Women Empowerment Programme for Distressed Women
As per census of 1991, about 49% people of Bangladesh are women, but women are highly deprived, severely exploited, neglected and oppressed by the society due to male dominating the country. Notable that, women’s contribution in upliftment of family is unseen unpaid, although women have to work since dawn to late night in either domestic affairs including child rearing, family management, cooking food, fetching water, cleaning home and what’s not or engage in pre-harvesting or post harvesting agricultural activities, including kitchen gardening, handicraft garment factories, cattle rearing and others. Women of Bangladesh are victims of serious deprivation, oppression, oppression and exploitation along with acute poverty, hunger, malnutrition, isolation, superstition, civic inertia, ignorance and other prevailing socio-economic problems. Women are treated as physically weak, mentally inconsistent and timid and psychologically emotional. They are to lead a life of dependence, subjugation and seclusion in terms of its male counter part. Women are to lead in most of the cases in four walls of the family. Their mobility and participation in outside development work are controlled and restricted in most of the cases, simultaneously, women are quite unware about themselves as well as their constitutional rights. Early marriage, dowry, divorce, wife beating, separation with the minor children without maintenance, women’s trafficking, attacks on women’s chastity, migration to the urban areas as maid servant along with other prevailing socio-economic problems are the salient features of women suffering in Bangladesh. The condition of women is deplorable. They are the most underutilized development resourses in the country. The health condition of the women is alarming, most of the babies are born underweight due to poor health status of mother, in addition, women are victims of multidimensional female diseases.
Based on the fact BISAP has been implementing Women Empowerment Programme in Alleviation of Poverty and Hunger of Chittagong Coastal Region. In alleviation of poverty and hunger through Federation Building (People’s Organization) training, raising saving fund, Social mobilization, distribution of sapling for home based social forestation in socio-economic upliftmen through activities of group dynamism for promoting their status and enabling them to establish their due rights in the society. To ensure build up people’s institution and explore the people’s strength. To develop human potentialities, knowledge, and skills of the group members and leaders through imparting appropriate training to change their situation either collectively or individually with mutual trust and equity. To facilitate employment and increase earning opportunities for the group members (old and new). To improve health status and plan families among the group members through providing primary health, nutrition, and family planning education. To establish human rights legal aid, women’s rights and democratic values among the group and federation members/leaders. Advocacy to reduce exploitation and violence against women through their united strength and voice. Government sectors for taping available resources/facilities in favour of the group members so that they are capable to initiate actions for establishing rights and responsive against injustice.