News and Events

Workshop on Gender and Development in the GoB and ADB Projects
14 January 2004, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Background

A Workshop on Gender and Development in GoB and ADB Projects was organized and hosted ADB's Bangladesh Resident Mission (BRM) last 14 January 2004 at the Local Government Engineering Department Conference Room in Dhaka. The meeting was aimed at providing opportunity for the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) officials, ADB staff other guests to: (i) share experiences and lessons learned of how ADB implemented projects have been addressing gender; and (ii) seek practical suggestions and ideas from others on how to improve the effectiveness of gender dimensions in ADB financed projects.

Purpose

The meeting is aimed at providing opportunity for the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) officials, ADB staff other guests to: (i) share experiences and lessons learned of how ADB implemented projects have been addressing gender; and (ii) seek practical suggestions and ideas from others on how to improve the effectiveness of gender dimensions in ADB financed projects

Target Participants

Results/Recommendations

• Undertaking special measures to eliminate gender discrimination for the realization of the targets of the national strategies for poverty reduction and women’s advancement.

  • Regular updating and reviewing of the policies developed by the government particularly on the advancement of women to keep up with the changing environment of Bangladesh, integrate mainstreaming of gender and ensure its sustainability of implementation.

  • Urging the Ministry Women and Children Affairs to look into long-term gender benefits through the implementation of programs and not only of projects.

  • Encouraging ministries and agencies to invite one another for regular meetings and/or platforms to disseminate information more widely. Projects are also encouraged to use different media mechanisms to advocate and disseminate their experiences and lessons learned. The Ministry of Women and Children Affairs was requested to provide feedback on the reporting of projects and consider establishing a platform for action on gender in Bangladesh with similar objectives as the Beijing platform of action.

  • The projects that have proven successful in gender integration do not cover the whole country thus this practice may cause gender inequity in the areas not covered by such projects. The GoB is required to look into the replication or up scaling of such projects in other areas of Bangladesh.