Women’s Empowerment Essential for Climate-Resilient Society: Dr Zahid
Social Welfare and Women and Children Affairs Minister Professor Dr A Z M Zahid Hossain today said empowering women is indispensable to building a climate-resilient society, stressing that ensuring women's leadership is key to sustainable climate adaptation in Bangladesh. He made the remarks as the chief guest at the National Lessons Learned and Scale-Up Workshop, organised under the "Empower Women for Climate-Resilient Societies (Phase II)" project at Aloki Convention Hall in the capital's Tejgaon.
The minister said women's empowerment is no longer merely a development agenda but has become a national imperative in addressing the adverse impacts of climate change. As one of the world's most climate-vulnerable countries, Bangladesh must ensure women's active participation in climate adaptation efforts, he added. He said the government remains firmly committed to women's empowerment by prioritising women in social protection programmes, skills development training and climate adaptation initiatives.
Referring to the achievements of the Empower project, Dr. Zahid Hossain said the successful experiences gained through the initiative should now be replicated across the country. Rural women are among the worst sufferers of climate-induced disasters such as floods, cyclones, salinity intrusion and drought, and praised the contributions of international development partners in strengthening their resilience and livelihoods, he noted. The minister said women trained under the Empower project have already improved their socio-economic conditions and are playing leading roles in promoting climate-resilient agriculture and sustainable livelihood activities at the grassroots level.
Emphasising the need for inclusive policymaking, he said women's voices must be reflected at every stage, from national policy formulation to grassroots implementation, adding that incorporating a gender-responsive approach into climate planning is no longer optional but essential. He also said the Ministry of Social Welfare and the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs are ready to work more closely with similar initiatives in the future to strengthen women's resilience against climate change. During the workshop, project implementers presented key achievements and lessons learned from activities carried out in different districts.
Participants recommended scaling up the project's successful models in other climate-vulnerable regions of the country. UN Women Bangladesh Representative Gitanjali Singh, government officials, development partners, representatives of UN agencies and NGOs, researchers, and around 100 grassroots women entrepreneurs from Kurigram, Jamalpur, Khulna, Satkhira and Cox's Bazar attended the event. The Empower Women for Climate-Resilient Societies project is jointly implemented by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and UN Women to promote women's empowerment and build sustainable, inclusive and climate- resilient communities.
