Bangladesh has made remarkable progress in the last 20 years in improving the lives of women and girls. The maternal mortality rate has decreased by more than two-thirds since 2000 and continues to fall. Furthermore, there is greater gender parity in school enrollment. Bangladesh has also advanced regulations for protecting women’s rights and privileges, and, due to women’s increasing educational levels, women’s participation in the labor force continues to expand, although largely constrained to limited, low-paying sectors. Three million women are employed in the lucrative ready-made garment sector, Bangladesh’s largest export industry. Increasing numbers of women are involved in small and medium enterprises, but there remain large finance gaps that women face despite government initiatives. Additionally, inequality continues to persist; child marriages and gender-based violence are common and even increased at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Across its programs, USAID is committed to addressing many of the challenges facing women in Bangladesh.
Promoting Women's Entrepreneurship
USAID seeks to boost inclusive economic growth, working to increase women's entrepreneurship in both rural and urban Bangladesh. In the Chittagong Hill Tracts, USAID improves market access for women weavers in the Bandarban and Khagrachari districts. Expanded access to buyers is critical for women entrepreneurs living in hard-to-reach areas. USAID investments helped female artisans and weavers utilize online sales platforms to market their goods, enabling them to sell directly to wholesalers and consumers. Limited access to finance also presents a barrier for women entrepreneurs, so USAID mobilizes women-led community savings groups that provide loans and start-up money to other women, helping them start small businesses.
Promoting Food Security and Healthy Communities
USAID’s Feed the Future programs invest in inclusive and sustainable agricultural-led economic growth to help ensure a well-nourished population, especially among women and children. USAID activities improve women’s practices around nutrition and provide valuable sources of sustainable income for households, such as drying fish and raising livestock. Focusing on women, coupled with nutrition sensitive agriculture, has led to a significant impact on malnutrition in the Feed the Future Zone of Influence in the southern part of Bangladesh, reducing stunting – or chronic malnutrition – by over 30 percent.
Advocating for Women’s Leadership in Society
Although the Government of Bangladesh has made strides in addressing gender inequality – such as introducing gender-sensitive budgets for 40 ministries and establishing affirmative actions to increase women's participation in political and workforce leadership – barriers to overcoming inequality still exist. To address these issues, USAID supports women in the ready-made garment and shrimp and fish processing industries through training and promoting participation in labor unions and community associations. In 2023, USAID trained over 2,000 ready-made garment workers, including 1,121 women union and federation leaders from 326 garment factories, on labor law, workers’ rights, and collective-bargaining agreements, resulting in 186 women assuming leadership positions in registered unions. USAID also supported the establishment of anti-sexual harassment committees in union factories. The committees ensure companies provide free female hygiene products, ultrasound examinations for pregnant workers, and daycare centers for younger children.
Empowering Women against Gender-Based Violence
Gender-based violence remains a prevalent issue that inhibits rural communities in particular from participating in inclusive growth. USAID works to intentionally address the underlying causes of gender-based violence by helping rural communities engage key stakeholders, including adolescent boys and girls, as well as local leaders from government and business promote women's empowerment. Additionally, USAID trains Islamic, Hindu and Christian religious leaders, including female madrasa teachers on promoting social support and respect for women in sermons and community engagements. Also, USAID trained approximately 4,000 family planning service providers, 71 percent of whom are women, to improve their ability to provide gender-sensitive health programming – particularly important for adolescents – to better respond to gender-based violence and conduct gender-sensitive counseling.
Tapash Paul for USAID