Shanta has been writing about Bangladesh and its paradoxes.  I guess you can’t call this a paradox, yet it blows me away how despite its so-called governance failures, alleged increase in conservatism and its low per capita income, Bangladesh is far from the “basket case” Kissinger infamously predicted.  We have just completed a report to be launched in Dhaka on March 13th on gender and social transformation in Bangladesh which Aniqah Khan named “Whispers to Voices”. 

Once the favorite citation for neo-Malthusians predicting a demographic catastrophe, Bangladesh actually halved its fertility rates between 1971 and 2004.  Today, girls’ secondary school attendance exceeds that of boys. The gender gap in infant mortality has been closed.  In each of these areas, India and Pakistan pale in comparison, as they do in the area of sanitation, immunization and diarrhea control.  The micro-credit revolution continues to boost women’s solidarity groups and earning potential. And vast numbers of young women leave their villages to work in garment factories in a culture where ostensibly purdah had kept them from moving out of the house.

The fact is that most of Bangladesh’s gains dwarf neighboring countries and took place due to clear vision, concerted policy and dogged implementation and because of a government that gave space to citizens’ innovations.  Both those who hold power of various kinds and common people have a shared vision of what Bangladesh should look like. Girls’ education for instance is a common theme.

The discourse around gender in Bangladesh is more cogent and unified than in India.  This could well be because it is smaller and less diverse, but it makes for a clearer articulation of gender issues. One such issue is around violence and public security and its impact on women’s mobility and access to public spaces.   

Other issues of gender and social transformation are significant but are not articulated in the policy domain.  One of these relates to the low participation of women in the labor market.  Whereas men’s participation is close to universal, for women it is only 26 percent – and this is a doubling from a decade ago. Yes, it’s true that the garment industry suddenly opened doors for young women, but in aggregate terms it is such a small proportion of all employment that it makes only a small dent in participation rates.  So will this educated cohort of women find space in the labor market?  Or in decision-making structures?  We have to wait and see.

Meanwhile there is a lot to celebrate in Bangladesh in terms of women’s status.