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Home >> 6th Country Programme >> Gender
 Gender as Cross-cutting Issue

For more than 30 years, UNFPA has been in the forefront of bringing gender issues to wider attention, promoting legal and policy reforms and gender-sensitive data collection, and supporting projects that empower women economically and politically.

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is fulfilling the principles and recommendations of Beijing Platform of Action (PFA) through its ongoing work, mandated by the Programme of Action (PoA) at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo. The Cairo agenda represents an international commitment to principles of reproductive health (RH) and reproductive rights (RR) for women and men, which are the crucial means to reach women's advancement. The ICPD PoA and the Beijing PFA play independent and mutually reinforcing roles in revolutionizing the international standards for the rights and health of the world's women. Under the 6th Country Programme (2003-2005) of UNFPA, gender is treated as a cross cutting issue in all the three sub-programmes.

Advocacy Sub-programme

Under the Advocacy Sub-programme in all the 13 component projects, gender concerns are addressed to improve the overall status of women through ensuring mainstreaming gender, elimination of violence against women (VAW), increased male participation, and involvement and strong advocacy among policy makers and religious leaders for gender equity and equality.

Advocacy to End GBV through the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs

This project aims at mobilizing communities to end gender-based violence (GBV), particularly violence against pregnant women. One important thrust here is to launch evidence-based social mobilization activities using multiple and integrated communication approaches, such as mass media including indigenous media and interpersonal communications (group and one-on-one basis). Sensitization of the males (husbands) and in-laws at family level on factors preventing and preempting the adverse consequences (physical, mental social implications) of VAW will be achieved by way of Creating Community Pressure Groups, intensive counseling at service centers, family and community levels by community field workers in project Upazillas.


Mobilizing Vulnerable Female Groups

Projects under Advocacy component addressing the female garment workers and tea Plantation workers are designed to ensure good working condition and increased RH services and counseling. Advocacy efforts with the management and owners are expected to result in recognition of women's health needs and their contributions in the workplace.

Sensitization of Opinion Leaders

With the community leaders, particularly religious leader's advocacy efforts were undertaken in a culturally sensitive way where proper interpretation of the religious provisions regarding the status of women has been stressed. In addition, through a project involving the Parliamentarians, steps are being taken to secure Laws protecting the rights of women. The project for the women Cooperators of the Cooperative societies links RH and RR with income generating activities. The civil servants and the members of the law enforcing agencies are being addressed on the RH and RR of women to extend their support in protecting women under the existing laws and ordinances.

RH Sub-Programme

Gender is a cross-cutting issue and the RH sub-programme aims at contributing to increased availability of quality RH services for women, men, and adolescents, providing gender-sensitive RH information and education, and promoting behavioral changes towards healthy reproductive and sexual practices. As women are the main beneficiaries of family planning, maternal care, prevention and treatment of RTI/STI/HIV/AIDS and post-abortion care, better integration of these services, improved quality, greater gender sensitivity in providing these services and more appropriate use by women would reduce the burden of unwanted pregnancies, reproductive morbidities and other health risks to women e. g fistula. Gender issues are also integrated in RH training. Training on dealing with victims of violence has been provided in the RH sub-programme on a demonstrative basis in selected areas.

PDS Sub-Programme

In the sub-programme on Population and Development Strategy, various gender specific interventions were identified that would make significant contribution to mainstreaming gender concern into development planning. In-country trainings were organized on population and gender for the planning officials of sectoral ministries; sensitisation of policy planners and decision-makers on population and development with focus on gender- disaggregated data for gender sensitive development planning. Initiation of study to measure the poverty intensity on minority group, particularly women population; National level strategic meeting (GOB/UNFPA/WB) organized for reproductive health and poverty with particular emphasizes on gender; symposiums organized on poverty and population; and ICPD and gender; and equality for female students in the graduate programme in Population Sciences at Dhaka University.


Research Studies

Several Research studies have been commissioned by UNFPA to unveil the various factors, which contribute to the relationship between men and women. The studies being i) "Gender role construction ", ii) "Baseline Survey for Assessing Attitudes and Practices of Male and Female Members and In-laws towards Gender Based Violence" and iii) "Assessing attitudes and practices of public officials and leaders towards women in Bangladesh iv) "An assessment of male attitude towards violence against women". These researches are expected to enhance the ability to design appropriate interventions and to engage men in interventions to end violence. The findings of the studies will be disseminated to sensitize the Policy makers and all those who matter in brining a change in the society and existing laws and to develop further interventions. A policy research study titled "Factors related to dowry in Bangladesh" will help to draw lessons and make recommendations to enhance policy, planning and program level intervention to reduce dowry in Bangladesh.

"Zero tolerance of Violence against Women"

UNFPA had embarked upon a journey to form a "Platform of men" and use their voices against a social menace-VAW. This initiative was to ensure men commit themselves with strength and affection and work alongside women to bring VAW to an end. UNFPA formed a male platform with six influential and renowned men of the society. At a press conference on 7th March 2005, on the eve of the International Women's Day, UNFPA launched the programme. Here the members of the male platform took a pledge on "Zero tolerance of Violence against Women". The programme had a full participation from all concerned sectors: GOB, NGOs, and Civil Society.

"VAW: legal and social security measures" is one of the series of policy dialogues that is being undertaken with key policy makers/planners and other stakeholders. This activity would stimulate the stakeholders with a wealth of information while allowing for exchange of views and opinions at the regional and national level and help to provide guidelines for future course of actions on gender, population, RH, and other related issues.

Women and Sustainable Development

UNFPA worked closely with the LCG -WAGE for engendering I-PRSP and provided comments to ensure that gender issues are well addressed in the final PRSP document.

The State of World Population 2005 report, The Promise of Equality: Gender Equity, Reproductive Health and the Millennium Development Goals, which coincides with the 60th anniversary of the United Nations Charter that enshrined the equal rights of women and men-says investing in women and girls makes sound economic and social sense. This is because discrimination leads to lower productivity and higher health costs. It also results in higher death rates among mothers and children and significantly threatens efforts to reduce poverty around the world.

Gender equality and women's empowerment are essential for sustainable development. An important factor for poverty alleviation concerns the indispensable factors that link poverty and physical autonomy with the exercise of reproductive rights. Corporal autonomy for women implies adequate sexual and reproductive health conditions, which reduces maternal mortality and undesired fertility rates, as well as enables women to contribute to the health of the family, and thus community and country.

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