Experts have highlighted the importance of sustainable finance and gender equality for smallholder farmers and female entrepreneurs while addressing climate change and integrating gender considerations into financial initiatives.
Speaking at a roundtable in the capital on Thursday, they also stressed the need for collaboration and targeted support to overcome funding challenges.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Impact Investment Exchange, a global pioneer in impact investing, hosted the roundtable, titled “Building Inclusive Financial Markets for Women in Bangladesh,” at the UNDP Bangladesh Country Office in Agargaon. It aimed at addressing economic and gender disparities and climate risks.
Bangladesh's MSMEs, which account for 25% of the GDP and employ 80% of the industrial workers, need to get coordinated support. These enterprises face a lot of hurdles, such as access to capital, technology, and innovation. Apart from that, women-owned MSMEs face severe socioeconomic inequities, contributing to these discrepancies. Despite government programmes like the Gender-Responsive Budget, more than 60% of WMSMEs' financial needs remain unmet.
Priyank Tiwari, the emcee of the meeting, spoke about inclusivity and gender equality, as well as the Orange Movement. This approach, aligned with SDG 5 (Gender Equality), aimed to empower women in climate initiatives, promote gender-positive capital allocation, and enhance investment attractiveness.
Maliha Muzammil, Program Specialist – Climate Change of the UNDP Bangladesh, said: “I am looking after the climate change and sustainable development portfolio. I think this is very interesting and timely for us in our UNDP strategic plan for transatlantic until 2025. There's a very special emphasis on gender equality and the environment. One of our six signature solutions includes a focus on women's equality, and UNDP has had a mandatory gender equality marker since 2009.”
She mentioned the vulnerability of women-headed households, particularly single women, impacted by climate change, emphasising the intersectionality of gender equality and climate issues.
Mamta Kohli, Regional Gender, Social Inclusion & Adaptation Specialist of the UNDP, said: “We should know how the money gets divided for different sectors. We should raise money for young female entrepreneurs. As the world has been changing, we would need to adapt ways to get finance. We should look into the Orange Movement more and learn how to use it more effectively.”
CEO and Founder of Impact Investment Exchange (IIX) Professor Durreen Shahnaz said: “Most Bangladeshis tend to think about what might not work and do things that have already been done by their predecessors.”
On the Orange Movement, she discussed the necessity of integrating development and finance for inclusive and sustainable growth in Bangladesh. She also emphasised data-driven decision-making, risk assessment, and gender equality in development efforts.
Zafar Sobhan, Editor of Dhaka Tribune, highlighted how Bangladesh has always empowered women. Just like other countries, our country has to adapt to the world.” He mentioned that the number of entrepreneurs had increased.
Bijon Islam, Co-founder & CEO of LightCastle Partners, also mentioned that many challenges would need to be fixed to grow. If that happens, MSMEs will flourish.
During the open session, speakers highlighted the potential of transformative financing and support for the SME sector, the emergence of “orange bonds” as a new asset class to promote gender equality in the financial sector, the importance of collaboration and coordination among stakeholders to ensure the integrity and transparency of these bonds.
They also proposed action items, including structuring and issuing a $100 million women-focused orange bond in Bangladesh, attracting top global investors to participate in Bangladeshi bonds, finalising and launching the IONS intelligence platform for MSME data, joining the Orange Movement, unveiling the Orange Seal certification for gender-inclusive businesses, and convening stakeholders in Bangladesh for a coordinated approach.
Organisations like the Syngenta Foundation shared experiences in providing financial services to farmers.
