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Focussing on gender in Bangladesh
Women's emancipation At the time of the first International Wo men’s Conference of the United Nations women's emancipation appeared for the first time on the Netherlands' development cooperation agenda in 1975. Since then special efforts have been taken by the Netherlands Government across the globe, including in the Netherlands itself, to ensure that women are empowered. Where are we now?
Over the years the Netherlands Government has promoted universal women's rights and committed itself to the implementation of international treaties like the CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women) of 1979 and the Platform for Action adopted in Beijing in 1995. Next to that, gender policies have focused on creating more space and opportunities' for women. In
the Netherlands itself, in the nineties, policies gradually turned its attention from the formal regulation of gender equality to the modification of the structures in society. Full equality before the law and in public life has in fact been largely achieved in the Netherlands; it is now a matter of ensuring that gender equality is achieved in practice and also for migrant women, a group that is at risk of discrimination still. The same applies for most developing conn-
tries. Laws and regulations are in place, like in Bangladesh, but the enforcement of these laws and regulations and its implementation lag behind.
What do we do?
Since the mid-1980s, the Netherlands has been among the most active players in promoting gender equality and empowerment of women in Bangladesh. Initially, the Embassy supported special projects for women, but in the late nineties a two-track approach was introduced: next to specific projects empowering women, efforts were made to integrate emancipation issues in each and every project and programme and in the sectors the Netherlands is active.
Nowadays achieving MDG 3 gender equality and empowerment of women is our prime focus. Three key issues are at stake: the protec-tion and promotion of women's rights and safety, combating violence against women, as well as the political empowerment of women.
Some examples
In 2003, the embassy supported a study on Gender Budgeting by the North South University, which shed new light on the (in)equity in the distribution of public resources. It identified areas with a strong disconnect between the policy objectives stated by the Government of Bangladesh and the’ money that is available to implement these policies. These disconnects have especially - negative impacts on poor men and women. Since then the government has been addressing gender budgeting in its national budget. So far with only limited effect, since gender budgeting is a long term investment and will only show results in the long run. It should also be acknowledged that Bangladesh is in the forefront internationally with its gender budgeting. Not even the Netherlands has been able to incorporate gender budgeting in its regular national budget processes, despite some attempts in 2003
I he Dutch embassy has also given support to integrating gender issues in the first and second PRSP For the formulation of the first PRSP the gender expertise of the embassy was recognised and utilised. It was only the Netherlands and Canada who were invited to the Government discussions.
Since 2004 the Netherlands embassy supports the Department of Women and Gender Studies (DWGS) of the I )haka University. The DWGS is uniquely placed to generate information and data on women and gender issues by interacting with government and non-government agencies, and by producing young women and men with indepth knowledge about genderequality.
The Netherlands embassx integrates gender in all its sector programmes: water, health and education. For example, in the water sectoi we promote women's rights and safety by increasing the participation of women in water management, succeeding in increasing their role in the planning, decisionmaking and implementation of the activities of the water committees. This has resulted in an increased involvement and knowledge by women on water management and water technologies, and has placed them in a better position to negotiate property rights, the availability of drinking water and availability of water for cultivation.
Specific focus on violence against women
Combating violence against women is our Minister's main focus. Violence against women is a universal phenomenon and a crime that often goes unpunished. It transcends boundaries and at a terrible human and economic costs. In the Netherlands it is estimated that approx. 30 percent of all girls and women experience some form of violence during Focussing on gender in Bangladesh
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 23 their lifetime. Also in Bangladesh violence against women is widespread. Different sources (WHO, ICDDR'B, CPD) estimate that more than 40 percent of women in Bangladesh face regularly domestic abuse, while 19 percent are victims of serious physical abuse. The Netherlands embassy published in 2008 a booklet titled “Breaking the Silence" on violence against women in Bangladesh. The booklet includes already available statistics as well as detailed case stories of 21 women confronted with violence. As a follow-up the embassy has recently commissioned the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) to undertake a study for setting up a databank to collect evidence of gender based violence in Bangladesh and to monitor the number of incidences. Also a study on legal measures to protect women has been undertaken which supports the case for a special law against domestic violence.