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About Bangladesh UNFPA in Bangladesh - UNFPA in Bangladesh - UNFPA in SWAp - UNFPA in I-PRSP/PRSP - UNFPA and MDGs 6th Country Programme - Introduction - Reproductive Health - Advocacy - Population Development   Strategy - Gender as Cross-cutting   Issue 7th Country Programme - Introduction - Reproductive Health:   Improving RH - Gender: Promoting   Gender Equality - Population & Development Bangladesh Country Office - Organisation Chart - Vacancy Announcement - General Announcement - Procurement - Available Publications UNFPA HQ Other UN Agencies   Regional Projects   RHIYA   Youth Initiative   Postponing Early Marriage   Sound Bytes Poor need to out grow from the notion that girls are burden in the family and their education is a luxury   Webmail		Home >> Thematic Area >> Gender  Gender The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) works worldwide in partnership with government, donors and civil society to formulate strategies and programmes that integrate population concerns into their development efforts. The promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women are crucial to the development of sound population and development strategies and essential for sustainable development. The ICPD Programme of Action provided a strong vision and commitment to gender equality and equity being central to women's and girls reproductive health rights that were later reinforced in the Beijing Platform for Action adopted at the Fourth World Conference on Women (FWCW) in 1995. In this context, the promotion of gender equality in population and development programmes forms one of the best demonstrations of the strong link between the ICPD programme of Action and the Beijing Platform of Action. Gender inequality is recognised in Bangladesh as one of the root causes of women's and girls poor health status directly affecting the overall development of the nation. Over the past decade, collective efforts have been made by Government, development partners and NGOs to address the issues of gender inequalities resulting in some positive changes especially in improved gender parity in enrolment in primary education, women's increased employment, their health-seeking behaviour and participation in different economic activities. However, in-depth analysis indicates that currently, drop out rates of girl students are much higher than boys and a large number of girls are not enrolling at secondary levels. Though women's participation in the labour force has increased, their participation at management levels continues to remain low. Women continue to face gender specific inequity at their workplace both due to absence of gender sensitive policies and discriminatory behaviour by men. Women also receive lower wages than men for the same work. Although access to health services has increased to some degree, indicators related to MMR, IMR, maternal morbidity, malnutrition and violence against women remain high. Unequal gender relations persist in giving girls and women negligible fulfilment of their reproductive rights with little bargaining power to decision making regarding their marriage, fertility and access to treatment. All these issues are related to the patriarchal social structures and systems that govern Bangladesh and prescribe lower status for women and girls than men and boys. All the above issues clearly indicate that sustainable long-term efforts are required to bring gender equity and equality for the people of Bangladesh. More » Top		Thematic Areas   Safe Motherhood   Gender   Youth   HIV/AIDS   Reproductive Health     Commodity Security  Partners   Govt. of Bangladesh   Bi-lateral Partners  CIDA  Danida  DFID  European Union  JOICFP  Netherlands  SIDA  World Bank  Upcoming Events  Success Stories (PDF)   Improving the Health and Well Being of Young People   Religious Leaders Promote Reproductive Health and Family Planning   Providing Information & Services to the Plantation Communities   Making Motherhood Safe   Reproductive health and Rights is Fundamental for Sound Economic Development and Poverty Alleviation   Photo Gallery   Videos
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