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Achieving equal rights

Mumita Tanjeela
***It is encouraging that many female UP members want to build their career in politics, which is a positive trend for women leadership in rural Bangladesh. Most of them express their willingness to participate in next election, and are preparing themselves for contesting in general seats and for chairmanship to overcome their marginalised position.***
THE world is celebrating 100 years of International Women's Day today, with the theme "Equal Rights, Equal Opportunities: Progress for All." The positive changes that occurred over the last two centuries all over the world for women in the areas of education, employment, rights and in politics, did not happen spontaneously. Generations of women came together and caused these changes to take place. The achievement is not only women's right for education and employment butalsotobepartofall levels of government and to serve the nation.
Bangladeshi women have also come a long way since 1905 to establish their rights. Guhathakurta, in Religion, Politics and Women:The Bangladesh Scenario (2002), states that Begum Rokeya Hossain dreamt about women's empowerment and brought women's demands to the public sphere. Such encouraging initiatives have historically led women to challenge and confront traditional gender oppression. The inheritors of Rokeya's dream have been struggling to create women's equal place in the public sphere over the past several decades in Bangladesh.
Women's empowerment cannot be completed without achieving political empowerment. The Union Parishad is an important area for empowering, mobilising and transforming local people for their development. Participation of women in local government bodies is a crucial factor for women development, particularly at grassroots level.
The last two local government elections (1997 and 2003) created opportunities for a large number of women towards achieving equal rights and opportunities in local level politics and local development processes. The challenges that these elected women face are due to long tradition of patriarchy, religious fundamentalism, seclusion and the social control that males exert on female activities. Over the years, some changes among the female UP members' motivations towards involvement in social activities, participation in UP deci-
sion making process and raising voice in the places required have been observed. Many of these have been brought about through government and NGO initiatives.
Local level women groups and grassroots based organisations fostered by government institutions and NGOs have played a vital role in women leadership building. NGO's as well as government's intervention through training programs on tasks, roles, responsibilities and rights helped the UP female members to understand their duties, gave them psychological strength and confidence, and helped them compete with male colleagues. Most of the elected members are now aware that they should do as much as they can to serve the interest of the community, particularly women who gave then mandate. The situation was quite different when female members were elected for the first time in 1997.
A study, NGOs and Women's Participation in local Government Bodies in Bangladesh, by Tanjeela (2007) found that 52 years old Dipali Rani Chakrabarti of Betaga Union Parishad under Bagerhat district is in her third term as member. When she was nominated for the first time as UP member in 1992, she was hardly involved in any UP activities. According to Dipali, space for major changes has been opened through introduction of the election system for women in 1997.
Now they can demand the same status as male members, and the space allows them to show their leadership capacity. She attended several trainings, workshops, seminars organised by different organisations. She also got the opportunity to see the Lok Panchayet system in India and acquired knowledge that opened a new dimension in her role in Union Parishad.
A study by WFP-Bangladesh in 2000 noted that about 16 percent of female UP members chair standing committees of the parishads. This situation improved after initiatives by the government and NGOs to motivate female members towards active participation in Union Parishad activities. Tanjeela (2007) found that about 80 percent female members act as chair of at least one committee and all
members are attached to more than two committees, which is an encouraging sign for women's participation in UPs.
Tanjeela told the story of another lady, Suchitra Rani Bachhar, a UP member who is involved with a grassroots based women's organisation in Batiaghata, Khulna since 1997. Now she is a member of the upazila coordination committee. She was the president of the union committee and is now an elected member of the upazila committee because of her leadership capability. She said: "In the upcoming election I am planning to contest from general ward because of my experience as a female member from reserved seat. The present system of reserved seats for women is itself a barrier for women's political empowerment If women want to work with full power in UP they will need general seats like their male counterparts."
The encouraging thing is that women members made rural society accept women in a leadership position. Women members are actively involved in nonfeminine works of Union Parishad and are visible in the public domain. Although the majority of the women are marginalised in the political realm, it is also true that many of them have carved out their places.
Female members carry out local shalish. "In the past women were not used to conducting shalish or even not allowed to attend it," says Afroza Begum, a member of Batiaghata Union Parishad in Khulna. She also states: "Now we are preferred by local people to conduct shalish because women trust, and depend on, us." It is observed that many women members are involved in budget preparation of their Union Parishads, which was very rare in 1997.
It is encouraging that many female UP members want to build their career in politics, which is a positive trend for women leadership in rural Bangladesh. Most of them express their willingness to participate in next election, and are preparing themselves for contesting in general seats and for chairmanship to overcome their marginalised position. This momentum also led to creation of the position of woman vice-chairman in Upzilla Parishad in the recent election.
It is evident that the contribution of the government and NGOs in women development is notable and their activities directly or indirectly pushed women's political empowerment process forward at the grassroots level. Women's organisations and NGOs supported groups such as microcredit groups, issue-based groups and rights-based groups, which have played an important role in nurturing women'sleadership in rural Bangladesh.
Women members have to face sociocultural and institutional challenges. Despite the increased number of women in leadership roles within the formal rural political structure, they are facing sociocultural and structural problems in establishing their rights. Unequal mode of representation, lack of proper power and resources, absence of proper guiding rules and regulations hinder women's effective participation in UP bodies. The long tradition of gender hierarchy in the political domain does not accept women as power holders, which can hamper the buildup of a supportive male-female working relation.
As a result, women members do not get support or cooperation from their male counterparts while performing their duties. Therefore, it requires changes both in structure and in the mindset of people for meaningfill participation of women in politics. However, these scenarios offer the greatest hope for the future of women's political empowerment and towards achieving equal rights and equal opportunities.
Mumita Tanjeela is Assistant Director, Department of Women Affairs, Ministry of Women and Children Affairs.