As strengthening gender equality and women's empowerment is one of the core development needs, the government is attaching special importance to making the backward women self-reliant through various time-befitting initiatives, reports BSS.
As part of these initiatives, several projects for the improvement of women's educational, economic and social conditions have been formulated. The projects are: providing bicycles to schoolgirls, giving training to make women self-reliant at upazila level alongside imparting advanced training to women to diversify jute products. ICT-based skill development training has been planned for generating employment for rural women.
Senior officials of the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs said the projects have already been sent to the Planning Commission for its approval. The next steps will be taken only after getting its clearance, they added.
The government is committed to ensuring women's empowerment and their welfare and as part of the policy, the projects have been undertaken with the aim of ensuring sustainable development of the womenfolk through enhancing their skills and creating entrepreneurship by giving them appropriate training on technology.
These projects will be implemented by the Department of Women Affairs and a private organisation.
Shahana Sarmin, executive director of National Organization for Women, said, "We have not yet received any decision on this matter. However, we provide various types of trade-based training to make women self-reliant and develop their skills at the grassroots level.
"Such activities will continue in the future as well," she added.
According to sources, each project has been specially designed to address the challenges faced by women, educate women in rural and remote areas, and provide them with the necessary tools to achieve economic emancipation and ensure their social mobility.
The government has taken a project titled 'Giving Bicycles to School-going Girls for Youth Empowerment'. The aim of the project is to increase the interest of schoolgirls studying in class-VI and above so that they can attend schools regularly. This project will be implemented in 59 upazilas across eight districts - Shariatpur, Satkhira, Pabna, Habiganj, Bhola, Gaibandha, Sherpur and Khagrachari. The total budget of the project is Tk 249 million.
Women and Children Affairs Senior Secretary Mamtaz Ahmed said the main objective of this project is to prevent child marriage and ensure regular attendance of girls in schools.
An official familiar with the project said if the project is implemented, 16,000 girls will be able to go to school riding bicycle. This will make their travel to school easier and help increase their confidence and independence as well, the official said, adding that this initiative will also be considered an important step in making women self-reliant.
The project 'Income Generating Activities (IGA) Training of Women at Upazila Level' aims at making 208,320 women aged between 18 and 40 self-reliant. The total budget of the project is Tk 3.36 billion. The project, which launched in January 2025, will be implemented by December 2027.
Under the project women will get various technical training for their income generation.
Additionally, women will be helped to achieve financial independence by connecting them with microfinance projects. At the same time, awareness will also be raised about violence, child marriage and family planning, said officials familiar with the project.
Another project titled 'Specialized training for diversification of jute products through skill development of women entrepreneurs' will involve 3,750 women entrepreneurs. The Tk 312 million project has been launched in January 2025 with a target to complete it by December 2027. It will provide specialised training to women to produce and market jute products. At the same time, it will create opportunities for women to enter the international market. The project's aim is to promote the use of environmentally-friendly jute products and fighting climate change.
The government has taken up one more project 'Rural-centric women's employment training'. It will help make women self-reliant. The total budget of the project is Tk 4.25 billion and it has been designed to generate employment for 0.15 million women by providing them appropriate training. It will be implemented in 93 upazilas of different districts.
Women and Children Affairs Senior Secretary Momtaz Ahmed said they have a target of creating 6,000 women entrepreneurs under this project. The project will contribute to women's livelihood development and thus reduce gender inequality in rural areas, she added.
The project titled 'Women's Information Technology-Based Skill Development' has been taken to provide ICT training to 25,000 women. The budget of the project is Tk 2.55 billion and the period of the project is from 2025 to 2029. The project will create opportunities for women to become self-reliant particularly through freelancing. In addition, 5,000 laptops will be provided to successful trainees and internship opportunities for 2,000 women.
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