The number of female public representatives in local government, i.e. upazila and union parishads, is alarmingly small and must be boosted so that they can have equal presence as their male counterparts, speakers said at a round-table discussion yesterday.
Women share responsibilities with men to form good governance, so more women should have been candidates in the upcoming union parishad (UP) elections, they said.
The discussion was organised by Brac University’s Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD) at Lakeshore Hotel in the capital.
Addressing the issue of the small number of female political leaders in the grassroots level of the government, the speakers said in the UP polls, the first phase of which begins tomorrow, the number of female candidates is relatively fewer than before.
In fact, data from the Election Commission shows that female participation in different elections in the government has decreased over the years.
From 2008 to 2011, the number of female participants in UP elections went down 1,000 around the country, according to the Election Commission statistics.
In this regard, BIGD along with an NGO named Shorik conducted a qualitative research in six unions under two upazilas in Rajshahi district, where they interviewed both male and female representatives between September 2015 and February 2016.
The study revealed women do not feel motivated to participate in the UP elections as they cannot keep the promises they make to the voters in their election areas. Women are generally passive as political actors, and economic barriers in their commitment, proper resource allocation and confusion in their respective responsibilities have drawn back many of them from attempting in the election.
Moreover, women prefer to participate in the reserve seats because they are less expensive and competitive. However, participation in reserve seats may also put women in the sidelines when it comes to contesting elections in the general seats.
The discussion was also attended by Melina Papageorgiou Trippolini, programme manager at Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, BIGD Executive Director Dr Sultan Hafez Islam and People’s Solidarity Movement Convener Zonayed Saki, among others. BIGD visiting fellow Maheen Sultan gave the key note speech.
