Gender Equality and Social Inclusion, more commonly referred to as GESI, has increasingly become a defining lens through which development practitioners, policymakers, and international organisations assess and plan interventions. Yet, despite its widespread use in project proposals, policy documents, and donor strategies, GESI is often misunderstood as a technical or bureaucratic requirement rather than the profound conceptual shift that it represents. It is neither a catchphrase nor a box-ticking exercise. At its heart, GESI reimagines development as a process that not only seeks economic growth but also addresses structural inequities, power imbalances, and social injustices that prevent marginalised individuals and groups from realising their full potential. In a country like Bangladesh where rapid economic transformation and remarkable social gains coexist with entrenched inequalities, GESI offers a framework for ensuring that development is genuinely inclusive, equitable, and sustainable.
The evolution of GESI is not traced to a single theoretical breakthrough or a solitary thinker. Rather, it emerged organically within the development sector over the last two decades, particularly in the late 2000s and early 2010s, as practitioners increasingly recognised the limitations of earlier gender-focused approaches. Programmes that solely concentrated on women's participation or empowerment often failed to consider intersecting dimensions of disadvantage, such as disability, ethnicity, age, caste, rural-urban divides, and socio-economic status. Traditional approaches-Women in Development (WID) and Gender and Development (GAD)-were important in highlighting women's roles, advancing gender awareness, and addressing discrimination. However, they frequently treated women as a homogeneous category and overlooked the ways in which multiple forms of exclusion intersect. GESI arose to bridge this gap, promoted by agencies such as the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Asian Development Bank, and reinforced globally through initiatives like the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly the commitment to "leave no one behind."
At its conceptual core, GESI combines two interlinked principles: gender equality and social inclusion. Gender equality focuses on ensuring that people of all gender identities-women, men, and non-binary individuals-enjoy equal rights, responsibilities, and opportunities. It recognises that discrimination is not simply a matter of individual bias but is embedded in laws, policies, social norms, labour markets, and political institutions. Social inclusion, on the other hand, examines how certain individuals and groups are systematically excluded from participating fully in economic, social, cultural, and political life. These exclusions may stem from poverty, disability, ethnicity, religion, migration status, sexual orientation, age, or a combination of these factors. By integrating these two principles, GESI applies an intersectional lens that captures the complex and overlapping ways in which inequalities manifest.
Central to GESI is the recognition of power and structural inequality. Exclusion is rarely accidental or merely a personal circumstance; it is produced and reproduced through entrenched systems and institutional arrangements. In Bangladesh, patriarchal norms continue to shape access to resources, decision-making authority, mobility, and opportunities. Despite impressive progress in education, healthcare, and labour force participation, women continue to face wage gaps, occupational segregation, disproportionate unpaid care burdens, and high levels of gender-based violence. Men from marginalised communities, including ethnic minorities in the Chittagong Hill Tracts and urban slum dwellers, also experience exclusion that cannot be understood solely through a gender lens. GESI provides a tool to analyse these intersecting inequities and design interventions that reflect the realities of diverse groups, rather than assuming a one-size-fits-all approach.
Access to and control over resources is another critical dimension of GESI. Inclusion cannot be achieved by merely making services available; it requires a deeper understanding of who can realistically benefit from them. In Bangladesh, public services-ranging from healthcare and education to social protection and skills training-have expanded significantly over recent decades. Yet access remains uneven. Rural women may face mobility restrictions or lack decision-making power to seek healthcare. Persons with disabilities encounter physical, informational, and social barriers that limit their participation in education, employment, and community life. Urban informal workers, particularly women and youth, often remain outside formal social safety nets. A GESI-informed approach demands that policies and programmes explicitly address these barriers through inclusive design, targeted outreach, and service delivery mechanisms that consider the needs of the most marginalised.
Participation and voice constitute another central pillar of GESI. True inclusion is not merely about numerical representation or tokenistic involvement; it is about the capacity of marginalised groups to influence decisions that shape their lives. Bangladesh has made notable progress in women's political representation, particularly at the local government level, through reserved seats for women. Yet the substantive influence of women in these positions remains limited due to systemic resistance, lack of authority, and entrenched patriarchal norms. Similarly, youth, persons with disabilities, ethnic minorities, and religious minorities are often excluded from meaningful participation in policy and programme design, despite being the intended beneficiaries of development interventions.
Institutional accountability is another crucial dimension of GESI. Without clear mandates, capacity, and monitoring systems, inclusion can easily remain rhetorical rather than substantive. A comprehensive GESI approach requires institutions to move beyond compliance-driven checklists and develop capacities to address inequities systematically. This includes training personnel, developing gender- and disability-disaggregated data systems, and embedding inclusion into planning, budgeting, and evaluation. Disaggregated data is particularly critical for understanding who is being reached, who remains excluded, and why. Yet in many sectors, such data remains incomplete or inconsistent, hindering evidence-based policy-making.
Economic empowerment represents a dimension where GESI's relevance is especially profound for Bangladesh. The country's development trajectory has been fueled largely by labour-intensive industries and overseas employment, both of which present gendered and exclusionary challenges. Women's participation in the labour force remains low relative to their educational achievements. When women do engage in work, they are often concentrated in low-paid, insecure, or informal employment. Persons with disabilities face severe limitations in employment opportunities, not because of capability but due to employer biases and societal attitudes. A GESI-informed economic strategy addresses these challenges holistically-through skills development, access to decent work, financial inclusion, care support systems, and workplace equity-ensuring that economic growth translates into shared prosperity.
Norms and attitudes present one of the most entrenched challenges to achieving GESI goals. Laws, regulations, and programmes alone cannot dismantle deep-rooted beliefs regarding gender roles, disability, or social hierarchies. In Bangladesh, practices such as early marriage, son preference, stigmatisation of disability, and resistance to women's leadership continue to shape life trajectories. GESI emphasises long-term, culturally sensitive approaches to changing social norms, including education, community engagement, media campaigns, and the cultivation of local role models.
Emerging challenges such as climate change, rapid urbanisation, and technological transformation further highlight the importance of GESI. Bangladesh is highly vulnerable to climate-related shocks, including floods, cyclones, and river erosion, which disproportionately impact women, the poor, and marginalized communities. Climate-induced displacement often increases women's unpaid care work and exposes them to heightened risks of exploitation and violence. By applying a GESI lens, policymakers can ensure that adaptation and resilience strategies account for these differentiated impacts and leverage the insights and capacities of affected communities. Similarly, rapid digitalization and shifts in the labor market present both opportunities and risks. Access to technology, digital skills, and future employment opportunities must be inclusive, or existing inequalities will be further entrenched.
Despite the growing recognition of GESI in Bangladesh, significant challenges remain. Conceptually, GESI is sometimes reduced to a superficial extension of gender mainstreaming, applied as a compliance exercise rather than a transformative framework. Practically, many programmes treat inclusion as an optional add-on rather than a central principle informing project design, implementation, and evaluation. Overcoming these limitations requires a combination of political commitment, institutional capacity building, and a shift in mindset-from targeting specific beneficiaries to transforming systems of power and exclusion.
GESI also challenges development actors to rethink monitoring and evaluation. Success should not be measured solely in terms of output or service delivery but in terms of shifts in social norms, enhanced agency among marginalised populations, and reductions in structural barriers. For example, the presence of women in elected local government councils is important, but real progress is evident only when these women influence budgeting, development planning, and policy decisions. Similarly, training programmes for persons with disabilities are not sufficient unless participants can access employment opportunities and societal recognition of their skills.
For Bangladesh, GESI is not merely a policy priority; it is central to the country's vision of equitable development. The nation aspires to achieve upper-middle-income status, enhance human capital, and sustain social cohesion. But these goals cannot be achieved through economic growth alone. Without addressing the systemic exclusion of women, persons with disabilities, ethnic and religious minorities, and other marginalised groups, progress risks increasing inequality rather than alleviating it.
Moreover, GESI is transformative because it reframes the development conversation from service delivery to social change. Development is not simply the expansion of infrastructure, markets, or social programmes-it is the transformation of social relationships, power dynamics, and institutional structures that perpetuate inequity. By integrating GESI into policy, planning, and practice, Bangladesh can move beyond symbolic gestures and foster systemic change that empowers all citizens. This requires sustained commitment, investment in human and institutional capacity, and the continuous adaptation of policies to evolving social realities.
GESI also encourages cross-sectoral collaboration. For instance, improving girls' education is intertwined with health, nutrition, safety, social norms, and economic opportunity. Addressing the barriers faced by persons with disabilities demands coordinated action across health, education, transport, labor, and social protection systems. Climate resilience strategies must integrate gender and social inclusion to ensure that adaptation measures do not exacerbate vulnerabilities. GESI, therefore, is not an isolated policy niche but a lens through which all development sectors can be made more effective, equitable, and sustainable.
For Bangladesh, a country striving to combine rapid economic growth with social justice, GESI is indispensable. It provides the analytical tools, strategic approaches, and normative foundations to ensure that progress is inclusive, equitable, and sustainable. By moving beyond simplistic understandings of gender and focusing on the broader dynamics of social inclusion, Bangladesh can achieve a model of development that truly empowers all citizens, strengthens communities, and builds a resilient, just, and prosperous society.
The challenge is clear, but the opportunity is immense. By embracing GESI as a guiding principle across policy, programme design, institutional practice, and societal engagement, Bangladesh can ensure that development is not merely growth in GDP or infrastructure but a meaningful improvement in the lives, opportunities, and agency of every citizen. In a rapidly transforming world, this approach is not only morally imperative but also strategically essential for sustainable and resilient development. Ultimately, GESI is about ensuring that the nation's remarkable development story is shared, inclusive, and transformative-a story in which no one is left behind, and everyone has the chance to thrive.
Dr. Matiur Rahman is a researcher and development professional.
matiurrahman588@gmail.com
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