ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT AND POLITICAL PARTICIPATION FOR WOMEN
ENTREPRENEURSHIP: ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT AND POLITICAL PARTICIPATION FOR WOMEN IN BANGLADESH “Women’s economic empowerment relates to the enhancement of women’s capacity for strategic choice and agency in the sphere of the economy and to the possibilities this opens up for change in other spheres of their lives” (Kabeer 2009: 7). According to the World Bank Group (2019), women’s economic empowerment plays a role in poverty reduction as women invest their earnings for their children and their community. Pacific Community (2017) identified two dimensions of economic empowerment: resources and agency. It defines resources as tangible and intangible assets, including skills, networks, knowledge, expertise and social capital. Here, agency is defined as the changes of people’s perception to women and in women’s actions. Women’s economic empowerment is also important for achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Women’s economic empowerment means access to income and assets while it is also important that women should have control over these as well. Entrepreneurship is a strategic way to earn empowerment which eventually leads to more women’s participation in all spheres. Notably this can result in participation in Parliament. Women’s entrepreneurship is a daunting task. There are various constraints in enabling the up-gradation of skills and enhancement for higher productivity. These constraints include poor access to markets, information, technology and finance, poor linkages and networks with support services and an unfavorable policy and regulatory environment. Many social and operational constraints continue to restrict women from starting and running economic enterprises. Apart from the family and social challenges against the mobility of women, operational challenges such as lack of access to capital, lack of training facilities for skills development, lack of business services, lack of business data, complex banking procedures and collateral requirements, etc. continue to critically limit women’s progress. A large number of women work in the informal sector, but the real value of their participation and contribution is not recognised in society.
Women’s economic empowerment in Bangladesh Many women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh attend different international trade exhibitions to promote their products in a bid to export their products to different countries. Most of the exports that women entrepreneurs achieve are carried out through their own initiatives. Women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh also attend different trade exhibitions organised by several states of India. The project named ‘Promoting Women Entrepreneurship through Improving Regional Cooperation’ conducted by the Bangladesh Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BWCCI) was aimed at enhancing the regional cooperation on cross border trading facilities. In Bangladesh, women have now become more aware of their socio-economic rights than before. They are venturing into areas to seize the opportunities for them. They have gained the courage to break barriers and enter the workforce as entrepreneurs and workers - a scenario that was hard to imagine in the past. As a result, they have earned more respect in the family and in society, and also gained self-confidence and economic independence. As a whole, women are now contributing much to the growth of the economy, the generation of employment opportunities and the enhancement of productivity of the country. Previously, women entrepreneurs were participating more in sectors that were traditionally dominated by women such as handicraft, apparels, boutiques, food and beverage, beauty parlours, tailoring, household or family trade etc. The situation is improving slowly; today, women are also in occupations which were previously solely controlled by men. Women are now seen also as owners and managers of cold storages, shipping lines, advertising firms, travel agencies, interior decoration enterprises, engineering workshops and even garment industries. The Bangladesh Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BWCCI) is the first women’s Chamber of Commerce in Bangladesh working for women’s socioeconomic empowerment. BWCCI promotes a women-friendly business environment and encourages women’s participation in the private sector as entrepreneurs.
Hon. Selima Ahmad, MP was elected to the 11th Parliament of Bangladesh in
2019. An entrepreneur and business leader, Selima Ahmad has been working for more than 35 years developing women’s entrepreneurial talents and organising financial and marketing resources to catalyze the growth of successful womenowned businesses. She is the President and founder of the Bangladesh Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BWCCI), which has so far provided entrepreneurship development training and product marketing aids to more than 50,000 women entrepreneurs. She is also the CPA Asia Region representative on the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP) Steering Committee.
The Parliamentarian | 2022: Issue Two | 100 years of publishing | 151