Stakeholders have stressed that women entrepreneurs need to receive more grants from the government and the authorities must ensure equal disbursement between male and female-owned businesses.
During a dialogue in Barisal on Thursday, it was also revealed that on average, a female day labourer gets Tk200-250 a day for her daylong toil, while her male counterpart receives Tk400-450 for the same work in the district.
The findings and other recommendations came out from the regional dialogue, titled "Pledges in National Development: Education, Decent Work and Gender Equality", organized by the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) in association with Shushashoner Jonno Nagorik (Shujan) and the United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF).
The stakeholders also said that in spite of massive pledges made by the ruling party before the 11th general election, more needs to be done such as skill-based training, employment generation for women in the region and other aspects.
The CPD, during its presentation, mentioned that 24 (52%) out of the 46 decent work-related pledges made by the ruling Awami League in 2018 have been attained so far.
Badiul Alam Majumdar, secretary of Shujan, said that it was imperative for the political parties to implement their pledges for balanced development.
“The election manifesto is a very important issue for gaining the support of the people. Citizens saw the manifesto and took the side of different parties. Citizens should know whether the political parties are fulfilling their election promises or not,” he added.
However, speakers said that the manifesto was not properly implemented due to a lack of political will and corruption.
Bangladesh is going to become a developed country, but the country cannot be developed by leaving women behind, they also observed.
In their recommendations, the CPD called for eliminating challenges related to obtaining loans for entrepreneurs, especially women, in the district.
Also, more training on tech-based skills must be introduced for better employment generation in the district, they urged.
Workers' wages must also be adjusted for inflation, especially whenever there is a prolonged price hike of essential commodities, while also removing the wage disparity between men and women, the think tank suggested.
State Minister for Water Resources and Barisal 5 MP Zahid Faruk said that despite other countries faltering amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Bangladesh has set an example in pandemic management.
Development projects including the Padma Bridge, Payra Port and others in the country’s southern region have continued uninterrupted. Due to proper management, poor people in the country did not suffer from food scarcity during the pandemic, he added.
Mentioning that Bangladesh has now become a developing country, Faruk further said that it is fifth in South Asia in terms of gender equality. “In order to keep this continuity intact, technical education has to be enriched by changing the quality.”
The country's technology sector is also developed now, he said.
