Bangladesh has made remarkable progress in the last 20 years in improving the lives of women and girls. Maternal mortality rates are falling, fertility rate is declining, and there is greater gender parity in school enrolment. At the same time, 82 percent of married women suffer gender-based violence and pervasive sexual violence prevents women from achieving their full potential. Despite efforts by the government and non-governmental organizations to reduce the rate of child marriage in Bangladesh, it remains the highest in South Asia at 59 percent of girls getting married before the age of 18. Women’s participation in the workforce remains constrained to limited, low-paying sectors.
Three million Bangladeshi women are employed in the lucrative ready-made garment sector, which is Bangladesh’s largest export industry. Increasing numbers of women are involved in small and medium enterprises, but there remain large finance gaps that women face despite several government initiatives. Across its programs, SAWAB is committed to addressing many of the challenges facing women in Bangladesh.
Women’s participation in the workplace, leadership role in the political and social arenas and access to credit can be regarded as empowerment of women. Women empowerment is the reflection of gender equality which is the precursor to move the country forward, towards middle income status, towards inclusive and sustainable development. There is much for the world to learn from the experiences of Bangladesh. Around Bangladesh, it is women and girls who are disproportionately affected by poverty and discrimination. Often, women and girls are not allowed to make decisions about their household income, or tradition and culture forbid them to leave their homes. In other words, half of the population cannot contribute to economic development of their respective families and community. A great resource goes untapped.
SAWAB under this women empowerment and family development program has been working to alleviate poverty among women. Further, SAWAB also focuses on advocating the women’s rights so that they will not be deprived of what they deserve and they can play a key role in navigating their family and their community to a better life. These have brought important changes in the lives of women in our target area. SAWAB has been launching this program to establish a dress making training centre at Zirabo, Ashulia, Dhaka. SAWAB distributed sewing machines among disable women and also organised their three-month long training session for all those women. Under the program SAWAB also distributed grocery goods/ shop and cows to extreme poor women that empowered them to create a stream of income for themselves and their families.
Ensure Training for women Development
- Empowering Women against Gender-Based Violence
- Advocating for Women’s Leadership in Society
- Promoting Food Security and Healthy Communities
- Promoting Women’s Entrepreneurship
