Bangladesh Resident Mission

Mainstreaming Gender and Development

Mainstreaming gender as an approach to development is a policy of ADB. Gender is an integral part of most ADB-financed projects

The Asian Development Bank promotes women’s participation both as beneficiaries and agents in planning and implementation, and in addressing gender-based needs for beneficiaries in Bangladesh.

Gender mainstreaming takes place through ADB’s interventions in health, education, infrastructure, self-employment and microfinance, agriculture, water supply, biodiversity conservation, and governance.

Several projects in Bangladesh are implementing activities that promote qualitative and quantitative participation of both women and men as beneficiaries, agents, and stakeholders.

ADB aims to ensure gender parity in primary and secondary education. Creating infrastructure facilities and employing female teachers have increased girls’ access to primary education. The ADB-assisted Second Primary Education Sector Project has initiated a review of the primary school curriculum to make it more gender sensitive.

The Secondary Education Sector Improvement Project provides stipends for girls in rural areas to help them stay in school and finish their secondary education. Nonformal education and continuing education programs implemented through NGOs provide learning opportunities for illiterate adult women.

The Urban Primary Health Care Project supports health care, immunization, and limited clinical services to urban slum women and children. Services for violence-related injuries, tests, referrals, and counseling are special features to address gender needs.

Other gender-based strategies include employing female personnel as doctors and caregivers, promoting proximity of the clinic to the community, and timing of the services.

Women’s participation as laborers in construction, road and embankment maintenance, tree plantation and care, biodiversity conservation, seed production, and water management are ensured in ADB-supported projects. Facilities for women are built into the design of infrastructure.

Access has been ensured for rural women as users of infrastructure in mainstream economic activities through the women’s market corners, open space, and special provision for training on business management in rural areas. Initiatives are under way to reduce inequality of wages for women and men construction laborers by motivating contractors.

The development of water and sanitation facilities has reduced women’s miseries, and their involvement in sanitation activities and maintenance has substantially improved health conditions for women and children and reduced their vulnerability to diseases.

Microcredit-based income-generating opportunities in the livestock sector have created self-employment and increased livestock production, leading to improved family nutrition in the rural areas. Women’s involvement in fisheries, horticulture, and nursery development has been promoted through projects in agriculture, rural development, social infrastructure, and the water sector.

The emphasis on participation signifies a shift in the approach to gender and development. Earlier, the focus was on equity in treatment of women and giving them access to public services.

The focus now is on the role of women as agents: they are equal citizens and should be able to participate effectively in public institutions that make and processes that involve development-related decisions. Empowerment is an essential element in this approach.

ADB remains a partner of the Government of Bangladesh, committed to realizing the country’s economic and social development.

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