ABSTRACT
Although there are many instances of suffocating power politics in Bangladesh in the current party’s ruling regime, including the Rohingya crisis, it is regarded that politics and political initiatives of the prime minister’s leadership work as a catalyst in the advancement of women. Data revealed that the poor women’s interest received prominence in many programmes and projects by the government. It is argued that political leadership is a crucial device of new reforms. However, politics do not play the only role. The existing administrative structure and legacy with colonial practice, lack of willingness to adapt to changes, and existing culture inhibit women’s political identity and access to participatory gender responsive budgeting. Cultural norms and power relations should be challenged to overcome the hindrance in advancing society’s marginalized section and women. There is a need for local-level experiments to get better outcomes from participatory planning and budgeting and gender responsive budgeting. Three specific recommendations – the bottom-up approach of gender responsive planning and budgeting, setting up the National Women’s Council for Development (NWCD) with a comprehensive work plan on gender responsive planning and budgeting, and developing tools for gender budgeting – are suggested in this book.
