Women Empowerment in Bangladesh

Introduction
Womens empowerment is defined as womens ability to make strategic life choices where that ability had been previously denied them (Kabeer 1999). Women empowerment now is often accredited as an important aim of international development policies, and many donor agencies include womens empowerment in their development strategies. Although empowerment is often conceptualized as a process (Cueva Beteta 2006; Kabeer 2001; Malhotra and Schuler 2005), most quantitative studies have been cross-sectional, comparing individual women with others in their communities or societies(Malhotra and Schuler 2005). In the development of indicators it is usually implicitly assumed that higher levels of empowerment represent a change from a preexisting situation in which women have more limited power, influence, freedom, or autonomy; but such changes have rarely been measured using a common set of indicators. Such studies can be valuable for cross national comparisons (UNDP 1995; Ibrahim and Alkire 2007) and for documenting change over time, particularly at the macro- or meso- levels, but I would argue that the meanings and salience of empowerment indicators are likely to evolve over time both in developing interventions to foster womens empowerment and in documenting empowerment processes. A woman's level of empowerment is defined here as a function of her relative physical mobility, economic security, ability to make various purchases on her own, freedom from domination and violence within her family, political and legal awareness, and participation in public protests and political campaigning(Sidney Ruth Schuler and Syed M. Hashemi,1994). Women empowerment in Bangladesh means giving women of the country the power to rule and govern their own lives, away from traditional and social constraints. The women empowerment movement in Bangladesh focuses on giving women the power and authority they need to be mens equals. The structures of sub ordinance that have keep women in the dark for so long must be eliminated. Women must have intellectual resources that can be acquired through good education and material resources that can be accumulated with the help of a solid job. Women in Bangladesh work in rural areas and do most of the manufacturing labor as well as most of the harvesting. This traditional practice needs to stop. The violence against

women must also stop. Women need to gain a lot more power over their decision making process. They should not be seen as fertility machines that have only the goal of reproducing. Most of the violence against women that takes place in Bangladesh is located in urban and rural households. Violence against women is an old, patriarch practice that focuses on establishing the balance of power in the family. The system of early marriage for girls is also a cause for violence against women because little girls are forced into new families from an early age. There, they have to work like adults. Bangladesh is a society that perpetrates the myth of the mother as a divine creature. Women who do not get pregnant are considered inferior because they cant bear children. This is a male tradition that limits the mobility of women all over the country. Global NGOs that are working towards helping women get empowered in Bangladesh are still facing difficulties because Bangladesh is a closed society which allows very few changes. In Bangladesh, gender inequalities are a social construction that can be eliminated with time.

The socio-economic Condition of Women Social Dignity

Most of the women in Bangladesh believe in erotic social value and superstition. In this condition women are always dependent on men. From the early childhood female child is neglected. The birth of male child is welcome on the other hand that of female child is considered as a curse. When the female child is growing up, she realize that she is born to serve the female, she is a curse for the society or family and the social environment enhances her idea and for this men use social superstition, religious sentiment, ignorances and weakness and helplessness of women. Women have to lead lower life in the male dominated society. Another cause of it is that mantis the wage earners, so in social attitude the role of women is not considered important as mens. In the case of lower social dignity of women. Borhan Uddin Zahangir and Zarina Rahman have mentioned two features. One is parental and another is social inequality. The first origin the familial sector and the 2nd one is the sub ordinate rich sector. And mutuality between these two sectors have made the women homesick. There is another cause behind the less dignity of women in Bangladesh age. marriage system, relationship and mother. The right of women in the case of marriage is negative. The father becomes the decision maker and mothers decision is always neglected. The registry, demand

of bride, witness etc are compulsory. If the marriage is not registered, it is illegal. Since there are double rules in the society, the women cant take action when they are divorced. The agreement in marriage in Islam is equal but in practical, It is not equal. The men have the right to divorce, keep four wives at a time. Here women are not safe they are inferior to men.

The Economic condition of women

The main aspect of women empowerment is the equal rights of women in the working field. From the ancient period women were engaged in household chores preparing field sowing seeds, weddings harvesting and many other activities. The picture of invisible contribution of women was shown in the moderate National income in 1993. According to this statistics, the production which is produced and used in house is it worth of 16 trillion dollar. Of them 10% 35% production is produced in houses by women which does not need to pay. In 1990 it is stated in a statistics if the activities of women in the family are counted and added to the national income, the total income of the world increases form 20% to 30%. But these activities of women are not granted. Here the annual and daily activities of rural women granted by UNICEF in 1991 and Department Female affair in 1994 are shown below.

Years of Rural Women in Bangladesh

Month Baishakh (Apr 15-May 14) Activities Bringing soil form pond, cultivating vegetables

watering, weeding, making of mango pickle. Jaistha (15 May 14 June) Ashair (June 15 -July 14) Making mango pickles, cultivation of curry Fishing, knitting, produce fish, knitting katha and

clothes, rope of jute etc. Shrabon (1 5 July- August 1 4) Harvesting, cleaning, boiling rice, basking drying straw for cows and piling and making cold earth& other

reproductive work Vadro (August 15-Sep.l4) Cleaning wet place and mushroom of after flood, preparing hearth and box for paddy, products from jute.

Assin (Sep.l6-Oct. 15) and Kartik (Sep. 14- Going Dec.l4) Agrohayon (Nov. 15-Dec.14) pulse.

to

fathers

house, cultivating vegetables and

Husking, collecting rice making fried rice Cakes of new rice and chira and muri Dat juice, gur making and making cakes Decoration of houses, making floor high and ariping, cultivating vegetables, uproot mastered etc.

Poush (Dec. 15- 14 January) Magh (15 January- 14 Feb.) Falgun (Feb.l5-March 14)

Chaitra (March 15-14 Apr.)

Cleaning

houses

and

repairing, sowingVegetables

making fans of plum tree. At dawn Getting up, washing hands and face, pray, feeding domestic animals, drawing goats out, sweeping yards, washing paltes and jars feeding husband and children, having breakfast, fetching water, cleaning. diving palace giving grass to cows. making, collecting feales. Month Morning/ Midday Activities Boiling rice, hasking, dusting spices, brushing rice, cooking, feeding husband and children eating, washing plate, jar etc. Afternoon/ Evening Knitting kantha and nets gringing domestic animals, and feeding the and setting in hte cow-room making food and bringing ducks and hens. Night Making bed, lying children, eating cleaning kitchen, closing door, going to bed.

The labor of women is considered as a strong weapon to alleviate poverty in the whole world. At present a major part of total population is women who work outside the homes. According to the report by BBS (1995-96) the number of workingwomen is 21 million is 38.1% of the

total labor. Now women labors are working in medical sciences, teacher, nurse, health, family planning, including, garments factory, tea factory, mine, manufacturing Intention Labor.

Organization works from 1951 to present time:

Equal Wage Convention 1951 Discriminatory Service convention 1959 Social rules Convention 1962 Investment rule Convention 1964 Education leave Convention along with wage 1948 Human Society Development convention was taken such steps. Women are lagging behind in the field of govt. and non-govt. Administrate duties. In our country appointment of women judge was unlawful and eradicating that problem women judge was appointed after 1975 and at present out of 60 judges two judges is woman in the Supreme Court of Bangladesh. In BCS (Gen.) woman was appointed first in 1989 and in administration in 2000. And women police super was appointed few years ago. Women have been recently appointed in armed medical core. Even women lag behind in BCS. Besides less wage want of service and security disparity of working hours, leave, etc. one the obstacles in the ways of women. Though the garments factories are fault on the basis on women labor it is found that 20% women work 12 hours daily on 30% women work 13 hours daily. Besides women workers suffer from insecurity of commission and way to garments, weekly leaves etc.

Wages discrimination
It can be easily said that the disparity between men and women workers is severe. Women get fewer wages for gender discrimination, social attitude and value in comparison of man. Women complete the incomplete products produced by man. But this work is considered as productive labor in the man dominated society. The tendency of the average wage of the women workers is given in the table below.

Table-1 Average wage of agriculture labor (1974-2000) Year Average wage ratio Women 1973-74 1981-82 1984-85 1989 1999 2000 3.23 6.75 11.85 21.41 89.0 86.0 Men 6.89 13.79 24.54 25.80 01.63 61.00 48 48 48 83 80 75 Percentage

Area of professional working women

In the field of profession it is mentionable that the participation of women in the important sectors is few. Even there is no woman in some sectors. On the other hand the number of women in the work which has no value is satisfactory. It is found that in the Adam sumari of 1981, 75% women are engaged in household choruses. The position of men and women according to profession is shown below. Persons related to work (thousand) Total 1 . Professions related to technical works 2. Related to medical, dental & animal treatment 3. Statistics and mathematicians 4. Economists 5. Administrators and other officials 6. In transportation 1469 249 1 12 294 218 Male 1129 227 1 11 218 218 Female 240 21 1 16 -

7. Related to household activities 8. Writers & Reporters

846 12

223 11

623 1

It is worth mentioning that the number of male workers is greater than female ones on all spheres with some exceptions like household activities where 626,000 female workers out of 846000 lake part. Its main cause is that remuneration in household activities in less and these places have not yet been identified as work places.

Property and Women

The causes of poor condition of women are the traditional heritance system and ownership of properties. In Muslim society a female child gets less share of her fathers property than a male child and in absence of the husband, the wife gets less them her children. This inheritance system recognized by the religion degrades the women in male dominated society. Besides, the persons who hold more properties, have more power to take decision is any matter. In rural society the land lords hold the power society and only they take any decision. In Bangladesh the land and its management belong to the male, not to the female, which makes the men inheritors, Power is such a stuff which is always exercised on the weak. In a family the husband exercises his power on the wife and the children which is the main theme of the male dominated society.

Educational Status
Education is one of the basic elements of man to develop personality, sense of responsibility, sustaining rights, civic sense and especially national progress. But in the field of education women of Bangladesh lag behind men. In the field of national educational the percentage of women education is rather frustrating, Compared to man. It is true that all the development programs in Bangladesh included women on priority basis and still they are being given priority but they are found half of the male in education even after liberation period. This disparity starts in the primary level and it increases in higher education. The admission ratio in different seven Universities was 77.20:22.80 including male and female students in 1999. In different program primary education was declared compulsory and in order to less the difference between male and female, female education was given more importance.

Despite this, it was seen in 1995 that of the total students, 63% were male and 37% were female. It is note worthy that at present 95% students who are eligible to go to schools are admitted in primary schools and on completion of primary education 38% drop out of it. Here is a data of drop out in primary level in percent.
Class I II III IV V Boys 2.2 3.7 7.9 6.9 9.7 Girls 4.9 4.9 7.8 7.3 22.8

Torture on Women in Bangladesh

Men want to keep the women obedient to them by inflicting both mental and physical torture on them. For this reason the women have been confined in four walls. In our country their labours receive no wages and they cannot decide on any matter Because of extreme father domination and religious superstitions, Bengali women of this sub continent are tortured in different ways. These traditions have been going on for thousands of years. In modern times the vastness and varieties of tortures on women are so great that it should be termed as Crime against women instead of calling it Torture on women or attack on women. Despite hard to harder laws or harsh warnings women of this country fall a victim to harassment and torture. Physical torture, rape, fotoabazi, acid throwing and different types of sexual harassment and blackmailing have always kept the Bangle women worried and shrunk. The vastness of tortures on women is far greater in rural areas then in towards and in root level women than in educated women. Many incidents do not come into light for the threat of political leaders or for the fear of family prestige. Although there are strict laws and warnings from this law makers of the government and there is no lack of good well to prevent tortures on women, day by day tortures on women have been increasing. According to a data from the Police Head Quarter the incidents of torture on women were 5843. Up to 2001, in five years totally 45,443 tortures on women took place among which there were 14128 rape case, 649 acid throwing, 1293 seriously

injured and 29036 casualties. It can be asserted that there are many instances of tortures on women which have not be included in the police diary. Religious fanaticism and misinterpretation of religion have been used in this subcontinent for a long time to continue the women folk in four walls by the advisers (fotoabaz) of religion. These incidents being to much horrible, on 1 January, 2001 high court Division of the Supreme Court declared all types of fotoas illegal. Besides rape and fotoabazi, the women folk of this country are victim of various types of tortures like acid throwing and dowry, the criminals are finding out new ways and means and applying them in reality. Suicides for being raped, fotoabazi and new device of tortures or women and black mailing have briefly been discussed here. It may be mentioned that these writings were published in The Jonokantha a for lingt magazine. Because of financial insolvency women feel insecure. Patriarchal social system do not encourage women empowerment . The suffering women bear all types of torture because of having no power.

Women of Bangladesh:
Women of our country could not advance as a result of supers tition and blindness to religion deeply rooted in the society. Women were kept at home building the shadowy wall in every sphere of life. Having same quality women are still lagging behind. Although the Queen rules over the king in reality, women have been made completely dependent on men. They have been only taught how to cook, wash dishes and do all the household chores. Religion has been used as a weapon to wash their brain. It is said that a will can deserve heaven under the feet of men. They will have to digest everything inspire of all the illegal works done by husbands. Some people have deviated from religion and explain religion from then own point of view. They push the women into inhuman suffering. Women are to bear the inhuman torture because of their narrow out took. Inspite of being 50% of the total population, only 7% 8% can enjoy liberty, equity and justice in the male dominated society. There is no disparity between east and west in respect of women torture. In this respect all men are equal to torture the women.

Rights of women
In the constitution of the peoples republic of Bangladesh some fundamental rights for women are : Article 10. : Steps shall be taken to ensure participation of women in all spheres of national life

Article 28(2) : women shall have equal rights with men in all spheres of the state & of public life. Article 28(4): Nothing in this article shall prevent the state from making special provision in favourof women children or for the advancement of any backward section of citizens. In a recent study it is found that 12% enjoy human rights fully, 8% enjoy minimum human rights, 7.8% can enjoy equal rights in human activities and 7.6% can enjoy open freedom.

What steps to be taken to ensure their human right

To take law full steps To expand Education To raise consciousness To achieve economic solvency To get equal phase in their fathers property.

From this study it is noticed that all women opine to take the shelter of law, correct the law, raise consciousness of their rights and responsibilities, provide more opportunities, continue campaign, ensure equal share of property, express rights of freedom, avoid fundamentalists and so on.

Women and law of Bangladesh:

Some laws have been introduced to protect the women rights, injustice made to then and those are still in action. Those are dowry opposing act 1980 (Reach field in 1982). In this law punishment has been imposed directly or indirectly for receiving and giving dowry. Under this law one year jail may be offered on Tk. 5000 fine or both applicable. For killing inhumanly death or life long joint is offered. Women and Children Oppression curbing act 2000 makes the base of protecting women rights. Under this law hijacking raping, killing after this law hijacking raping, killing after raping, raping by turn, in case of raping by police law has been make for offering death centaur. Under this law sexual harassment is a punishable offence

Acid crime act:

In this act, rowing of acid is considered to be on offense of being incapable of bail and noncompromising. In case of death by acid throwing, the convicted person will be offered death sentence of life long jail with one lakh money as compensation. People have expressed different views for and against this law. An organization was formed to raise protest against all sorts of disparity against women.

Women and Children oppression act 1995

In application of this law, time of investigation and judgment is determined. In case on belong of judgment and prolonging the verdict, investigating officer will be bitable for reflecting duties and responsibilities. As a result this act may lessen the prolonging settlement of the case. According to women and children oppression act 1995 and 2000 the matter related to increase the duration of investigation of the verdict is under the judgment of direct tribunal. So the matter of increasing time is under the trial. In this case there is a great possibility to dissolve the process of trail very soon. If the criminal is earning member, the compensation rule can be applicable: The traditional tendency to harass the oppose of litigation is the additional tendency of our society. Sometimes false litigation is file as a result of the feature created by guardian or the ruling class people. Under this act Judiciary facilities are provided in a confined resume. In that case no person will remain present there except the concerned persons. If necessary the judge can conduct the judgment either in the court or outside the court. Under this act the victims are being greatly benefited. According to women and children curbing act 2000 in case of attempt to death or rape by poisonous or burning elements or in both cases, it will be considered to be serious offense.

Analysis of Data, Information and Findings Women of Bangladesh and politics:

As human resource, stock reserve labor forces if women remain away from total development and political process, desired development is never possible. So, women are half of the total population they should be involved in all state affairs to enhance the socio-economic development of the country. Women are the victims of disparity by any means relating education, health, employment opportunity, lawful right, humanistic treatment, citizenship right and so on. Poverty is one of the most important reasons for the women oppression. Recently United Nations Organization in a study women participation, in democratic process and empowerment, equality have been encouraged for fundamental issues. Women representative rights is undeniable. Secondly poor presence or the women in political arena is identified for their backwardness. Actually if their participation is not proper, they are deprived of legal rights.We describe in detail desks wards as what we Gird in proceeding to analysis the total situation of the research work.

Table-2 Participation of women in National Election (MP) Year of Election 1973 1979 1986 1988 1991 1996 2001 Percentage of Women Candidate 0.3 0.9 1.3 0.7 1.5 1.9 2.0

Table-3 The numbers and percentage of women ministers at different times in Administration Number Ministers of total Number of total home Percentage minister

1072-75

50

1979-82 1982-90 1991-96 1996-01 2001-06 Source: Cabinet Division, Govt. of Bangladesh.

101 133 39 38 60

6 4 3 4 4

6 3 5 10.52 7

Women and Administration

Among the administrative cadres, BCS admin stands top considering aristocracy. They are the propelling power of stately affairs. Very few women affaires are at this cadre presently. Since 1998, no women were in secretary level in the serve centre of power Secretariat. Recently women are getting promotion in different state organizations including ministry of women and child affairs. Important national organization, namely UGC, Election commission is devoid of women. There are only two women ambassador. There are two women justice in Supreme Court High Division. Table-4: The participation Bangladesh. Description Secretarial Additional Secretarial Join Secretary Deputy Secretary Senior Assistant Secretary Assistant Secretary Total Source: Establish Ministry 2000 Male 48 54 271 552 2014 957 3996 Female 1 1 5 7 200 160 374 Total 49 55 276 559 2214 1117 4369 Percentage 27 2 1.5 1.1 9.0 14.3 8.5 and percentage of women at higher administration in

Steps in women empowerment:

Bangladesh government is taking different kinds of steps to empower the women. Such as, quota system, including women in local government by ratio system, scholarship system in education for women. In parliament 45 reserved seats are for women members, in primary sector 60% women are recruited as teacher. In garment sector many women are working and being solvent. By micro-credit system many women are bringing economical solvency in their family. BRDB besides Grameen Bank, Proshika, Asha etc, and non-government organizations are playing role in the development of women from rural area. In this way these institutions helps in women empowerment in Bangladesh.

Educate a woman, educate a nation

Looking at the snapshot of the various South Asian countries and their gender-parity achievements, Bangladesh has done significantly better in comparison to its neighbors. Bangladesh was the first country in South Asia to achieve gender-parity in primary education. Achieving this milestone is a result of effective public policy, resource allocation and strong commitment from public and nongovernment sectors. Yet, education has not been the magic bullet we have long depended on to reate a level playing field for women in the developing world. As we see in the case of Bangladesh, social stigmas, gender-based violence and institutional barriers to entering higher education institutions and labor market constraints are holding women back from continuing with their education. Through our various programmatic interventions as well as established literature, we hear accounts of just enough education for girls needed for the marriage market. Girls can be pulled out of school by secondary education for the fear of being too educated for prospective grooms (Amin and Huq, 2008). Sexual harassments of girl children on their way to school or at school are serious barriers to access to education. In recent times, the alarming number of suicides committed by young girls shook the nation, questioning the safety and security of girls attending school and colleges. Once in school, girl children are seen to miss out on school days because of lack of adequate toilet facilities. Very few activities are available to girl children in schools. Several NGOs are setting up youth clubs, creating spaces for especially for adolescent girls to take part in extra-curricular activities but these are located in specific target areas and not available to the full youth population of Bangladesh. In general, while government and other stakeholders have done an excellent job in getting girls to go to school, we have not created women/girl friendly schools and communities that would encourage and retain girls in school. With the sharp decline in girls in secondary and tertiary education, we see a significant gap in the work force when comparing men and women and their employment opportunities and patterns. While the country is heavily dependent on womens participation in the ready-made garments (RMG) sector and majority of the micro-financing is going to women, the range of occupations available to women remains limited and gender stereotyped. The majority of urban poor women are engaged in the informal sector without basic healthcare or even earning minimum wage. Rural women continue to support their families in agro-and/or non-agro productions that are usually deemed fitting by their spouses and families. The next set of international goals therefore, would need to take into account of the non-economic factors that determine girl childrens access to education and womens (limited) choices in the workforce.

Womens rights are human rights

As mentioned earlier, womens participation in local level elections was perhaps one of the greatest milestones for Bangladesh. We find a new generation of women elected officials who are now respected and seen as figures of authority in their local areas. Experiences of various programmes and projects show that level of corruption is generally lower in areas that have female local representatives. Many of the grassroots challenges that women and children face are coming up in national conversations and policymaking process because of female representatives at the Union and Upazila levels. In the last general election, out of the 69 female members of parliament (MPs), 50 were appointed through reserved seats and 19 directly elected, including the Prime Minister and Leader of Opposition. While it is imperative to ensure reserved seats for women in the national parliament, female MPs have voiced their concerns on the lack of election financing and overall party support.9 We find similar stories of work place discrimination from female officers, holding various posts in the government. The rising number of female officers in the public sector is highly encouraging but lack of institutional support for their career development leads to demotivation, early retirement and delayed appointments to decision-making positions. It is a general misconception that with the rise of womens representation in public offices, there will be womens empowerment for both the female representatives/officers and citizens. There is a clear need for more women in public offices but without orientation on gender parity and the roles and responsibilities of each and every representative and officers at both local and national levels, womens empowerment will be difficult to achieve and sustain in the long run. On the flip side, while it is imperative for female (and male) representatives to know their roles and responsibilities as public figures, it is equally important for women in Bangladesh to be well versed in their rights as citizens to demand legitimate services from their political representatives. Bangladeshi women are avid participants at national voting but often shy away from engaging in public and political debates, allowing their husbands to represent their concerns. In this way, women remain separated from the public dialogues and the policymaking process, resulting in gender blind national laws and policies, and in many instances, is discriminatory against women. In short, womens political participation is at the crux of their rights as citizens and must be encouraged in the larger governance process of the country.

Beyond MDGs
Gender equality is a fundamental human right. It is also the most practical and effective means to move the country forward, towards middle income status, towards inclusive and sustainable development. There is much for the world to learn from the experiences of Bangladesh. The visible changes in womens political and economic participation throughout the country are proof of government commitment and to peoples aspiration to a more equitable society. The grassroots efforts have enriched not only the local development agenda, but contribute to cultural achievements as well. At the crossroads of a new global approach to development, we have the opportunity to engender the goals we set, the targets we want to achieve, the changes we want to experience for a more equitable and equal world. I am looking forward to hearing a strong Bangladeshi voice on these issues, in the global debate to define the post 2015 world we all aspire to

Recommendations
1. Women should participate more and more in politic to establish their rights in politics. 2. The working field of women should be extended to increase the economic power of women. 3. Social attitude towards men and women should be changed. Through social movement. Along with political parties women organizations should come forward along for this 4. The govt. should be cordial and active to implement the effective steps in the rules and regulation committee. 5. Women should be appointed in the higher administration with post of cabinet secretary and in the ministry and department. 6. To eradicate the disparity of men- women wage reformation in wage distribution is necessary. 7. Women workers cant protest against the injustice of the higher authority for lack of the help of law. 8. Political and lawful rights of women should be included in the education syllabus. 9. All the international agreements against women persecution including extinction of all discriminatory activities against women should be implemented fully or to take steps to implement.

10. Reserve seat for women should be maintained for UP level to all sectors. 11. They should not be nominated for reserve seat, rather should be elected directly. 12. We should behave with the female child equally in the house and outside the house and the positive aspect of female child should be shown.

References
1. Human Development Report". United Nations Development Programme. 2013. p. 156. 2. . World Economic Forum. pp. 1213. 3. Equitable growth that takes into account of inclusiveness, is a concept that encompasses equity, equality of opportunity, and protection in market and employment transitions (Growth Report, Commission on Growth and Development, 2008) 4. This article draws from paper presented by Kwak, S. and Siddiqui, S. Beyond 2015: MDGs, Gender and Education in Bangladesh, International Conference on Gender Equity in Education: Challenging Issues and New Vision, Seoul University, June 2012 5. Strong formal structures do not necessarily mean strong government Bangladesh has strong institutions but weak government system

4.Bangladesh became a signatory to the Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1984. 6. Chitrakar, R., Overcoming Barriers to Girls Education in South Asia: Deepening the Analysis, UNICEF 2009 7. http://home.wfp.org/stellent/groups/public/documents/liaison_offices/wfp190321.pdf (30 May, 2012) 8. MDG Progress Report, 2011 9. Explanatory Note on 2011 HDR Composite Indices: Human Development Report 2011 Sustainability and Equity: A Better Future For All Country: Bangladesh. 10. http://hdrstats.undp.org/images/explanations/BGD.pdf 11. 9.The Role of Female Members of Parliament in Ensure Good Governance, Key Note Paper, Transparency International Bangladesh, March 2009