahman Khan, SPD Specialist, USAID.Roshni Basu, Gender Specialist, UNICEF.Dr. Julia Ahmed, SRHR Specialist, Independent Consultant. Hosna Ara Begum, Program manager, GJD, BRAC. Toufica Sultana, RED, BRAC.Md. Shohel Rana, Program Coordinator, UN Women.Amy Regger, Research and Coordination, UN Women.Frederic Jeanjean, 2nd Secretary, Australian High Commission.Md Reazul Haque, Professor, Department of Development Studies, DU. Nasra Mire, Junior Professional Consultant, Poverty Reduction Centre, UNDP, BD.Sara Bumsted, Gender Policy Advisor, UNDP.

Marielin Mridha, Program Officer, Australian High Commission.Barrister Sara Hossain, Executive Director, BLAST.